OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN In a randomized controlled study, we investigated whether pain anticipation and fear-avoidance beliefs will lead to behavioral avoidance. PATIENTS Fifty patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) performed a simple leg-flexion task. Before the test, members of a control group were informed that the movement would not result in any increase of pain, whereas experimental gr...

UNLABELLED This study examined the impact of evidence concerning the presence of 1) a biomedical basis for pain and 2) psychosocial influences on practitioner appraisals of patient pain experiences. Furthermore, the potential moderating role of patient pain behavior was examined. In an online study, 52 general practitioners and 46 physiotherapists viewed video sequences of 4 patients manifestin...

Pain is mostly thought of as a problem-as debilitating or harmful. Despite its unpleasantness, however, under some conditions pain can be associated with positive consequences. In this review, we explore these positive biological, psychological, and social consequences of pain. We highlight three different domains in which pain may be considered to have positive consequences. First, pain facili...

conclusions cognitive behavior therapy was more effective than the other psychotherapy approaches relieving chronic pain in the studies. well-designed studies and comprehensive clarification of the studies demonstrating groups, intervention, follow-up and drop outs can improve the quality of the rcts. context keeping in mind the burden of psychotherapy can play a crucial role concerning chronic...

AIMS Stress neurocircuitry may modulate the relationship between alcohol drinking and chronic pain. The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) system is crucial for regulation of stress responses. The current study aimed to elucidate the role of the endogenous CRF ligand Urocortin 3 (Ucn3) in the relationship between alcohol drinking behavior and chronic pain using a genetic approach. METHODS U...

The purpose of the present research was to examine the influence of communication goals and physical demands on the expression of communicative (e.g., facial grimaces) and protective (e.g., guarding) pain behaviors. Participants with musculoskeletal conditions (N=50) were asked to lift a series of weights under two communication goal conditions. In one condition, participants were asked to esti...

Christine E Whitten, MD, (not pictured) is an SCPMG anesthesiologist in San Diego, CA. She is the Southern California Coordinator of Pain Management and the Clinical Lead for the CMI Chronic Pain Condition Group. E-mail: [email protected]. Marilee Donovan, RN, PhD, (left) is a Manager in the Regional Pain Clinic in Portland, OR. E-mail: [email protected]. Kristene Cristobal, MS,...

Newborn infants display strong nociceptive behavior in response to tissue damaging stimuli, and this is accompanied by nociceptive activity generated in subcortical and cortical areas of the brain [1, 2]. In the absence of verbal report, these nociceptive responses are used as measures of pain sensation in newborn humans, as they are in animals [3, 4]. However, many infants are raised in a phys...

Human brain imaging studies suggest that chronic neuropathic pain has a strong emotional component that is mediated by medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) activity; in rodents, the mPFC is involved in emotional and cognitive aspects of behavior, including the extinction of Pavlovian fear conditioning. Together, these findings suggest that the cortex may modulate the memory trace of pain. As D-cyclo...

A study reports that treatment A “provided signifi cantly better pain relief” than treatment B. How do you know if the effect is real or due to chance? Assuming that the difference between treatment groups on the outcome is statistically signifi cant, does this mean that your patients will have a clinically signifi cant improvement? This article explores these questions as well as provides some...