Pain
Opioid painkillers provide little relief for those suffering from chronic pain. Perhaps music is the answer
For decades scientists have been studying the pain-relieving properties of music.
Reality Check | Why can’t we find a cure for migraines?
Migraines affect 6 million people in the UK and can have devastating consequences on sufferers' lives.
Instant Genius Podcast | Migraines, with Dr Katy Munro
Dr Katy Munro joins us on our podcasts Instant Genius and Instant Genius Extra.
Instant Genius Podcast | The science of pain, with Dr Monty Lyman
Dr Monty Lyman joins us on our podcasts Instant Genius and Instant Genius Extra.
A diet rich in omega-3 could reduce migraines
Migraine sufferers on a diet high in omega-3 and low in omega-6 experienced 4 fewer headache days per month on average.
How your brain creates pain – and what we can do about it
Margee Kerr and Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, authors of Ouch!, explain what pain is and how we can trick the brain into creating its own pain relief.
Skin-to-skin contact with a parent may reduce newborn babies’ brain response to pain
It's as yet unclear whether the infants feel less pain during skin-to-skin contact, but the findings ‘reinforce the important role of touch between parents and babies’.
'Off-switch' for pain found in mice brains
The switch is located in the amygdala, the area of the brain controlling negative emotions.
Yoga may help ease the symptoms of migraine
Daily yoga practice, in addition to medication, could be more effective at preventing migraines than medication alone.
The cause of migraines could be in sight (quite literally)
Abnormalities in the visual cortex, which processes information from the eyes, could be the cause of migraines, a study has found.
Could painkillers also kill pleasure?
Painkillers are great at helping us manage physical pain but the downside is that we may also be numbing positive feelings of pleasure too.
Fish do feel pain, study confirms
Though less sensitive to cold, fish feel pressure much more strongly than mammals.
Virtual reality shows potential as drug-free alternative to medication
Reluctant to pop a paracetamol for that headache? Virtual reality might offer an alternative solution.
Pain | How a genetic mutation could bring an end to suffering
People like Jo Cameron, who can’t feel any pain, could help us find the on-off switch for suffering.
Women might not remember pain as much as men
Memory plays an important role in chronic pain, according to research from McGill University.
Think injections are bad? These 250-year-old cures are way worse!
Theodore Pappas, Executive Editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica, discovers some of the more unusual cures for well-known illness from the oldest continuously published and revised work in the English language.
Naked mole-rat pain resistance puzzle solved
They might not be the prettiest, but naked mole-rats have an extraordinary tolerance to pain, and a new study might have worked out why.