Psychology

Exercise is the standard of care for Achilles tendinopathy (AT), but 20% to 50% of patients continue to have pain following rehabilitation. The addition of pain science education (PSE) to an exercise program may enhance clinical outcomes, yet this has not been examined in patients with AT. Furthermore, little is known about how rehabilitation for AT alters the fear of movement and central nervous system nociceptive processing. Participants with chronic AT (N = 66) were randomized to receive education about AT either from a biopsychosocial (PSE) or from a biomedical (pathoanatomical education [PAE]) perspective. Simultaneously, all participants completed an exercise program over 8 weeks. Linear mixed models indicated that there were no differences between groups in (1) movement-evoked pain with both groups achieving a clinically meaningful reduction (mean change [95% CI], PSE: -3.0 [-3.8 to -2.2], PAE = -3.6 [-4.4 to -2.8]) and (2) self-reported function, with neither group achieving a clinically meaningful improvement (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Physical Function-PSE: 1.8 [0.3-3.4], PAE: 2.5 [0.8-4.2]). After rehabilitation, performance-based function improved (number of heel raises: 5.2 [1.6-8.8]), central nervous system nociceptive processing remained the same (conditioned pain modulation: -11.4% [0.2 to -17.3]), and fear of movement decreased (Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia, TSK-17: -6.5 [-4.4 to -8.6]). Linear regression models indicated that baseline levels of pain and function along with improvements in self-efficacy and knowledge gain were associated with a greater improvement in pain and function, respectively. Thus, acquiring skills for symptom self-management and the process of learning may be more important than the specific educational approach for short-term clinical outcomes in patients with AT.

The International Headache Society has been offering multiple award opportunities for young researchers and clinicians for many years, with the aim of supporting the development of careers in headache science and medicine.

Interactions between female patients with chronic pain and their medical providers in which providers question or contest the "realness" or nature of their illness experience (e.g. "It's all in your head") have been reported extensively in the extant qualitative literature, particularly for poorly understood ("contested") chronic pain syndromes. Many terms have been offered to describe this talk (e.g. invalidating, dismissive), resulting in conceptual fragmentation and isolated silos of research which together report about one communicative phenomenon. To rectify this fragmentation, the present study offers a meta-synthesis which explores, analyzes, and integrates the findings of 82 qualitative interview studies representing the patient-provider communication experiences of 2,434 female patients living with one or more of 10 chronic overlapping pain conditions (COPCs). COPCs are costly, gendered, and poorly understood. From the meta-synthesis, three key concepts are identified: (1) Functions of disenfranchising talk: Discrediting, silencing, and stereotyping; (2) Effects of disenfranchising talk: Harmed agency, credibility; access to care, support, and resources; and perception of patient-provider relationship; and (3) Responses to disenfranchising talk: Submission, critique, and resistance. Findings confirm the centrality of gender in the experience of disenfranchising talk, underscore the need to adopt an intersectional approach to the study of this talk along additional axes of race and class, and offer heuristic value toward conceptually unifying research about female COPC patients' experiences of disenfranchising talk from providers.

People with chronic pain report experiencing stigma, but few studies have explored this in detail. This mixed-methods study aimed to investigate factors that contribute to chronic pain stigma, the effects of stigma, and to explore the stigma experiences of people with chronic pain. Participants were 215 adults with chronic pain who completed questionnaires assessing chronic pain stigma, opioid use, mental health conditions, pain, depression, disability and social support, and 179 also answered open-ended questions about stigma experiences. Linear regression and path analysis showed that greater stigma was experienced by those who used more opioids, had a mental health condition, viewed their pain as organic, and were unemployed. Stigma was associated with greater disability, depression and lower social support. Qualitative results supported quantitative findings, with 3 themes: 1. "Faking It": Others disbelieve pain and attribute it to drug seeking, laziness, or mental health problems, 2. A spectrum of stigma: Experiences of stigma vary from none to widespread, and 3. "I hide it well": Concealing pain and avoiding stigmatizing situations lead to isolation & disability. This study demonstrates the negative influence of stigma and presents a novel integrated model of chronic pain stigma which may be used to develop interventions.

The effects of hypnosis on acute pain have been discussed recently, resulting in increased attention in the dental/maxillofacial field offering new perspectives, especially in emergency situations, trauma, or acute inflammatory situations where conventional pharmaceuticals are contraindicated due to allergies or intolerance reactions.

To evaluate the association between headache, myofascial temporomandibular disorder (TMD), and awake bruxism (AB).

To investigate whether web searching for headache disorders presents some circannual rhythm.