TEDxAdelaide - Lorimer Moseley - Why Things Hurt

I am a physical therapist, this video changed my practice when treating my chronic pain patients from ineffective to effective... I have been watching all videos about chronic pain, talking courses, studying, taking classes by the NOI Group for the last 5 years and I have changed my practice completely. Thanks Mossley et. al. through your hard work and dedication to teaching the information I have helped a lot of folks in New Mexico!

In 2021 he's still getting people with "turn your head on the side".

This video was the start of turning my life around <3 thank you so much I've basically cured my chronic pain thanks to learning about this stuff. Reading related books, listening to related podcasts, etc has allowed me to go from weekly migraines to only 3 mild - medium headaches in the span of 4 months

He is 100% correct, however, as others have pointed out, this evidence - that pain is only in your head - can have a negative effect in the mindset of those not suffering with pain. Non-sufferers tend to dismiss the agony of the sufferer with statements and notions such as, 'Just change your way of thinking' 'think it away' etc. We can see examples of this in the comments right here, below, let alone in one's daily life. True, pain is in the head. But so is the pain of hunger— not your stomach, but in your head. So is the pain of fatigue, exhaustion, sleep deprivation. All these are 'in the head'. Yet, can any of us 'think these away'? Even if we could, would it be a good idea for our well being and survival for us to do so? I think not. Cheers from Tokyo.

What an awesome video! I'm beginning to see my chronic pain of the last 21 years in a new light. Education is power! God Bless You!

I just had hip surgery and to imagine the sensations of pain I did feel before and now. My brain sensed it and helped me deal with it, but to say I didn't hurt is an understatement. I feel having undue stress in one's life will make pain feel worse. So meditation has been helpful. I have back issues but continue to workout and relax. Pain is real, it's how you deal with it in everyday life.

xrays and mri's are only pictures at a moment in time and are best to show bigger structural abnormalities. They don't show the nervous system lighting up every time a movement irritates soft tissue or in chronic pain, lighting up because that movement used to hurt and the body has sensitized itself to make you think it will hurt as a protective mechanism. By protecting a part of your body and not moving it for long periods of time has been shown to be very counter productive for healing.

I had chronic widespread joint, muscle, and nerve pain for years following a back injury. It put me out of work and school and doctors could not figure out what was wrong with me. When I spoke therapists who are part of the BodyInMind group along with Dr. Moseley, they told me that this situation is all too common. After working with physiotherapists who follow this approach, and subsequently recovering from the chronic pain through increasing exercise exposure, I am convinced that Dr. Moseley and his colleagues are leading the way in chronic pain treatment. Hopefully this reaches mainstream medical treatment. Motion is lotion!

As someone who has lived with a headache for five years now, I want to believe this SO much. There is truly nothing physiologically wrong with me, but my pain receptors are just having one big party in there shooting off like it's the fourth of July in Texas and they are on a weekend bender! No medication touches it, and it has impacted my life quite a bit (although not to the point where I let it stop me from doing what I want to do). I hate it and I want it gone. I have to look up more of his stuff because F this pain. I am SO over it. I found him because I am participating in a chronic pain study and this was a suggested video.

I think this area of "Pain Science" is so amazing, however its so sad that so many dismiss it because they think it is cause for attacking those with chronic pain. I do agree he should preface it with a large bolded "This Pain is Real for those Experiencing it", because he did mention it, just very lightly. It becomes especially apparent in his story about himself, and how he experienced excruciating pain from an experience his brain recalled as traumatic, that was only a cut. This science can really help us add another means of helping those with pain, and help redesign some of our education to the general public, as he mentions on topics such as "slipped discs".

Thank you so much for the clip. Got informed about it by somebody i just met. Just had surgery 1 month ago and in extreme pain, not from surgery, but the inflammation which caused the swelling. I always assumed the injured body part sends the pain signal to your brain, and must admit only recently started to wonder how painkillers works. This was a HUGE eye opener and gives me something to work with to manage the pain I experience. I now have to figure out how to over-rule my brain and inform it, that I do not experience as extreme pain as it makes me believe currently. Must say this does not cover why people with amputations feel itch or pain in missing limbs. But at least I now know, I can learn to control my mind to associate the correct amount of pain to my situation.

This video has been life altering... Lorimer does an amazing job of animating/illustrating how the pain signal gets stuck and then I found the book "The Way Out" by Alan Gordon that outlines the author's journey out of chronic (unexplained) pain and an evidence-based treatment "Pain Reprocessing Therapy"... thank goodness for neuroscientists like Lorimer

This guy should be an actor, but he's in a more honest field, as a researcher/scientist. Bless him.

This is fantastic!! Dr Lorimer Moseley - your research and delivery of this topic is at the top of its game. Definitely worth sharing for people who still have residual nerve pain after surgery. My husband went through a study at Prince of Wales Private Hospital this year (2016) called Resolve. This video was part of week 1 of training! If anyone is still having back pain after surgery and structurally everything is fine in the back - get enrolled into this clinical trial! My husband after 3 years of pain after his back surgery - is now pain free, skiing, running and throwing our daughter on his shoulders. I hope you guys get the same results. Thanks again Dr Moseley - really important work!!

I have chronic pain and I totally agree that the way I perceive my pain might be worse than the situation is actually worth. In that retrospect I remember having to get injections on a weekly basis and with every time the pain from the injection spreading through my body increased until I had to stop. What I want to know now ofc is how can I not feel the pain so much, especially when I know I shouldn't have pain right now and the pain comes more from my body trying to protect me from further damage to my joints? (ie: no visible signs of damage or swelling but still lingering pain due to having it experienced for too long in that spot)

Thank you TED for such informative talk

Perception has a massive influence on pain. I read in "Your Body, Only Better" that the same injury but in different situation can result in different pain sensations. This is a really interesting subject and shows just how much the brain can influence how much discomfort we feel.

Simply brilliant!

It is taking (too much) time for this (relatively new) paradigm for pain to get accurately understood by all/most of the doctors who treat chronic pain patients, and conveyed accurately to pain patients, etc.

I suffer from chronic pain, it stops me in my tracks now and then, as I broke 3 vertebrae (neck) and I am the proud owner of what is called a brachial plexus, which is groovy on the brain to say the least. The damage is in the spine, the pain manifests itself in the hand, and the inside of my thumb is hyper sensitive, which is an understatement. Over the years I have ignored most doctors who want to implant electronics in me or give me copiuose amounts of Oxycodine (fentanyl). I concentrated on my mind set, use a bit of pot, play golf and have imagined my own on and off switch in my head. What this means is instead of resisting waves of pain when they happen or take drugs, I allow it to happen, U submit to it, then it reseeds faster. When pain in my hand gets so bad it gets up my arm, into me neck and my right eye, I lay down for a bit, meditate and all is flowers in the garden. If I need total relief, which is basically, giving my body a break, I get stoned off my face and whatch comedy & of course, golf, which is way more funny when stoned..