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!

This video was the start of turning my life around

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

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.

Thank you TED for such informative talk

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.

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.

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

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".

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

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.

as a 15 year old chronic pain patient, this was super helpful

Excellent talk. I share this with my patients and they love it.

This is very interesting, but I still can't get my head around explaining period pain

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.

Simply brilliant!

Very informative video! Did the second "TEDx talk eva" come out?

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!

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)

Excellent talk, thank you so much!

Great speaker, informative and quite witty. I always like to expand my mind as to the causes and maintenance of pain.

I don't know if u ever will read this but i was the guy at the hostel from Ica, Peru, who you teached about this. Thanks.... i took too long to watch it but i'm doing it. Vibes!

Absolutely love this entertaining and informative talk, very useful in my work as a clinical massage therapist and yoga teacher. Lorimer is fantastic

I love the way this is explained, so accurate. I specialise in helping those suffering with Chronic Pain through Hypnotherapy it's fantastic to hear the medical community explaining it's all in your head. Cheers Tas Lombardo Langwarrin Hypnotherapy

ahhhhh AMAZING MEMORY PALACE TO REMEMBER PAIN PATHWAY! thanks heaps

Lorimer is a legend!

what an interesting perspective! bless you sir!

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.

Wonderful explanation - and very informative (as well as entertaining!) As a yoga teacher, I can really use this information to connect the dots. Thank you so much!

I have half a kidney left, with two new tumous after having 5 tumouts removed. I actually don't think my pain is in my head and I would like to see what your pain video would look like after having the same thing. It is so frustrating when "experts" have all tbe answers for what they are not experiencing and just because they have read a book

Very very interesting!! Thank you for sharing this information!

The epitomy of irony. Pain is supposed to be a protection. And yet it becomes the thing that makes life unbearable at times. I say this as a Fibromyalgia sufferer.

So how do you stop this happening then when you do have pain? He didn’t answer that.

What an excellent explanation of pain messages! It is a pity that it ended so quickly and the description of how chronic pain is different from acute pain was so brief. In reality the chronic pain as a message that persists can also be dealt with by our mind, using a simple brain bargaining technique - a way of explaining to our own self that the message is no longer needed...!

when he said "wearing a sarong" and then mimed the bite, I thought he was miming the sarong catching on something. But fascinating talk. I love his challenge, and I would love to hear more on this topic.

Bless him 🌹

Wow!! Incredible and useful video!! Thank you so much 🙏🏻Unconditional love to all ❤️ ♾️ 🌌

Brilliant! Thank you

Funny and informative about the neuro biology of pain, but I agree with others it's mainly useful for understanding acute pain. I have been attending pain management and education classes for the last 8 weeks and it's done little to improve my perception of my chronic pelvic pain / prostatitis

A lot of people with chronic pain don't take Aspirin, rather they are on opiods which don't act on your body, but depress activation in the central nervous system. In essence dulling the brains perception of pain. If you want to convince the mind there is no pain, a lot of research has indicated that by slowly increasing exposure to a very slightly painful movement a lot of times every day will help the brain realize, hey, this actually doesn't hurt. Then you continually move on.

In my treatment of back pain--some 10,000+ patients spanning three decades, I can say that most chronic back pain has both a physical and psychological cause. Let me explain: I am speaking here of back pain as a condition, not a disease. This means it is ultimately caused by some biomechanical dysfunction (keeping the psychological aspect aside forthe moment).The vast majority of people with chronic back pain have spinal joint dysfunction and muscular tension. These are the kinds of conditions most often seen by chiropractors, osteopaths, physical therapists, and massage therapists. I would add that medical doctors are generally not trained to evaluate spinal joint dysfunction. They may not know, for example, that the sacrum may be in pain because the atlas (first cervical vertebra) is misaligned and not moving properly at the other end of the spine. They would not know that treating the atlas can often remove all of the pain and even sciatica going on in the lumbar and pelvic regions. My point is that medical evaluation is not sufficient. There needs to be examination by other qualified professionals in the case of chronic back pain. My other point is that adjusting the spinal joints and releasing accompanying muscular hypertonicity (tension) often gets rid of the pain. Except when.... There is a patient like this one I had. Complaining of low-back pain, unable to bend forward more than about 45 degrees, result of a work-related injury. Treated with spinal joint and sacroiliac mobilization and massage, straightening his spine considerably. Arises from the table. Asked to bend forward and can now touch his toes. Asked the pain is now, his eyes glaze slightly and he says, "The same, no different." I say, "But you can touch your toes now." I press on his sacroiliac which had been painful on pressure half an hour earlier. He says there is no pain there anymore--and looks confused. What happened? Function was restored. Pain on palpation was gone. Where was this patient's pain? Was he lying? Malingering? I learned in that moment of his eyes glazing over that he was reporting on pain from THE PAST, not the present! He actually believed that he still hurt, even though pressing the previously painful places did not hurt, according to him. Pain in THE PRESENT did not exist. Pain from THE PAST was being perceived--mis-perceived--as taking place in the present. It was "recorded pain," not pain "live and direct." The memory of pain. This does not make past pain that seems to be present pain any less real. But it does have to be clearly distinguished from present, palpable pain. And it does have to be treated differently. However--and this is my point too--the biomechanical causes of pain--the misaligned spinal joints and excess muscle tension--have to be removed in order to 1) find out whether there is any other source of pain than purely physical/biomechanical, and 2) when there is, to treat past pain in the brain with other therapies than the purely physical. And all this requires making a full physical biomechanical assessment, and that is best done by professionals with that kind of training.

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..

I'll thumbs up if that helps? There is a questioning and removal process of TED videos in place; you can even Google "banned TED talks" and you'll find them. The removal process happens when content can be unmistakably refuted and discredited. Moseley is really saying what's what; thoughts that fire together wire together; tolerances build to all sensations and the brain creates more. Pain is, very, real - it just comes from our brains; and that really makes sense!

Fascinating

thanks Lionhardt15.....what you said about slowly increasing exposure to a painful movement is what I've been trying to do

Absolutely incredible talk. Mind blowing. I’m still trying to process it, & it’s implications. ‘The pain is a visual illusion Neurobiology of pain Nociceptors...spinal cord...thalamus...brain has to evaluate Pain is about survival. Danger message arrives at the brain. Brain has to ask the question: what’s happening? How do we convince people who are in pain Understand that Pain is the end result eg knife, cold, metal, hard, doesn’t have the properties of pain Pain is the construct of the brain What is the meaning of the stimulus? eg the color red is associated with danger/heat’

Pain can occur with or without actual trauma. We always receive signals through our 5 senses, pain is just one of the outputs, like hunger, sleepiness, etc. Pain is your brain's 'opinion' of what is happening, and your brain is not always necessarily correct, just like in optical illusions. Pain is an output, not an input.

Just come across this video, in the experiment with the squares, to me the more central square always appears darker regardless of whether a or b are on it? Is this the same for others because the Dr states that a will always appear darker and this is not the case, want to see if this is just me or for others as well?

How would you explain Tinnitus? If it’s a constant noise?

A question about the scientific method involved.. just because they showed pain can be manufactured by the brain but how does that imply that pain is *only and always* manufactured by the brain and has *not much* to do with tissues?

Thank you very much!!!!!!

I'd really like to hear him talk about his research on what to do about it. If pain is all in your mind, how to convince the mind that there is no pain? Also, why do pain killers work? Placebo effect? I don't think so. This was a very interesting talk that brings so many questions to mind.

I broke my leg years ago clean through. I didn't know it was broken and walked around all day til I got xrays. It was painful, but no where near as bad as my back pain which shows no abnormalities on xrays and mri's. How can this be??

Very interesting and enlightening!

tell me how! I injured my back 9.5 years ago and still I can't bend like a normal person despite xrays being normal. I've had countless other injuries and broken bones, but they were childs play compared to my back trouble

Hello sir ,where we fiund this treatment.

Hi, could you open communautary contributions ? I'd like to add french translation of this amazing story :)

This exactly happened for me after I ruptured a disc in my back. Screaming pain now for everything after that injury. But what do I do now?? How can I reverse this?

Can confirm the part about prosthetics. You can feel it a lot more than you'd expect lol

So how do we fix chronic pain? Let’s say the reason for the pain has been fixed but the pain remains. What then?

The Pain Antidote: The Proven Program to Help You Stop Suffering from Chronic Pain, Avoid Addiction to Painkillers--and Reclaim Your Life Paperback - May 26, 2015 by Mel Pohl and Katherine Ketcham. This book also covers what Moseley tells us about pain and I guess how to trick or retrain the brain... I have not actually read it, but I was helping a fellow student with the referencing side of a psychology assignment and came across it.

Excellent. Where do I find part 2?

Excellent presenter

I wonder if this ties into the frequent headaches people get from stress. Perhaps some of that stress is just maintaining "pain" networks designed to guide social behavior.

Pain is an experience which is modulated at many levels. Pain can present without any peripheral stimulus (phantom pain). Similarly nociceptive input doesn't necessarily lead to the experience of pain (those wounded in war who have no pain at the time). This neuromatrix theory accounts for pain as a result of peripheral nociception (e.g. inflammatory cascade stimulating pain receptors) whilst also providing an explanation as to why someone can feel pain in the absence of peripheral input.

good point. I think what SMARTchiropractic was trying to say is that acute pain is still a perception, but then becomes an illusion to the nervous system once it becomes a chronic/persistent pain.

Until you're dead asleep and pain wakes you up.. what's that about

Really interesting. More please!

great vid man, very engaging host

Bravo Professor Lorimer .

so whats the solution to this??? great info but where to now

You're also correct though in another assumption; many TEDers don't question what they see simply because TED said it. Which is really quite a shame. I've been an extremely proud TEDer for years... There is a lot of crap on that site, no doubt. E.g. check out Charles Fleischer's (yes, the voice of Roger Rabbit) "Everything is Moleeds." I'm still not certain if it's shtick or not.

13:45 Usually, pain is thought to protect you from stgh which is sensed to hurt you. But, it seems sometimes that Pain is trying to help you with stgh that doesn't need protection. Then How do we cope with pain-signal-not-related-with-protection ? What are the therapy to treat that ? Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy ? Haptotherapy ? Psycho-emotional Therapy ? Sthg about "I am confident with my body and environment" ? Mindfulness, exercise, etc. ?

You did what? I'm not understanding. what did you receptor say? are receptors big or small?

new game: take a shot every time he says "groovy"

I so need to do that....but embarrassed to admit I am so scared of re hurting my back I'm not making much progress. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with

Pueden subtitular al español por favor?

Lorimer, we love you.

I have what might be called CHRONIC BLADDER PAIN MYSTERY SYNDROME. It is chronic as no-one knows how to diagnose it and therefore there is no sure treatment for it, however, somehow I do not feel that this guy has the answers for me, rather I do myself though I need to keep working on it and my pelvic floor therapist hopefully can help, moreover, some of this chronic pain may slip into pleasure with the X factor. Naturally I want more of the latter rather than the former and I am working on it! Needless to say this guy does not delve into a pleasure aspect which to me is the same side of the coin so to speak!

Genuinely curious. Snakes aren't poisonous right? They are venomous? Think I saw some info about that somewhere. I mean you can eat snakes right

is the square a and square b thing real because I thought A looked darker than B?

Really interesting. Pain is an illusion masquerading as reality. Perhaps, its both ! One

The brain is the master organ that processes pain signals from the body. The brain processes pain signals as sensations, emotions, and thoughts (not just a pure sensation). Thoughts and emotions can make the experience of pain much worse, or much more manageable. Thoughts and emotions directly influence the pain signals coming into the body. Now, does it work for everyone, of course not? People are weak when it comes to change. The brain becomes more sensitive to pain signals with chronic pain. This is why you might be more sensitive to pain signals than other people after living with pain for a long time. But you can learn ways to help lower the “pain thermostat” of the brain. Chronic pain is a chronic illness. Like diabetes, high blood pressure, or asthma, chronic pain needs long-term management, including lifestyle changes as well as medical treatment. IMHO...

Can I share the video on my facebook with Chinese subtitle?

Fantastic educator... Maybe I'm missing something but surely he made a mistake regarding the squares .." no matter how long you look at it "A" will look darker than "B" ....? It's the other way round no ?

Interesting topic, but I must say as a chronic pain sufferer, that I was hoping for a way to convince the brain that I am not in pain.

In the book Dune .. they have the gom jabar ( spelling ?)

Great video! However what's the solution? Where to now?

Nitpicking here, but is it not dangerous to state that pain is an illusion? To clarify, I would say the shadow trick in this video is an illusion, however sight is not an illusion. Therefore I could agree that specific cases such as phantom limb pain and chronic pain could be described pain illusions but pain generally is not. My concern is jumping the gun and telling patients their pain is an illusion is not helpful.

Interesting talk...But no solutions offered as to how to change the perception of pain in your brain? This is just Not just a One Time Vdeo. Sounds like you have to see Many of his Videos, Read a Variety of Several Books And Follow Ted...

haha you got me at 6:20 too XD!

the trainer at my school told me to watch rhis

I often refer to this video when explaining chronic pain to clients. I then use hypnotherapy to take them out of pain, if it is appropriate to do so. There are numerous ways to affect the brain's production of pain that work well once the concept is understood. I find Freddy Jacquin's Arrow Technique to be so effective that I use it in public demonstrations. It has worked every time so far.

Find a physiotherapist that specializes in working with people who suffer from chronic pain. They will help you a lot with your fear of re-injury so you can sustain your progress.

I don't fully agree with everything he says but it is a pleasure to watch him for his true blue Oker style.

You are not supposed to "ignore" pain. Your body tells you there is pain so you take note of it & treat it. Even if it just resting. Telling people to " ignore" the pain is a way of just shaming people that have real pain.

Screw pain!