Helene M. Langevin, M.D.
March 27, 2024

How does pain occur? How does it go away? Finding answers to these questions matters to the more than50 million adults in the United Stateswho suffer from chronic pain.

I recently had the opportunity to join theNational Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council meeting, hosted by theNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, to share new directions in musculoskeletal pain research led by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).

The dual epidemics of chronic pain and opioid misuse make it clear that developing better nonaddictive analgesics is critically important. But treating pain as a symptom is not enough. We need to better understand how pain resolves so we can encourage the bodys innate capacity for healing to help address the source of pain, rather being limited to treating its end result.