PainScience.com Audio Articles
Audio versions of classic deep dive articles about stretching, posture, Epsom salts, “structuralism,” and trigger points
These five PainSci articles are available in audiobook format for members and e-boxed set customers, or on request for visually impaired visitors. Members also get access to hundreds more smaller audio-articles. Already a member? To unlock these downloads: LOGIN
There’s a theme! Each of these small audiobooks are about popular but dubious ideas in physical medicine: the value of stretching, the importance of posture, the power of Epsom salts, the nature of so-called trigger points, and the debacle of structuralism (an excessive focus on alignment, biomechanics, and kinesiology). It’s basically the Greatest Hits from the last twenty years of fine-tuning my writing about this controversial and complex subject matter.
- Quite a Stretch
DESCRIPTIONStretching is not a pillar of fitness: it doesn't warm you up, enhance peformance, or prevent or treat soreness, injury, or any kind of chronic pain. But it can actually backfire! It can boost flexibility, for whatever it’s worth (not much). DOWNLOAD AUDIOYou must have a boxed set or be a logged-in member to download audio versions of my articles, or email a request if you are visually impaired. Already a boxed set customer or member? Login to unlock. 21MB 50min - Does Posture Matter?
DESCRIPTIONPoor posture is a minor factor in pain and injury, but gets far too much attention in physical therapy and rehab. Many habitual postures are adaptations to anatomical quirks that can’t be changed. Most other “poor posture” is just coping with bad ergonomics. “Posturology” is mostly misguided pseudoscience. When people seem to be vulnerable to postural stresses, the vulnerability is usually the problem. DOWNLOAD AUDIOYou must have a boxed set or be a logged-in member to download audio versions of my articles, or email a request if you are visually impaired. Already a boxed set customer or member? Login to unlock. 30MB 64min - Does Epsom Salt Work?
DESCRIPTIONEpsom salt in your bath makes bath water feel “silkier,” but that’s probably all: it’s unlikely to be biologically relevant to aches and pains, and it may not even make it through the skin (osmosis is not even relevant, and it cannot “detox” anything). DOWNLOAD AUDIOYou must have a boxed set or be a logged-in member to download audio versions of my articles, or email a request if you are visually impaired. Already a boxed set customer or member? Login to unlock. 43MB 91min - Your Back Is Not Out of Alignment
DESCRIPTION“Structuralism” is the excessive focus on causes of pain like crookedness and biomechanical problems. It’s an old and inadequate view of how pain works, but it persists because it offers comforting, marketable simplicity that is the mainstay of entire styles of therapy. DOWNLOAD AUDIOYou must have a boxed set or be a logged-in member to download audio versions of my articles, or email a request if you are visually impaired. Already a boxed set customer or member? Login to unlock. 68MB 112min - Trigger Point Doubts
DESCRIPTIONPeople have muscle pain and sensitive spots in muscle tissue — “muscle knots” — and they can be severe. What’s going on? The main theory is that a trigger point is an isolated spasm, but it’s just a theory, trigger point science is half-baked and controversial, and it’s not even clear that it’s a “muscle” problem. I sell a book about trigger points, so it’s an ethical necessity for me to question the validity of the idea. DOWNLOAD AUDIOYou must have a boxed set or be a logged-in member to download audio versions of my articles, or email a request if you are visually impaired. Already a boxed set customer or member? Login to unlock. 23MB 48min
- Quite a Stretch
DOWNLOAD 21 MB file (M4B), 50 - Does Posture Matter?
DOWNLOAD 30 MB file (M4B), 64 - Does Epsom Salt Work?
DOWNLOAD 43 MB file (M4B), 91 - Your Back Is Not Out of Alignment
DOWNLOAD 68 MB file (M4B), 112 - Trigger Point Doubts
DOWNLOAD 23 MB file (M4B), 48
The articles are all read and produced by me. I used to be a theatre and radio guy, so these recordings were a hoot for me to make, and they do not suck.
The 2025 reboot: These are hard to keep up-to-date, and some are now embarrassingly archaic and out of sync with the web versions of the articles. I’m actively working on freshening everything up, and as of early 2026, all the old audio articles have been “remastered” at least (better audio quality). More bettering to come!
And now a podcast! Audio versions of many blog posts
I also started recording audio versions of blog posts for members in early 2022, and once you’ve got a bunch of those … boom, podcast! It’s a private podcast for members-only, but it’s a podcast. There are now 144 of those and counting, still going strong heading into 2026. Audio versions are clearly marked by 🔈 in the blog index.
Two audio books too
I have audio versions of two of my books as well: plantar fasciitis and IT band syndrome. Those are available to anyone who purchases those individual tutorials (or the boxed set, of course).
How do I get the audio? Three ways
- Buy a boxed set of ebooks. That unlocks all the audiobooks — two big ones, and five small ones.
- Buy a “better” PainSci membership. That will unlock all of the above, plus dozens of smaller audio versions as well, and podcast access.
- If you’re visually impaired, just ask: send me an email. Seriously! Or, if you’re not visually impaired, just tell me you are — I won’t know! It’s not like I’m going to say no to someone claiming to be visually impaired, so go ahead: be evil, get some free stuff.
Unlock the audio … with an “e-boxed” set of e-books
I created these to be a nice perk for all e-boxed set customers and perks, so to get them you have to purchase one of those.
?
Paying in your own (non-USD) currency is always cheaper! My prices are set slightly lower than current exchange rates, but most cards charge extra for conversion.
Example: as a Canadian, if I pay $19.95 USD, my credit card converts it at a high rate and charges me $26.58 CAD. But if I select Canadian dollars here, I pay only $24.95 CAD.
Why so different? If you pay in United States dollars (USD), your credit card will convert the USD price to your card’s native currency, but the card companies often charge too much for conversion — it’s a way for them to make a little extra money, of course. So I offer my customers prices converted at slightly better than the current rate.
Unlock the audio… with PainSci membership
Membership with audio access is USD $5/month (or $50/year to save $6) and includes:
Almost everything on PainScience.com is free, including most blog posts, hundreds of articles, and large parts of articles that have member-areas. Member areas typically contain content that is interesting but less essential — dorky digressions, and extra detail that any keen reader would enjoy, but which the average visitor can take or leave.
PainScience.com is 100% reader-supported by memberships, book sales, and donations. That’s what keep the lights on and allow me to publish everything else (without ads).
- → access to many members-only sections of articles +
And more coming. This is a new program as of late 2021. I have created twelve large members-only areas so far — about 40,000 words, a small book’s worth. Articles with large chunks of exclusive content are:
- Does Epsom Salt Work?
- Quite a Stretch
- Heat for Pain and Rehab
- Your Back Is Not Out of Alignment
- Trigger Point Doubts
- Does Fascia Matter?
- Anxiety & Chronic Pain
- Does Massage Therapy Work?
- Does Posture Matter?
- A Deep Dive into Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness
- Does Ultrasound or Shockwave Therapy Work?
- A Painful Biological Glitch that Causes Pointless Inflammation
- Guide to Repetitive Strain Injuries
- Chronic, Subtle, Systemic Inflammation
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing
- Reviews of Pain Professions
- Articles with smaller members sections (more still being added):
- → all the audio described on this page
- → premium subscription to the PainSci Updates newsletter +Sign-up to get the salamander in your inbox, 0–3 posts per week, mostly small, occasionally huge. You can sign-up for free and get most of them; members get more, like the podcasted audio versions. The blog has existed for a good fifteen years now, and there are over a thousand posts in the library, plus many dozens of podcast episodes. ❐
Change or cancel plans any time. Payment data handled safely by Stripe.com. More about security & privacy. PainScience.com is a small publisher in Vancouver, Canada, since 2001. 🇨🇦