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Facts, not hype · Canada

Pain research, in language you can actually use.

Painfix reads the studies on arthritis, back pain and other long-term conditions, then writes up what they found — what helps, what doesn’t, and what is still unsettled — for people living with it in Canada.

Read the articles How this site works
Understand what’s happening Why long-term pain behaves the way it does. Move without setting it off Exercise and pacing you can build up slowly. Get more from your care Treatments, questions worth asking, what to expect.
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Three things worth getting straight first

Most pain advice online is either a supplement ad or a research paper nobody outside a lab can read. These are the ideas that change what you do on a Tuesday.

The condition An older man's hands resting on the handle of a walking cane

Understand what’s happening

Long-term pain stops behaving like an injury and starts behaving like a system that has learned a habit. Knowing the difference changes which treatments are worth your time.

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Movement A couple in their fifties doing overhead stretches together

Move without setting it off

Rest protects a sprain and punishes a chronic condition. The useful question is not whether to move but how much, how often, and how to add load without paying for it the next day.

See the plans
Your care team A doctor talking with an older patient in a clinic

Get more from your appointments

Canadian waits are long and appointments are short. Going in with a clear history, specific questions and realistic expectations is the difference between a referral and another prescription.

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Latest articles

Recently published

All articles
Arthritis An older man sitting on a gym mat, holding his knee, talking to a trainer crouched beside him

The GLA:D Program: What It Is, and What the Evidence Says

If you have arthritis in a knee or a hip in Canada, the sequence is familiar enough to be a joke. Somebody tells you to lose weight and stay active…

August 8, 2026 17 min read
Treatment A person fastening the strap of a black wrist brace

Do Braces and Supports Actually Help?

A brace is the one thing in pain care you can buy on the way home from the appointment where nobody offered you anything. No prescription, no waiting…

August 6, 2026 17 min read
Cannabis A hand holding a small amber dropper bottle of oil

Does Cannabis or CBD Help With Pain?

Cannabis has been legal in Canada since October 2018, which means the shop on the main street sells something that no major pain organisation in the world…

August 5, 2026 14 min read
Free plans

Plans you can print and actually follow

Reading about exercise is not the same as having a plan for Monday. Every one of these is ready to print — free, no sign-up, no app.

See all the plans
An older man sitting on the edge of his bed, arms stretched overhead
Ready to use

Morning mobility routine

Ten minutes for stiff joints, done sitting or standing, with an easier version of every movement for days when the full one is out of reach.

Open the plan
Walking boots crossing a wooden boardwalk in a forest
Ready to use

Walking build-up

A week-by-week schedule that adds walking minutes slowly enough that you are not paying for it two days later. Prints on one page.

Open the plan
A chair exercise class of older adults, arms raised overhead
Ready to use

Seated Tai Chi

Six slow movements done from a chair, with a diagram for each one and a smaller version for stiff days. About twelve minutes.

Open the plan
About Painfix

Written for the person in the waiting room, not the journal club

Chronic pain has a research problem and a translation problem. Studies get published constantly; almost none of it reaches the people it is about in a form they can use.

Painfix works through that material and writes it up plainly: what was actually tested, who it was tested on, how well it worked, and where the evidence runs out. Where guidance differs between Canada and elsewhere, we go with the Canadian version, because that is the system you are dealing with.

Browse the articles See the free plans
Sources are named
Articles point at the study or guideline behind a claim, so you can take it to your own doctor.
Canadian context
Referrals, coverage and wait times here work differently than in the studies you will read about elsewhere.
Uncertainty is stated
A lot of pain research is small, short and mixed. When that is the case, the article says so instead of rounding it up to a promise.
This is not medical advice. Painfix is a reading resource, not a clinic. Nothing here diagnoses a condition or replaces the judgement of a doctor, physiotherapist or pharmacist who knows your history. Talk to them before changing a medication or starting something new.