Placebo and nocebo effects are embodied psycho-neurobiological responses capable of modulating pain and producing changes at different neurobiological, body at perceptual and cognitive levels. These modifications are triggered by different contextual factors (CFs) presented in the therapeutic encounter between patient and healthcare providers, such as healing rituals and signs. The CFs directly impact on the quality of the therapeutic outcome: a positive context, that is a context characterized by the presence of positive CFs, can reduce pain by producing placebo effects, while a negative context, characterized by the presence of negative CFs, can aggravate pain by creating nocebo effects. Despite the increasing interest about this topic; the detailed study of CFs as triggers of placebo and nocebo effects is still lacked in the management of musculoskeletal pain. Increasing evidence suggest a relevant role of CFs in musculoskeletal pain management. CFs are a complex sets of internal, external or relational elements encompassing: patient’s expectation, history, baseline characteristics; clinician’s behavior, belief, verbal suggestions and therapeutic touch; positive therapeutic encounter, patient-centered approach and social learning; overt therapy, posology of intervention, modality of treatment administration; marketing features of treatment and health care setting. Different explanatory models such as classical conditioning and expectancy can explain how CFs trigger placebo and nocebo effects. CFs act through specific neural networks and neurotransmitters that were described as mediators of placebo and nocebo effects. Available findings suggest a relevant clinical role and impact of CFs. They should be integrated in the clinical reasoning to increase the number of treatment solutions, boosts their efficacy and improve the quality of the decision-making. From a clinical perspective, the mindful manipulation of CFs represents a useful opportunity to enrich a well-established therapy in therapeutic setting within the ethical border. From a translational perspective, there is a strong need of research studies on CFs close to routine and real-world clinical practice in order to underline the uncertainty of therapy action and help clinicians to implement knowledge in daily practice.

The association of neck pain with symptoms of temporomandibular dysfunction in the general adult population was evaluated in a sample of 483 subjects selected from the population living in the municipality of Segrate, northern Italy. Subjects were interviewed by a standard questionnaire about oral conditions, temporomandibular symptomatology and neck pain. Symptoms related to the Helkimo Anamnestic Index were the indicators of temporomandibular dysfunction, and the evaluation also included history of trauma of the masticatory system. Troublesome neck pain was experienced within the last year in 38.9% of the total series, and the prevalence of complaints was higher in women than in men (41.7 vs 34.4%). Prevalence increased with age (p < 0.005) and was significantly higher in subjects with than without temporomandibular symptomatology (47.4 vs 28.6%, p < 0.0001). At univariate analysis, facial and jaw pain (p < 0.001) and feeling of stiffness or fatigue of the jaws (p < 0.01) were significantly related to neck pain. Age- and sex-adjusted multiple logistic analysis showed that neck pain is associated with the temporomandibular symptomatology as a whole (p < 0.001), and in particular with facial and jaw pain (p < 0.01). These findings confirm that there is a significant association between neck pain and the temporomandibular symptomatology. Moreover, they suggest that the most relevant relationship is with facial and jaw pain, according to recent neurophysiologic studies on pain mechanism. Further clinical and longitudinal studies are desirable in order to give a better clarification of mutual specific roles of craniocervical and temporomandibular disorders in the aetiology of these pathologies.

Red Flags (RFs) are signs and symptoms related to the screening of serious underlying pathologies mimicking a musculoskeletal pain. The current literature wonders about the usefulness of RFs, due t...