Large-Scale Study Results: Curable Receives #1 Top Score in Quality Assessment of Apps for Persistent Pain

The study reviewed and evaluated the quality of 19 apps for self-management of persistent pain symptoms.

A study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research in New Zealand analyzed 19 smartphone apps for quality of promoting self-management of chronic pain symptoms.

In the results, the Curable app...

🏆 Was the #1 top scoring app in the overall quality assessment

🏆 Was the ONLY app to provide comprehensive pain neuroscience education and guided relaxation for pain management

🏆 Received the highest score for self-management skills of chronic pain

🏆 Included the highest number of core self-management skills

The study focused on the importance of including multiple strategies and methodologies for pain management, as this may result in higher chances of pain relief.

Overall, 3 of the included apps (Curable, Mindfulness Daily, and SuperBetter) did include 5 out of the 6 core self-management skills, suggesting that apps used after or alongside face-to-face care could be a feasible mechanism for providing ongoing self-management support.

Another important app feature the study looked for was comprehensive pain science education. Providing users with this can be a form of therapy on its own, often called Therapeutic Neuroscience Education. A better understanding of how pain works has been shown to help people experience less pain, less fear of the pain and increased mobility.

Pain education and activity pacing, 2 widely used self-management strategies were infrequently present in the included apps. For the purpose of the review, pain education was defined relative to concepts of pain neuroscience education, information on pain-stress-depression, medication, and sleep management. Pain neuroscience education has been shown to improve long-term improvements in pain-related disability and functioning. Except for the Curable app, which provided comprehensive pain education via an interactive virtual pain coach, it is a significant omission that pain education and support for activity pacing were absent from most apps.

Read the full study here and learn more about Curable below!

What is Curable?

The Curable program delivers evidence-based methods for chronic pain self care. It guides you through hundreds of exercises designed to break the cycle of pain, like:

Easy-to-understand pain science education
Guided meditations
Expressive writing
Visualizations

With Curable, chronic pain sufferers can self-manage their symptoms safely, effectively, and inexpensively.

The program is based on a "biopsychosocial" approach to chronic pain relief, the same principles and techniques that have shown significant results across clinical studies. These methods are used by leading physicians, specialists, and psychologists at institutions like Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Northwestern, and NYU - many of whom helped us to build the Curable program.

How it Works

When pain persists, becoming “chronic,” it also becomes more complex. Modern pain research shows that psychological and emotional elements can play a major role. These non-physical components can help the brain “learn” to be in pain, re-wiring the body’s neural circuitry to perpetuate the sensation of pain.

With proper therapeutic attention the brain can "unlearn" pain, paving the way to physical pain relief. Research shows that methods like education, writing, meditation, visualization, and cognitive behavioral therapy can successfully help the brain to stop this recurring pain cycle.

More Pain Science Education

What a Pain in the Brain!

"What does it matter what we think?" That's the question Dr. Tor Wager has spent years in the research lab trying to answer. Listen as he breaks down the placebo effect, explains the neuroscience of chronic pain, and shares stories of just how powerful the mindbody connection is.

Listen to the Interview

Unraveling The Mystery of Fibromyalgia

Dr. Howard Schubiner has appeared on the list of Best Doctors In America three times - and there’s a good reason why. Patients flock to him to get simple, straightforward answers to chronic aches and pains that baffle most physicians. Listen as he explains his understanding of fibromyalgia, and why he thinks his methods have produced results where even the most cutting-edge drugs have failed.

Listen to the Interview