Switching Off Chronic Pain 

For centuries, people have tried to understand why pain sometimes never goes away. Now, scientists in Australia believe the answer lies in a subcellular component of peripheral nerves which is susceptible to the invisible forces of physics. A new study published in iScience describes a model based on electromagnetic principles — the natural laws that describe the interactions between electric charges and magnetic fields — that can bring lasting relief from chronic pain, something long thought to be impossible.

Researchers Dr. Philip Cornish and Mrs Anne Cornish from Specialised Pain Medicine Pty Ltd, together with data expert Dr. Jonathan Tuke from the University of Adelaide, studied 231 people who were treated with a small implanted device that generates an electromagnetic field. This was used to target sodium channels, the principal ion channels in the cell membranes of pain-conducting nerve cells. Their method followed a mathematical framework to position the device precisely in the body. The results showed a strong link between accurate placement of the device and the complete disappearance of pain. The study suggests that chronic pain could be completely stopped – and consequently explained – by understanding how an electromagnetic field interacts with living tissues.

Neuromodulation, the treatment used in the current study, has been in use for over 70 years but its clinical outcomes have recently been criticized as no better than placebo. The Cornish’s breakthrough finding had been that this device generates an electromagnetic field, not an electric current as previously believed. This finding was published in their prior in silico study in The International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering. Moreover, in that same study they also demonstrated that the principal ion channel in nerves, known widely as the ‘voltage-gated’ sodium channel, was actually electromagnetically responsive/sensitive. Given that their clinical outcome was so important, i.e., pain-free, it was a case of linking source of electromagnetism to target of electromagnetism. As Dr. Cornish explained about the current study, “Critically, our mathematical framework for the placement of the electrode array of the neuromodulation unit is highly significantly associated with a pain-free outcome in chronic pain patients”. What makes this work stand out is that it incorporates electromagnetic theory and knowledge of the biophysical space into diagnosing and treating chronic pain as well as for understanding it. It does not rely on guesswork or repeated adjustments. Instead, it uses the same mathematical rules that describe how electromagnetic fields are generated and transmitted — the same rules that make modern technology possible, such as radios and electric motors. Which makes sense, because electromagnetism is the foundational science making them all function. 

During their investigations, the scientists noticed something remarkable. They were able to link short-term complete relief of pain with nerve block/s to long-term complete relief of pain with application of neuromodulation. By using a precise mathematical framework based on one of the fundamental equations of physics called Gauss’s law, which describes how an electric field spreads out from a source charge, they determined how to place electrodes in a way that the electromagnetic field reached the pain-producing sodium channels most effectively. This methodology also confirmed that while injections were of limited therapeutic benefit, they were of great value within a diagnostic framework.

This long-term study included people of many ages and pain presentations who had suffered for years and had tried other treatments without success. The results were remarkable: every person treated with this new model reported total relief soon after surgery. The team also found that following recovery instructions was essential to maintaining success, in line with research on compliance and noncompliance from behavioural science. Those who avoided unnecessary movement after the procedure were far more likely to stay pain-free. The researchers noted that being too active too soon sometimes caused the thin electrical wires, known as electrodes, to shift, which significantly reduced or even stopped their pain relief. 

Over time, the benefits of this method became even more convincing and impactful (figure 1). More than a hundred people have remained free from both pain and medication for many years, with some reporting full recovery even after a decade. In cases where the electrodes were accidentally pulled out of position with associated loss of pain relief, returning the electrodes to their original calculated position — as defined by the mathematical framework — restored complete pain relief.

This finding changes how doctors might think about pain treatments. Traditionally, success in chronic pain therapy has meant cutting pain levels in half — a goal that often left patients still struggling. In contrast, the Cornish’s model has helped people experience no pain at all in conditions ranging from back and chronic post-surgical pain to phantom limb pain, a sensation where people feel pain in a limb that has been amputated. The team believes that many traditional methods of neuromodulation, such as placing electrodes in the spinal canal (called epidural placement), fail to work well because they ignore the underlying physics of both the device and the body. “Clinical outcomes for neuromodulation associated with epidural placement of the electrode array have recently been criticized as no better than placebo,” Dr. Cornish noted, adding that this may reflect issues with transmission of the electromagnetic field that were identified in their prior in silico study. 

Beyond the medical success, the study also challenges the basic understanding of pain itself. The researchers argue that pain is not a message sent by nerves and interpreted by the brain, but an electromagnetic event that happens within the body’s nerve cells and is associated with a reflex withdrawal response mediated through the spinal cord. “This study strongly suggests that chronic pain is a bioelectromagnetic phenomenon of the peripheral nerves. ” said Dr. Cornish, referring to the idea that living tissues generate and respond to electromagnetic fields. By combining physics and biology, the team have created a new way to understand, diagnose and treat long-lasting pain. The strong results of this study point to a major step forward in understanding and treating chronic pain using physics rather than medication.

Certain obstacles remain. The devices used can still shift after surgery. The scientists believe that improved equipment design could solve that issue. The method requires a different way of caring for these patients with a change in funding model. The concepts in this body of work represent a paradigm shift, and historically resistance to such developments must first be overcome. 

The potential impact goes well beyond pain management. This approach shows how the same principles that power radios, computers, and MRI machines — which also rely on electromagnetic fields — can help to positively influence the human body. As Dr. Cornish summarized, “We have developed a mathematical framework based on the Maxwell equations to guide placement of the electrode array of a neuromodulation unit. We have demonstrated in this study that our mathematical framework is strongly associated with the patient report of [being] pain-free across multiple different presentations of chronic pain”. This work has the potential to transform how medicine views chronic pain — not as an unsolvable condition, but as a bioelectromagnetic phenomenon that can be corrected with new understanding, and precision in diagnosis and treatment.

Journal Reference

Cornish P., Cornish A., Tuke J., “The complete relief of chronic pain utilizing electromagnetic theory: A retrospective observational cohort study.” iScience, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.112916

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