This article was made possible by the support of Yakult and produced independently by Scientific American’s board of editors. After a slip on the ice, a sports injury, even surgery, most people’s ...

While Olympian alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn chose to compete with a torn ACL, it’s not a good idea for regular folks to exercise with intensity after a serious injury.

New research suggests pain is not a simple signal of injury but a process that unfolds across nerves, spinal cord, and brain. Scientists are now targeting earlier points in that pathway, before pain ...