What to expect when a doctor’s visit might be painful?

Imagine sitting in a doctor’s office, about to undergo a small procedure. How much pain should you expect? While positive expectations can help, being too positive may harm.

In this blog, Anastasiia Myronenko and Kaya Peerdeman highlight research on placebo and nocebo effects, showing that positive expectations can reduce pain, while negative ones can make it worse.

But should doctors always say, “It won’t hurt at all”? Not necessarily, recent studies found that overly optimistic predictions can backfire, leading to uncertainty, disappointment, and even loss of trust.

So, what should doctors say? Can they even predict the pain you will feel? And how can you manage your own pain expectations?

Read the blog to find out.