Managing Pain: It’s Time to Get to Know This Little-Known Supplement.

Managing pain has proven to be a challenge for science. Existing pharmaceutical

painkillers are limited by their disappointing efficacy and considerable side

effects. But there is a little known natural supplement that is showing tremendous

promise for its power over pain and for its safety.

Palmitoylethanolamide, or PEA for short, is naturally made in your body. It has

strong immune and antidepressant effects. But it is also powerfully anti-

inflammatory, pain relieving and neuroprotective.

Several studies have found that PEA can manage many kinds of pain because it

works in many different ways. One double-blind study found that 400mg of PEA

taken 3 times a day reduces many kinds of pain by reducing central and

peripheral sensitivity to pain and increasing pain inhibition as a pain modulator

(Nutrients. 2022 Oct;14(19):4084).

A meta-analysis of 10 controlled studies of pain found that PEA is significantly

superior to controls for reducing pain. It had the important bonus of being

remarkably safe (Pain Physician. 2017 Jul;20(5):353-362).

Now a new meta-analysis adds to the evidence for PEA as a painkiller. The new

meta-analysis included 18 controlled studies with 1,196 people. Once again, it

showed that PEA helps manage a wide range of types of pain. PEA significantly

reduced pain compared to controls, and quality of life, including pain-related

quality of life, was significantly higher in the PEA group.

PEA was effective for all types of pain studied, including nociceptive pain caused

by tissue damage, like cuts, burns or bruises; neuropathic pain, or pain caused

by nerve damage; and nociplastic pain, or chronic pain caused by the altered

processing of pain by the central nervous system.

This new meta-analysis “confirms” that PEA reduces pain and improves quality of

life while being safe and free of opioids’ risk of abuse and dependency.

Nutr Rev. 2025 Jul 1;83(7):e1604-e1618.