The Role of Exercise in Pain Perception

Abstract

The intention of the current study was to investigate whether a short amounr of self-regulated aerobic exercise could produce hypoalgesia. 11 students were studied utilizing (8 females, M = 24.73; SD = 8.59) cold pressor pain as the noxious stimulus to test pain threshold and pain tolerance before and after 10 minutes of self-paced running. It was hypothesised exercise would result in an increase of pain tolerance during and after high intensity exercise. Results showed the experiment did produce hypoalgesia, with significant results shown for pain tolerance. These results suggest hypoalgesia can be produced in a relatively short amount of time, utilising self-paced aerobic exercise. Blood pressure, baroreceptors and endorphins have previously been suggested to be the physiological mechanisms behind exercise induced hypoalgesia, and are discussed in relation to this study.

Can 10 minutes running produce exercise induced hypoalgesia?

The capability to detect painful stimuli and react to the pain source rapidly and effectively is a biological survival mechanism (Grahek, 2007). Understanding the multifaceted mechanisms of pain perception have proven a challenge for researchers, especially when it can be altered under certain physiological conditions (Ghione, Rosa, Mezzasalma, & Panattoni, 1988; Koltyn, 2000). One such physiological condition is exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH), often tested by measuring pain threshold, the moment a person starts to feel aversion to a noxious stimulus, and tolerance when the subject cannot bear the aversion any longer, both before and after exercise (Koyltn, 2002). Researchers have found that both pain thresholds and pain tolerance can increase following aerobic, isometric, resistance and even low intensity exercise (Koyltn, 2002). Although, as each of these studies utilised different exercise types with different noxious stimuli, finding conclusive results that allow researchers enough...