Opposite effects of isometric exercise on pain sensitivity of healthy individuals: the role of pain modulation

Review written by Ben Cormack info

Key Points

  1. Pain free individuals exhibit similar variability in pain relief from exercise to painful populations.
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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

The positive effects of exercise on pain (hypoalgesia) are well documented within healthy individuals, especially with isometric exercise (1). The opposite effect, hyperalgesia, has often been observed in patients with chronic pain. This paper wanted to also look at if hyperalgesia also occurs within healthy populations and some of the mechanisms that might be involved in this process with this paper looking specifically to explore the analgesic response to isometric exercise.

The aim of this paper was therefore to systematically study among healthy individuals, the interactions of exercise and pain modulation pathways using their known experimental indicators.

The positive effects of exercise on pain (hypoalgesia) are well documented within healthy individuals, especially with isometric exercise.
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Whilst group means allow comparison between groups for an effect size to be calculated, it may give an unrealistic view at the individual level of the responses that may be seen by practitioners in clinical practice.

METHODS

  • 57 healthy participants were recruited from around Tel Aviv university.
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