Getting regular exercise has a slew of benefits for our mental and physical health, and researchers just found one: it can raise your pain threshold.
Researchers from several institutes in Norway studied 10,732 adults, using two data sets 7-8 years apart.
The data compared exercise routines with pain tolerance, as measured by a cold pressure testor CPT, where you dip your hand in icy water for as long as you can, up to a maximum tolerance time of 106 seconds.
The results were fairly consistent: Those who were more active were better at coping with the pain of the cold water over a longer period of time, and those who increased their activity level across the two study points also increased their pain threshold.
“Being physically active at one of the two time points measured at 7-8 year intervals was associated with higher pain tolerance compared to being sedentary at both time points,” to write the researchers in their published paper.
“Pain tolerance increased with higher total activity levels and more for those who increased their activity levels at follow-up.”
It is worth noting that an observational study such as this cannot prove that more exercise directly leads to more resistance to pain; after all, other factors may play the most important role. However, the link is strong enough to stand out.
The study showed that those who reported light levels of regular exercise kept their hands submerged in icy water for an average of 6.7 seconds longer than those who did not exercise at all.
For those who regularly performed strenuous physical activity, that increased to 16.3 seconds. For the participants who registered high levels of exertion at both measurement points, the average increased to 20.4 seconds.
“These findings suggest that becoming or staying active at a level above being sedentary, or making a positive change in activity level, is associated with higher pain tolerance over time as opposed to being sedentary or making a negative change,” to write the researchers.
Although the participants in this study self-reported their exercise levels rather than being scientifically assessed, the number of people involved in the study is relatively large, and smaller studies reached similar conclusions.
The researchers are also interested in the relationship between exercise and chronic pain. Previous research in this area is limited in scope but suggests a link between physical activity and how the body manages pain.
Moving on, the increased pain tolerance observed here could reduce the risk of chronic pain later in life. There isn’t much evidence for this right now, but it’s something the study authors would like to see explored in the future.
“These results support increased physical activity levels as a potential non-pharmacological pathway to reducing or preventing chronic pain,” to write the researchers.
The research has been published in PLOS ONE.
