As per the findings of a recent analysis published in the journal Pain Medicine, the aerobic exercise found to be more efficacious towards mechanical pain sensitivity as compared to the thermal pain sensitivity. This is the first type of analysis that examine exercise impacts on heat and pressure pain utilising the same stimulation pattern and site.

Exercise intensely decreases the pain within healthy individuals and this phenomenon is known as exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH). Although the hypoalgesic impacts of exercise are well established, there are contradictory verdicts for diverse types of pain; particularly in mechanical vs thermal noxious stimuli. Therefore, this analysis aimed to define a) the impact of aerobic exercise on heat and pressure pain thresholds with a well-balanced spatial and earthly profile and b) whether changes in the nociceptive pathways excitability measured by applying laser-evoked potentials with exercise-induced hypoalgesia.

A total of 16 participants were selected. Heat pain thresholds (HPTs), pressure pain thresholds (PPTs), pain ratings, and laser-evoked potentials (LEPs) during noxious laser stimulation were measured before and following the exercise, and also prior and following an equivalent span of light activity.

A substantial increase was seen in pressure pain thresholds after the exercise as compared to heat pain thresholds. Laser heat pain ratings and laser-evoked potentials also changed slightly following the exercise. These outcomes explain a significant change in mechanical pain sensitivity with exercise intervention.