Exercise and Activity for Pain Management
The American College of Sports Medicine’s (2018) recommendations state that:
All healthy adults aged 18–65 years should participate in moderate intensity aerobic physical activity for a minimum of 30 min on five days per week, or vigorous intensity aerobic activity for a minimum of 20 min on three days per week.
Additionally, every adult should perform activities that maintain or increase muscular strength and endurance for a minimum of two days per week.
Regular physical activity and exercise has been associated with numerous physical and mental benefits including: weight control, reduces risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disease, reduces risk of some cancers, strengthens bones and muscles, improves mental health and mood, improves ability to perform daily activities and prevent falls (Vina, Sanchis-Gomar, Martinez-Bello & Gomez-Cabrera, 2012). But did you know exercise can also reduce your perception of pain?
A recent systematic review conducted by Pacheco-Barrios et al. (2020) investigated 36 studies to determine the effects of exercise on pain thresholds of healthy individuals. The authors concluded that exercise was effective in increasing an individual’s pain threshold, with women experiencing a greater benefit than men. Further investigation suggested that the overall effect on pain threshold was greater for strength exercise when compared to aerobic and when completed at a moderate intensity.
By Kiyomi Lim, Physiotherapy student at Exercise Thought
References:
Pacheco-Barrios, K., Gianlorenço, A. C., Machado, R., Queiroga, M., Zeng, H., Shaikh, E., … Fregni, F.. (2020). Exercise-induced pain threshold modulation in healthy subjects: a systematic review and meta-analysis.. Principles and Practice of Clinical Research Journal, 6(3), 11–28. http://doi.org/10.21801/ppcrj.2020.63.2
Riebe, D., Ehrman, Jonathan K., Liguori, Gary, Magal, Meir, & Ovid Technologies, Inc. (2018). ACSM's guidelines for exercise testing and prescription (Tenth ed.). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.
Vina, J., Sanchis-Gomar, F., Martinez-Bello, V., & Gomez-Cabrera, M. C. (2012). Exercise acts as a drug; the pharmacological benefits of exercise. British journal of pharmacology, 167(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1476-5381.2012.01970.x