The Effects of Mirthful Laughter on Pain Tolerance and Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.

Abstract

Chronic pain is a debilitating disease that affects more people than any other chronic disease. Currently, there is not a singular treatment known to cure or assure relief from chronic pain. Accordingly, the management of patients’ discomfort is an integral part of treating chronic pain. Such treatment, however, is not effective for many patients. PURPOSE: We determined if mirthful laughter provided by comic relief can influence pain tolerance and muscle soreness in young healthy participants. METHODS: Forty participants underwent a randomized controlled cross-over designed experiment. Each participant was exposed to a comedy video eliciting mirthful laughter and a boring documentary. Delayed onset muscle soreness was induced in one leg at a time by eccentric exercises to mimic chronic pain. Pain tolerance was tested using the blunt force application. RESULTS: Watching the comedy video elicited a significantly greater irregular breathing pattern compared with watching the documentary video (p<0.001). After watching the comedy, the participants’ positive affect was increased (Δ2±1) while it was largely decreased (Δ-11±2) after watching the documentary video (p<0.001). Pain tolerance was decreased by 17±5 N after viewing the documentary video (p<0.001), but did not change significantly after watching the comedy. There were no significant changes in the visual analogue pain/soreness score from viewing either video. CONCLUSION: Thirty-minutes of watching a comedy eliciting laughter favorably influenced pain tolerance in healthy humans.