Pain Tolerance Levels Research Articles

A review of cognitive-behavioural methods for the treatment of chronic pain

Cognitive-behavioural methods for the treatment of chronic pain are described. They are divided into two categories. Firstly, those directly concerned with modifying pain related cognitions. These include distraction or relabelling techniques derived largely from analogue studies on experimental pain which show that various cognitive strategies can increase pain tolerance levels. Secondly, those concerned with modifying cognitive responses to stress. These include stress management techniques derived from the research on anxiety management. Outcome studies for both categories of cognitive methods and for a range of chronic pain problems are reviewed. It is concluded that although outcome studies report favourable results for cognitive methods there is a paucity of well controlled and evaluated studies.

Alteration of human pain thresholds by nutritional manipulation and l-tryptophan supplementation

Pain perception and tolerance thresholds of 30 normal subjects were determined by electrical stimulation of dental pulps before and after dietary manipulation which included either tryptophan supplementation or placebo. Perception threshold levels were similar in tryptophan and placebo subjects; however, pain tolerance levels were significantly higher in the group receiving tryptophan. Side effects such as nausea, skin itching, weight loss and mood elevation were more common in the tryptophan group than in the placebo group.

Interview vs. paper-and-pencil administration of the McGill Pain Questionnaire.

In a 2 x 2 design, college student subjects described one of two levels of cold pressor pain (threshold or tolerance) with the McGill Pain Questionnaire administered via one of two modes (interview or paper-and-pencil). Interview administration was associated with higher scores on 5 of the 6 MPQ scores calculated. Data did not support the notion that this effect is entirely attributable to increased probability of interviewed subjects' endorsement of descriptors for which clarification of meaning was sought. Reliable effects of pain intensity and mode of administration significantly interact.

Pain perception and endorphin levels in cerebrospinal fluid.

In 45 consecutive patients with chronic pain syndromes endorphins, fraction I of the cerebrospinal fluid and pain measures by means of electric stimulation via saline electrodes were investigated. In patients with high levels of fraction I (above median) pain threshold, PT and tolerance level, TL, in condition C (continuous stimulation increase) were found to be significantly higher than in patients with low levels of fraction I (below median). The results indicate that the endorphins are one of the physiological factors that contribute to the pain threshold and the tolerance level.

Opioid antagonist, endogenous ligands and nociception

The effect of opioid blockade on nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR) activity and subjective pain ratings was examined in 151 healthy young men and women. Using a within-subjects design, NFR threshold was assessed on 2 days after administration of either placebo or a 50 mg dose of naltrexone. Electrocutaneous pain threshold and tolerance levels were measured after NFR threshold assessment on each day. Results indicated that administration of naltrexone was consistently associated with hypoalgesic responding. Specifically, participants exhibited lower levels of NFR activity and reported lower pain ratings for electrocutaneous stimulation delivered at pain threshold and tolerance levels following administration of naltrexone as compared to placebo. These findings indicate that opiate blockade using the current standard dose may elicit hypoalgesia. A potential moderating effect of dose of opiate-blockade medication and level of endogenous opioid activation should be carefully examined in future research.

Effects of the Expression of Pain on Autonomic and Pain Tolerance Responses to Subject‐Controlled Pain

ABSTRACTA within‐subjects experiment was performed to investigate the effect of various levels of pain expression on autonomic and tolerance responses to electrical shocks which were terminated by the subjects at their tolerance level. Ten male undergraduates posed three levels of pain expression while being shocked by a constant current source that was turned up rapidly, slowly, or not at all. It was found that skin conductance responses to shock are monotonically and positively related to the level of expression; skin conductance is not significantly affected by expression in the absence of shock; pain tolerance levels are not related to the level of expression; and tolerance levels are higher for rapidly ascending shock than for slowly ascending shock. The implications of these results for theories of the expression of emotion are discussed.

Factors of the language of pain in patient and volunteer groups

An empirical determination of the nature and minimum number of dimensions necessary to describe responses to the McGill Pain Questionnaire, and a comparison of groups, experiencing clinical or experimentally induced pain, on the dimensions were carried out. Eighty-five patients referred to a low back pain diagnostic clinic and groups of 129 volunteer students exposed to electric shock to pain threshold and pain tolerance levels described their pain using the McGill Pain Questionnaire's descriptive words. An incomplete principle component factor analysis of subjects' ratings suggested that 5 factors should be retained. These factors were judged to reflect: 1. (I) immediate anxiety, 2. (II) perception of harm, 3. (III) somesthetic pressure, 4. (IV) cutaneous sensitivity, and 5. (V) sensory information. Canonical Analysis of Variance and univariate comparisons of back pain, threshold, and tolerance groups on these dimensions were conducted and implications for clinical and laboratory research discussed.

Personality, pain perception and pain tolerance.

Square‐wave electrical impulses were applied to the teeth of human subjects to determine the pain perception threshold (PP) and pain tolerance level (PT). Each subject had previously completed the Cattell 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire, but the results of this were not known to the investigators (i.e. blind testing). Analysis of the results showed no statistically significant correlation between any of the personality factors and either of the two pain measurements. Neither was there any correlation with the derived values, PT‐PP or PT/PP.

Tolerance for experimentally induced pain as related to personality.

SCHALLING, D. Tolerance for experimentally induced pain as related to personality. Scand. J. Psychol., 1971, 12, 271–281.–Relations between responses to noxious electrical stimulation (pain thresholds and tolerance levels) and personality variables were studied in a group of z6 students. Method of stimulation increase was found to be an important factor. When continuous stimulation increase was applied, the pain measures were significantly related only to scores in the Solidity scale of the Marke‐Nyman Temperament inventory, low Solidity (extravert‐impulsive) subjects showing high pain tolerance. When stimulation was increased in discrete steps (shocks), the pain measures were significantly related to scores in neuroticism‐psychasthenia and extraversion scales, psychasthenic subjects being less and extravert subjects more tolerant of the stimulation. These results are consistently in the expected directions and are well in line with the implications of the personality concepts. Pain thresholds and tolerance levels were significantly correlated and showed similar patterns of correlation with the personality variables.

Sensation Threshold, Pain Tolerance Level, and Magnitude-Estimation Sensitivity: Reliability of Prediction

The present experiment measured relationships among three measures of sensitivity to electric shock: Sensation Threshold (ST), Absolute Pain Tolerance Level (APT), and Magnitude Estimation Sensitivity (MES). Ss were 15 male and 15 female undergraduates, and all three measures were taken for each S. Multiple R correlations were computed predicting MES from ST plus APT ( R = .739), ST from MES plus APT ( R = .684), and APT from MES plus ST ( R = .449). These statistically significant results indicate that these various measures of sensitivity to electric shock ate related.

Pain Tolerance and Athletic Participation

Using thermal, gross pressure, and muscle ischemia testing procedures to induce pain, an effort was made to determine the relationship between pain response and athletic participation by measuring the pain threshold and pain tolerance levels of three groups of Ss, i.e., contact athletes, non-contact athletes, and non-athletes. There were no significant differences between groups in pain threshold, but a highly significant difference between groups on pain tolerance, wherein the contact athlete tolerated more pain than the non-contact athlete, who in turn tolerated more pain than the non-athlete. Correlation between pain threshold and pain tolerance was .38 and that between the two measures of pain tolerance, .82.