Pain perception and physiological responses to thermal and mechanical experimental pain : foundation for pain studies in dancers and non-dancers

Abstract

Pain perception is a complex phenomenon comprised of the transmission of nociceptive signals and central neural processing to initiate responses to noxious stimuli. Great strides have been made in our understanding of the neurophysiological processes behind nociception, the role of psychosocial factors in modulating pain perception and how individuals respond physiologically to painful stimuli. However, there are still gaps in the literature regarding how individuals may respond to different types of experimental pain stimuli. This is particularly critical when looking at pain responses in populations who may experience a particular type of pain regularly. One such group is dancers. The primary gaps in the literature centre around the inconsistencies in reported physiological responses to thermal and chemical experimental pain and the appropriateness of methods used to test dancers and non-dancers pain experience in a laboratory setting. It is hypothesised that both the cold pressor test and hypertonic saline infusion pain protocols are associated with significant physiological responses, including increased heart rate, blood pressure and MSNA. However, it is hypothesised that the cold pressor test is associated with greater increases in these variables, and greater perceived pain compared with the hypertonic saline infusion. Dancers are hypothesised to demonstrate greater autonomic responses and lower perceived pain during the two pain protocols compared to non-dancers. The primary aim for this project was therefore to measure pain perception and physiological responses to two distinct types of experimental pain, a cold pressor task and a 5% hypertonic saline infusion into the tibialis anterior muscle. The secondary aim of this study was to pilot these protocols with groups of dancers and non-dancers to gain preliminary insights into the differences in pain perception and physiological responses between the two groups. The primary findings of this study indicate that there is a significant difference in how female populations respond to noxious cold compared to noxious chemical stimuli with reference to both physiological responses and perceived pain intensity. The disparity in these responses emphasises the highly nuanced nature of pain perception which needs to be considered by researchers when designing experimental protocols. If pain models that don't accurately reflect the pain type that regularly afflicts a sample population are chosen, then the reported physiological responses or pain perception ratings cannot be seen as immediately transferrable to clinical understanding.

Date of Award	2023
Original language	English