Regular Exercise Found to Increase Pain Tolerance

The positive effects of exercise on our health are indisputable. However, a recent study suggests that regular exercise may not only contribute to a healthy lifestyle but also increase our tolerance of pain. This is particularly important for people living with chronic pain, because these findings may open the door to a new approach to pain management. In this article, we discuss this groundbreaking research into how regular exercise may increase pain tolerance.

Exercise and Pain Tolerance: A Positive Association Found

A large observational study involving more than 10,000 adults was published on May 24, 2023, in PLOS One.

The researchers found that people who regularly engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity over a period of 7 to 8 years had higher pain tolerance than those who did not take part in such activity. Even light exercise was also observed to increase pain tolerance.

Any Activity Is Better Than Inactivity

The study participants were 10,732 people who completed questionnaires in 2007-2008 and 2015-2016.

Data on physical activity, pain tolerance, sex, sociodemographic variables, and chronic pain were collected through clinical examinations.

Pain tolerance was measured using the cold pressor test (CPT), which assesses how long participants can keep their hands in cold water.

Compared with the sedentary (nonexercising, inactive) group, those engaging in light-, moderate-, and high-intensity exercise had higher cold pressor test tolerance, respectively:

• 7% higher for those doing light-intensity exercise,
• 14% higher for those doing moderate-intensity exercise, and
• 16% higher for those doing high-intensity exercise.

Change Is Always Possible and Beneficial

As lead researcher Årnes noted, regular physical activity is associated with higher pain tolerance, and any activity is better than inactivity. People who moved from an inactive lifestyle to a more active one were observed to have increased pain tolerance. The highest pain tolerance was recorded among people who regularly engaged in moderate-to-vigorous exercise and could endure the cold pressor test for 20.4 seconds longer than sedentary participants.

In conclusion, there is growing evidence that regular exercise increases pain tolerance. However, further studies are needed. Future research will provide a better understanding of how these findings can be applied in practice and of exercise's potential role in pain management.