Becoming Invincible: How to Increase Your Pain Tolerance
Scream It Out
In a study published in the Journal of Pain, researchers had participants sink their hands into painful ice-cold water. At one point during the hand submerging, they had the participants say “Ow!”, while at another point they had the participants sit there and do nothing while submerging their hands. Results showed that in comparison to doing nothing, saying “Ow!” had a pain-relieving effect.
Get a Massage
Massage is known to decrease pain, whether it’s in the joints, the neck, or stress related, yet it’s unknown if massages can increase pain tolerance overtime. Pressure pain threshold (PPT) is a type of measurement that looks at how far pressure can be applied before pain is experienced within deep muscle tissue. In a study looking into massage’s effect on PPT, researchers gathered 150 participants and separated them into five groups. Two groups were given heavy rolling massages on two different legs with differences in tenderness. Two other groups were given two different massages on the same leg with the same amount of tenderness. Lastly one group was given no massage at all. Based on the results comparing the PPT between the groups, those who received heavy rolling massage had the best pain tolerance in their tender spots.
Laugh it Off
Some say “laughter is the best medicine”. In 1993, researchers conducted an experiment to look into the effects of comedy on pain. 72 undergraduate students were split into three groups (one group to watch a comedy film, a second to watch documentary film, and a third to watch nothing). Each group were divided between those with a measured sense of humor, and those lacking a sense of humor. Using the common pain-inducing cold water technique mentioned above, all of the participants had their hands submerged in the water while watching. While no difference was found between those who watched the comedy film and those who didn’t, there was a high pain tolerance in those who had a higher sense of humor. This suggests that those who were able to laugh were also able to resist the pain of the cold water. A more recent study was found to produce the same results in its participants, proving the pain-tolerating effects comedy has on the body.
Sources:
1. University of Florida. (n.d.). Freud and Psycho-Analysis – Glossary of Terms. University of Florida. Retrieved from: http://users.clas.ufl.edu/ufhatch/pages/13-NDFE/freud/05-freud-terms.htm
2. Bering, J. (2009, July 30). Think Crying is Cathartic? Not Always. Scientific American. Retrieved from: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/bering-in-mind/think-crying-is-cathartic-not-always/
3. Swee, G., Schirmer, A. (2015). On the importance of being vocal: saying "ow" improves pain tolerance. J Pain: 16(4):326-34.
4. Harvard Health Publishing. (2016, July 1). Therapeutic Massage for Pain Relief. Harvard Medical School. Retrieved from: https://www.health.harvard.edu/alternative-and-complementary-medicine/therapeutic-massage-for-pain-relief
5. American Physical Therapy Association. (n.d.). Pain Pressure Threshold (PPT). American Physical Therapy Association. Retrieved from: https://www.apta.org/patient-care/evidence-based-practice-resources/test-measures/pain-pressure-threshold-ppt
6. Aboodarda, S., Spence, A. & Button, D.C. (2015). Pain pressure threshold of a muscle tender spot increases following local and non-local rolling massage. BMC Musculoskelet Disord: 16, 265.
7. Nevo, O., Keinan, G., & Teshimovsky-Arditi, M. (1993). Humor and pain tolerance. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 6(1), 71–88.
8. Lapierre SS, Baker BD, Tanaka H. (2019). Effects of mirthful laughter on pain tolerance: A randomized controlled investigation. J Bodyw Mov Ther, 23(4):733-738.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2021