Can Injuries Have a Lasting Effect on the Perception of Pain in Young, Healthy Women and Men?

Background: Pain is a characteristic, unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Pain is a subjective sensation, modulated by many factors such as age, sex, emotional state, national origin, or physical activity. Moreover, it is closely associated with intense physical activity, injuries, and traumas, which can significantly modulate pain tolerance.Hypothesis: We postulate that there are correlations between past injuries, physical activity, and intensity of pain perception (pain threshold and pain tolerance) in a population of healthy men and women.Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.Level of Evidence: Level 4.Methods: A total of 302 participants aged 18 to 32 years were included. The participants were divided into 2 groups (active and inactive individuals), in accordance with the scope of physical activity they had indicated. The test of pressure pain threshold and pressure pain tolerance was performed using an algometer.Results: Active women achieved significantly higher pain threshold and pain tolerance values in all measurements on the upper limb (except for the pain threshold on the left hand) compared with inactive women. In mediation analysis, the effect of injury remained significant only for the pressure pain tolerance in the dominant arm and the left hand in the female group. In the case of men, there were no significant differences in all measurements in view of the threshold and tolerance for pain between the groups of active and inactive and between men with injuries and without injuries.Conclusion: Intense, regular physical activity is a factor modulating the perception of pain. This was demonstrated as lowered sensitivity to pain stimuli in a population of healthy women.Clinical Relevance: Injuries should be treated as an important factor modulating the perception of pain. We recommend detailed monitoring of injuries during treatment and control of pain sensation.