Expectations affect pain sensitivity changes during massage.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to examine how positive and negative expectations influence pain sensitivity changes during pain-free and pain-inducing massage.
Results Summary
The study found that positive expectations significantly increased pressure pain thresholds during pain-inducing massage compared to negative expectations, particularly at minutes 3 and 4. Expectations were shown to impact pain sensitivity changes during massage.
Population
56 healthy participants
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Minutes 3 and 4 of massage (exact total duration not specified)
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
positive expectation instructional set | increase | Pressure pain threshold (PPT) | healthy participants | - | demonstrated significantly higher | #1 |
negative expectation instructional set | decrease | Pressure pain threshold (PPT) | healthy participants | - | demonstrated significantly lower | #2 |
pain-inducing massage | neutral | pain sensitivity | - | - | produces changes in | #3 |
cold pressor task | neutral | pain sensitivity | - | - | produces comparable changes in | #4 |
BACKGROUND: Pain-inducing massage produces comparable changes in pain sensitivity as a cold pressor task, suggesting shared neurophysiological mechanisms of conditioned pain modulation. Manual therapy and conditioned pain modulation are influenced by positive and negative expectations. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of positive and negative expectations on pain-free and pain-inducing massage. METHODS: 56 healthy participants were randomly assigned to receive a positive or negative expectation instructional set followed by a pain-inducing or a pain-free massage. Pressure pain threshold (PPT) was measured followed by each interval of massage. A repeated measures ANCOVA controlling for post-randomization differences in sex tested for massage x expectation set x PPT interaction effects, as well as two-way interaction effects. RESULTS: A significant three-way interaction effect (p = 0.04) and time x expectation interaction effect was observed for individuals receiving pain inducing massage (p = 0.02). Individuals who received the positive expectation instructional set demonstrated significantly higher PPT at minutes 3 and 4 of massage compared to individuals who received the negative expectation instructional set. CONCLUSIONS: Expectations impact pain sensitivity changes produced during massage. Clinicians planning to provide pain-inducing massage should consider the role of expectations in modulating pain sensitivity changes.