HK 3100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Threshold Of Pain, Pain Tolerance, Acupuncture
2 Apr 2018
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Age affects pain threshold and pain tolerance: pain threshold: least experience of pain that a subject can recognize, pain tolerance: greatest level of pain the subject is prepared to tolerate, upper level of "pain unpleasantness" Involves cognitive and affective components: pain threshold increases with age, only 3/40 studies report opposite effect, pain tolerance decreases, 5 studies report decrease, only 2 studies report increase, the pain unpleasantness scale decreases. Age related changes in central sensitization: neurogenic inflammation leading to secondary hyperalgesia is decreased in elderly, greater noxious stimulus required [~increased threshold] Diffuse noxious inhibitory control (dnic: definition: applying a painful stimulus to one body part leads to inhibition of pain in another remote region of the body, you end up with this, these pathways become dysfunctional with age. Inhibited by c fibers (pain) (small fibers: activated by ab fibers (touch) (large fibers)
