The journal of pain : official journal of the American Pain Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Tactile precision remains intact when acute neck pain is induced.
A growing body of evidence suggests that chronic pain is associated with perceptual changes, such as impaired tactile acuity and laterality judgements. A recent study on low back pain showed that tactile acuity was decreased immediately after acute pain induction. Biologically, acute pain should lead to enhanced rather than disruptive changes in tactile acuity to meaningfully respond to potentially damaging nociceptive stimuli. ⋯ PERSPECTIVE: In this study, a sensory adaptation to acute neck pain was investigated. It was found that experimental neck pain did not elicit changes in the sensory axis, leaving tactile acuity intact in otherwise healthy participants. These data support site-specific sensory adaptation to pain.