Uncertain pain can hurt more, study finds

An entrance to the Aarhus University Hospital is shown in this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 file photo. (Ernst Van Norde/Polfoto via AP)

A new study from a Danish research team has found that pain can hurt more when you don’t know it’s coming.

Neuroscientists at Aarhus University in western Denmark ran a series of tests exposing participants to cold and warm sensations, and sometimes both at the same time, which they say harmlessly simulates pain through a phenomenon called the “thermal grill illusion.”

Participants were asked to predict ahead of time whether they would feel cold or warm, and researchers say the experiment ultimately showed that the uncertainty behind what they expected to feel amplified the pain they experienced.

“Previous research has shown that our expectations shape how we experience pain,” said associate professor Francesca Fardo, in a release. ”Even when nothing harmful is happening, not knowing what to expect somehow makes us feel a fairly high level of pain.”

Fardo says that while the researchers knew expectations of relief are associated with lesser pain, and fears of harm can make it feel worse, what their research shows is that in times of uncertainty, the brain “errs on the side of caution,” triggering an intensity in the pain response “beyond what’s necessary.”

It’s a revelation that she says could help treat patients anxious about experiencing pain.

“These findings might help pain scientists better understand how these processes work,” Fardo said. “They may also help to guide health professionals in better tailoring pain management strategies, such as by giving clearer information or setting precise expectations, so patients feel less uncertain about what’s coming.”

According to the release announcing the study, Fardo hopes to take the research further by examining how chronic pain, and more specifically, the anxiety and depression that often come with it, factor into the equation.