Modification of dental pain and cutaneous thermal sensitivity by physical exercise in man

The effect of physical exercise on dental pain thresholds, the release of pituitary stress hormones and thermal sensitivity of skin was tested in healthy human subjects. Different levels of exercise (100-300 W) at different pedal frequencies were produced by a cycle ergometer. Thermal limen (the interval between warm and cool thresholds) determined from glabrous hand, hairy forearm and leg was used as a parameter of thermal sensitivity. In all subjects the heart rate and blood pressure were increased with increasing work load. Dental pain thresholds were elevated at high work loads with a concomitant activation of pituitary stress hormone (especially growth hormone) release. Thermal limens at all 3 sites were increased work load, too, independent of the pedal frequency. The increase of thermal limen was most marked in the leg and least in the glabrous hand. The results indicate that physical exercise produces a non-segmental, load-dependent decrease of pain and thermal sensitivity with a concomitant activation of pituitary stress mechanisms. The magnitude of modification varies with skin region. Activation of inhibitory mechanisms at spinal levels via muscle and proprioceptive afferents, in a way suggested by the gate control theory of pain mechanisms, seems to have only a minor, if any, contribution to the present findings, since a higher pedal frequency did not produce a more marked decrease of sensitivity.