Exercise reduced abnormal responses to temperature and pressure - both characteristic of neuropathic pain.Įxercise also led to reduced expression of inflammation-promoting cytokines in sciatic nerve tissue - specifically, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1-beta. The results suggested significant reductions in neuropathic pain in rats assigned to swimming or treadmill running. The researchers assessed the effects of exercise on neuropathic pain severity by monitoring observable pain behaviors. After nerve injury, some animals performed progressive exercise - either swimming or treadmill running - over a few weeks. Phantom limb pain after amputation is an example of neuropathic pain.ĭr Chen and colleagues examined the effects of exercise on neuropathic pain induced by sciatic nerve injury in rats. The lead author was Yu-Wen Chen, PhD, of China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.Įxercise Reduces Nerve Pain and Cytokine Expression in Rats Neuropathic pain is a common and difficult-to-treat type of pain caused by nerve damage, seen in patients with trauma, diabetes, and other conditions. The results support exercise as a potentially useful nondrug treatment for neuropathic pain, and suggest that it may work by reducing inflammation-promoting substances called cytokines.
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