Experiences of Pain in Healthy Adults

The experiment aims to investigate the experience of pain in healthy adults and includes a total of 60 participants. Pain is a subjective experience that has a complicated neurological and psychological basis. Around 20% of the Danish population suffers from persistent pain, which has both personal and societal consequences. Personal consequences include, among others, reduced quality of life, loss of social life and risk of anxiety and depression. However, more knowledge is needed about which mechanisms are involved in the experience of pain, so that the treatment of patients with pain can be improved.

In the experiment, healthy participants will be inflicted with a tolerable pain on their forearm using a thermode. The application of heat causes pain for a short, limited period, but it is tolerable and without risks. During the experiment, the participants will be exposed to heat several times, with and without a cream on their forearm. It is a cream that has previously proved to have pain-relieving effects on participants in similar experiments. Participants will be asked about how they experience the intensity of the pain on a scale of 1-10 (0 = no pain and 10 = worst imaginable pain), and what they expect the pain intensity will be, also on a 1-10 scale. The participants are allowed to pause or stop the experiment anytime.

The experiment contributes to insights into pain and the mechanisms involved. This knowledge can in the future contribute with knowledge to improve the treatment of patients with pain. For the individual participant, the trial will contribute with knowledge about how they experience and assess pain themselves.