Study shows brief training in meditation may help manage pain

[Guest guest]

Study shows brief training in meditation may help manage pain

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-11/uonc-ssb110909.php

Living with pain is stressful, but a surprisingly short investment of time in

mental training can help you cope.

A new study examining the perception of pain and the effects of various mental

training techniques has found that relatively short and simple mindfulness

meditation training can have a significant positive effect on pain management.

Though pain research during the past decade has shown that extensive meditation

training can have a positive effect in reducing a person's awareness and

sensitivity to pain, the effort, time commitment, and financial obligations

required has made the treatment not practical for many patients. Now, a new

study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte shows that

a single hour of training spread out over a three day period can produce the

same kind of analgesic effect.

The research appears in an article by UNC Charlotte psychologists Fadel Zeidan,

Nakia S. Gordon, Junaid Merchant and a Goolkasian, in the current issue of

The Journal of Pain.

" This study is the first study to demonstrate the efficacy of such a brief

intervention on the perception of pain, " noted Fadel Zeidan, a doctoral

candidate in psychology at UNC Charlotte and the paper's lead author. " Not only

did the meditation subjects feel less pain than the control group while

meditating but they also experienced less pain sensitivity while not

meditating. "

Over the course of three experiments employing harmless electrical shocks

administered in gradual increments, the researchers measured the effect of brief

sessions of mindfulness meditation training on pain awareness measuring

responses that were carefully calibrated to insure reporting accuracy. Subjects

who received the meditation training were compared to controls and to groups

using relaxation and distraction techniques. The researchers measured changes in

the subjects' rating of pain at " low " and " high " levels during the different

activities, and also changes in their general sensitivity to pain through the

process of calibrating responses before the activities.

While the distraction activity – which used a rigorous math task to distract

subjects from the effects of the stimulus – was effective in reducing the

subject's perception of " high " pain, the meditation activity had an even

stronger reducing effect on high pain, and reduced the perception of " low " pain

levels as well.

Further, the meditation training appeared to have an effect that continued to

influence the patients after the activity was concluded, resulting in a general

lowering of pain sensitivity in the subjects – a result that indicated that the

effect of the meditation was substantially different from the effect of the

distraction activity.

The finding follows earlier research studies that found differences in pain

awareness and other mental activities among long-time practitioners of

mindfulness meditation techniques.

" We knew already that meditation has significant effects on pain perception in

long-term practitioners whose brains seem to have been completely changed -- we

didn't know that you could do this in just three days, with just 20 minutes a

day, " Zeidan said.

In assessing the first experiment, the researchers were not terribly surprised

to discover that meditation activity appeared to be affecting the experimental

subjects' perception of pain because the researchers assumed that the change was

mainly due to distraction, a well-known effect. However, subsequent findings

began to indicate that the effect continued outside of the periods of

meditation.

" When we re-calibrated their pain thresholds after the training had started and

we found that they felt less pain, compared to the control subjects, " Zeidan

noted. " This was totally surprising because a change in general sensitivity was

not part of our hypothesis at all.

" We were so surprised after the first experiment that we did two more. We

thought that no one was going to listen to us because no one had done this

before… and we got a robust finding across the three experiments. "

Zeidan stresses that the effect the researchers measured in the meditation

subjects was a lessening of pain but not a lessening of sensation. The

calibration results showed little change in the meditation subjects' sensitivity

to the sensation of electricity, but a significant change in what level of shock

was perceived to be painful.

" The short course of meditation was very effective on pain perception, " Zeidan

said. " We got a very high effect size for the periods when they were meditating.

" In fact, it was kind of freaky for me. I was ramping at 400-500 milliamps and

their arms would be jolting back and forth because the current was stimulating a

motor nerve. Yet they would still be asking, 'A 2?' ('2' being the level of

electrical shock that designates low pain) It was really surprising, " he said.

Zeidan suspects that the mindfulness training lessens the awareness of and

sensitivity to pain because it trains subjects' brains to pay attention to

sensations at the present moment rather than anticipating future pain or

dwelling on the emotions caused by pain, and thus reduces anxiety.

" The mindfulness training taught them that distractions, feelings, emotions are

momentary, don't require a label or judgment because the moment is already

over, " Zeidan noted. " With the meditation training they would acknowledge the

pain, they realize what it is, but just let it go. They learn to bring their

attention back to the present. "

Though the results are in line with past findings regarding mindfulness

practitioners, Zeidan says that the findings are important because they show

that meditation is much easier to use for pain management than it was previously

believed to be because a very short, simple course of training is all that is

required in order to achieve a significant effect. Even self-administered

training might be effective, according to Zeidan.

" What's neat here is that this is the briefest known way to promote a meditation

state and yet it has an effect in pain management. People who want to make use

of the technique might not need a meditation facilitator – they might be able to

get the necessary training off the internet, " Zeidan said. " All you have to do

is use your mind, change the way you look at the perception of pain and that,

ultimately, might help alleviate the feeling of that pain. "

###

The research was funded in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

The article is available online in Pain, via www.sciencedirect.com