Physical activity affects our ability to tolerate pain

Previous research from UiT The Arctic University of Norway, the University Hospital of North Norway (UNN) and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health found that among 10,000 adults those who were physically active had a higher pain tolerance than those who were sedentary.

After this finding the researchers wanted to understand how physical activity could affect the chances of experiencing chronic pain several years later. The researchers found that the most active (in their free time) had a lower chance of having various types of chronic pain 7-8 years later. They found that doing light to moderate activity was associated with a 5% lower chance of someone reporting some form of chronic pain and that higher levels of activity were associated with a 16% reduction. The researchers believe that physical activity increases our ability to tolerate pain.