Exercise Relieves Nerve Pain

OK, the researchers used rats, not humans, but the results are impressive: exercise was shown to relieve neuropathic pain, the type pain that is often caused by nerve damage and is often hard to control with customary pain remedies. The International Anesthesia Research Society reports that researchers at China Medical University, in Taichung, Taiwan, examined the effects of exercise on neuropathic pain from sciatic nerve injury in rats. After nerve injury, some animals performed progressive exercise—either swimming or treadmill running—over a few weeks. The results suggested significant reductions in neuropathic pain in rats assigned to swimming or treadmill running. Exercise reduced abnormal responses to temperature and pressure—both characteristic of neuropathic pain. Exercise appeared to reduce expression of inflammation-promoting cytokines, which play a role in the development of neuropathic pain in response to nerve injury. Read more from the International Anesthesia Research Society.