Body pain is inevitable especially for older adults. As the body ages, it is bound to have more things that would cause it to slowly break it down. More activity in older adults lessens chronic pain, as has been shown.
Tests were done on how the central nervous system processes pain on older adults. The tests found that older adults who are more physically active have a lower pain perception. Responses to pain stimuli are also blocked much better by active older adults.
Tests were made in the study by Kelly M. Naugle, Ph.D. from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The tests were made on 51 adults with the age range of 60 to 77 years. For the study, all of the participants wore a device for one week which measured their physical activity.
Two tests were done in order to determine pain modulation. One test measured pain responses to given stimuli, Another test was made to measure reduction of pain responses to different pain stimuli.
Pain modulation has been found to be related to the amount of physical activity done. Lower pain scores have been noted in older adults who had more physical activity, < href="https://wolterskluwer.com/company/newsroom/news/2017/02/can-staying-active-help-to-prevent-chronic-pain-physical-activity-affects-pain-modulation-in-older-adults.html">according to the Wolters Kluwer's site. Those who were less sedentary have been noted to have better pain inhibition than sedentary older adults.
The study has shown that physical activity is needed in order for older people to manage pain better. Older people will have more body pain as a result of such conditions like arthritis. Those who have fewer activities are more likely to have a lower pain inhibition, as Science Daily reports.
Dr. Naugle and his team has observed that even a greater amount of light physical activity would help in minimizing pain for older adults. More studies would be done in order to find out how physical activity can reduce pain for older adults. What is evident though is that more activity in older adults lessens chronic pain. A study has found soy benefits to protect the heart.
