Crossing arms offers pain relief

Friday May 20th, 2011

Crossing your arms can reduce the intensity of pain, British scientists say.

Researchers at University College London, England, found that crossing your arms over the midline – an imaginary line running vertically down the centre of the body – confuses the brain and reduces pain.

In a study, scientists used a laser to generate a four millisecond pin prick of “pure pain”, which is pain without touch, on the hands of eight participants. The exercise was repeated when they had their arms crossed.

Participants each rated their perception of the intensity of the pain, and their electrical brain responses were also measured using electroencephalography (EEG).

The results from both participants’ reports and the EEG showed that the perception of pain was weaker when the arms were crossed.

The results of the paper, which was led by Dr Giandomenico Iannetti, of the UCL department of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, are published in today’s (May 20) edition of Pain.

It is thought the reduction in pain sensation is due to conflicting information between two of the brain’s maps – the one for your body and the one for external space.

As the left hand usually performs actions on the left side of space - and vice-versa for the right side - the two maps are used to working together to produce strong impulses in response to stimuli.

When arms are crossed, the two maps are mismatched and processing of noxious information is weakened, which results in less pain.

“Perhaps when we get hurt we should not only rub it better, but also cross our arms,” said Dr Iannetti.

This discovery could lead to new innovative clinical therapies to reduce pain that exploit the brain’s way of representing the body, he added.

Pain June 2011

Tags: Pain Relief | UK News

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