By Callum O’Malley

What do we instinctively do when something hurts us? I was recently awarded a Canada-UK Foundation travel grant, allowing me to join colleagues at the Universite de Montreal for a collaboration on this important research topic. Thus far, we are a little surprised with some of our results. Although we thought that pain would cause people to give out less “work” (in the form of force), this appears to not be the case. Let me explain!

We’re all urged to exercise and keep fit, but unfortunately, exercise naturally involves experiencing pain and effort. In particular, the more effortful a task, the more pain we tend to experience! Vice versa, usually the more painful a task, the more effortful it feels too. During any form of voluntary task, an individual perceives effort. Whether you are walking home with your shopping, battling your grandparents at chess, or cycling across an entire country, the need to use physical and mental resources towards a task evokes the perception of effort.

Due to this unfortunate fact, many individuals - particularly in the western world - shun exercise as part of their regular everyday routine. This has led to widespread increases in avoidable, diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular, and cardiorespiratory disease as a product of leading sedentary lifestyles. Subsequently, healthcare providers across the western world have shouldered increasing demands with obesity alone costing the UK economy over £7 billion annually.

That leads me to my quest as a researcher to find ways to understand and combat the nasty, aversive sensations associated with exercise like pain and effort. With this understanding, we can begin to formulate more targeted and effective interventions for the public to use to combat pain and effort, culminating with the hope that more people will then exercise with these interventions.

At the Université de Montréal CRIUGM, their laboratory has developed unique methods using thermal probes to induce painful stimulations. Using this probe during a simple exercise task, we ascertained whether in the presence of pain, individuals can give out more work (in the form of force) at a specific level of effort (high or low).

As I said earlier, thus far, we are a little surprised with some of our results. Although we thought that pain would cause people to give out less “work” (in the form of force), this appears to not be the case. What our results suggest is that most individuals appear to use pain as a positive distraction to invest more “work” into a task for a given level of effort. The potential to tap into why healthy individuals can use pain as a positive is an exciting prospect. It is also one of the great lessons of my visit so far. Although we hold many preconceptions as scientists, there are always deviations and surprises around the corner. When we find something like this, we must accept it and then try to channel its functionality to the benefit of the wider populace. Furthermore, we expect to publish our results soon within a scientific journal.

On top of my study in Canada, the country, has a phenomenal culture of research in the field of pain. During my time in Montreal, I observed that there are so many individuals interested in understanding pain to provide beneficial interventions and advice to the countless people suffering with daily chronic pain. For example, the Quebec Pain Research Network has a library of amazing tools that collates the research about pain into simple resources for everyone interested in pain.

With this experience, I would urge anyone to look towards some interaction beyond their own country. The experience that the Canada-UK Canada Foundation has supported has been invaluable for me not only as a researcher but as a person. It has provided a simple realisation that there is so much more of a world beyond my research bubble in the UK and that there is always so much more to learn. This is certainly not the last time I will be collaborating with our friends across the pond, and we hope to keep research surrounding pain progressing to keep informing new ways to improve lives

Callum O’Malley is a PhD researcher at the University of Kent, in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences.

Effort is a pain!