Pain Processing In Relation To Breathing

Balgrist University Hospital

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Pain; Central Sensitisation

Treatments: Behavioral: Paced Resonance Frequency Breathing; Other: Heat Stimulations; Behavioral: Paced Breathing at Natural Frequency

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06169917

2023-00518

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the effect of breathing on the processing of experimental pain in healthy participants. The main questions are:

1. Does breathing rate influence the spatial extent of thermally induced secondary hyperalgesia, a proxy of central sensitization?
2. Does resonance frequency breathing influence the autonomic nervous system, compared to baseline and compared to paced breathing at a natural frequency?
3. Is spinal excitability, measured using the magnitude of the nociception withdrawal reflex (NWR), affected by resonance frequency breathing, compared to paced breathing at a natural frequency?

Participants:

• will receive heat stimuli
• 's skin's sensitivity will be tested using quantitative sensory testing tools.
• will receive various instructions on the speed of their breathing
• 's heart rate, respiratory rate and sweat response will be measured
• will fill in questionnaires

Researchers will compare the spatial extent of sensitivity resulting from application of heat stimuli during paced resonance frequency breathing compared to paced breathing at a natural frequency to see if the breathing rhythm influences central sensitization processes.

Enrollment: 200 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 40 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. over 18 and below 40 years of age
2. good general health
3. able to give informed consent

Exclusion criteria

1. any major medical or psychiatric condition (e.g. heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases, major depressive disorder), any chronic pain condition, any respiratory problems, any current acute pain at time of study
2. inability to follow study instructions, e.g. due to language problems
3. Consumption of alcohol, drugs, analgesics within the last 24 h
4. Consumption of no more than 100 mg of caffeine within the last 8 h
5. Scar tissue or generally reduced sensitivity in the designated testing site areas

Additional exclusion criteria for experiments 3 and 4

1. Shoe size < 38
2. Restless-Legs-Syndrome

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

200 participants in 1 patient group

Healthy participants

Experimental group

Description:

Participants should be aged 18-40, in good health, capable of informed consent, without major medical/psychiatric conditions (e.g., heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases, major depressive disorder), chronic pain, respiratory issues, or ongoing acute pain, qualify. Exclusions: inability to follow instructions (e.g., language issues), recent alcohol/drug/analgesic use (\<24h), caffeine intake (\>100mg \<8h), or scar tissue/general reduced sensitivity in test areas. Participants undergo three interventions. The heat stimulation intervention is performed twice. During one heat stimulation intervention, participants receive the 'resonance frequency breathing' intervention. During the other heat stimulation intervention, participants receive the 'natural frequency breathing' intervention. The order of the breathing interventions is counterbalanced across participants.

Treatment:

Other: Heat Stimulations

Behavioral: Paced Breathing at Natural Frequency

Behavioral: Paced Resonance Frequency Breathing