A Wisconsin college is probing the impact of a person's age on pain relief prompted by exercise, according to a published report.
Associate professor Marie Hoeger Bement with the physical therapy department at Marquette University in Milwaukee is leading the study, The Marquette Tribune reports. The study is one component of the dissertation by Kathy Lemley, a Ph.D. student aspiring to fulfill a physical therapy job.
"Pain will be measured before and after fatiguing exercise in young and older (65 years and above) participants to assess any changes in pain that occur with exercise," states an email to the news source authored by Bement. "Conditioned pain modulation is an indirect measure of our body's ability to turn off pain via descending inhibitory pathways."
Researchers will measure the response by simultaneously administering two painful stimuli, which they intend to use to demonstrate that the second stimulus will help dissipate pain from the first one, she said.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, physical therapists devote their efforts to helping patients manage their pain and enhancing their movement following injuries, operations and illnesses.