Researchers at the Neurorehabilitation Research Center at Kio University have shown that the combined use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and aerobic exercise provides a faster and greater analgesic effect.
It is known that if you perform aerobic exercise for 10 to 30 minutes at moderate exercise intensity (exercise intensity similar to light jogging), a "pain suppression mechanism" that reduces pain sensitivity works and an analgesic effect can be obtained. ..However, it has been pointed out that in some chronic pain patients with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, the pain is amplified.
On the other hand, tDCS is one of the non-invasive brain stimulation methods that applies a weak current to the brain from above the scalp, and analgesic effect can be obtained by anodic stimulation of tDCS in the primary motor cortex.Furthermore, since it has been reported that tDCS is more effective when used in combination with other intervention methods than when used alone, this study examines changes in the analgesic effect of tDCS and aerobic exercise in combination over time. bottom.
As a result, when tDCS and aerobic exercise were used together, the rate of change in tenderness threshold (PPT), which indicates decreased sensitivity to pain, was tDCS only or aerobic exercise only from 5 minutes after the start of exercise. It increased significantly in comparison.The rate of change in PPT 20 minutes after the start of exercise was 40.7% for tDCS alone and 51.5% for aerobic exercise alone, whereas it was 83.4% when tDCS and aerobic exercise were used together.Even 15 minutes after the end of exercise, the PPT change rate was maintained at a significantly high level under the combined conditions. Since it means that the more PPT is, the less pain is felt, it was shown that the combined use of tDCS and aerobic exercise provides an earlier and greater analgesic effect than when each is performed alone.
This result suggests that intervention by combined use of tDCS and aerobic exercise is useful for cases in which pain is enhanced by aerobic exercise and cases in which physical fitness is insufficient.
