Can slow deep breathing reduce pain? An experimental study exploring mechanisms

Hassan Jafari*, Ali Gholamrezaei, Mathijs Franssen, Lukas Van Oudenhove, Qasim Aziz, Omer Van den Bergh, Johan W.S. Vlaeyen, Ilse Van Diest

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Slow deep breathing (SDB) is commonly employed in the management of pain, but the underlying mechanisms remain equivocal. This study sought to investigate effects of instructed breathing patterns on experimental heat pain and to explore possible mechanisms of action. In a within-subject experimental design, healthy volunteers (n = 48) performed 4 breathing patterns: 1) unpaced breathing, 2) paced breathing (PB) at the participant's spontaneous breathing frequency, 3) SDB at 6 breaths per minute with a high inspiration/expiration ratio (SDB-H), and 4) SDB at 6 breaths per minute with a low inspiration/expiration ratio (SDB-L). During presentation of each breathing pattern, participants received painful heat stimuli of 3 different temperatures and rated each stimulus on pain intensity. Respiration, heart rate, and blood pressure were recorded. Compared to unpaced breathing, participants reported less intense pain during each of the 3 instructed breathing patterns. Among the instructed breathing patterns, pain did not differ between PB and SDB-H, and SDB-L attenuated pain more than the PB and SDB-H patterns. The latter effect was paralleled by greater blood pressure variability and baroreflex effectiveness index during SDB-L. Cardiovascular changes did not mediate the observed effects of breathing patterns on pain.

Perspectives: SDB is more efficacious to attenuate pain when breathing is paced at a slow rhythm with an expiration that is long relative to inspiration, but the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Crown Copyright (c) 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of United States Association for the Study of Pain, Inc.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1018-1030
Number of pages13
JournalThe Journal of Pain
Volume21
Issue number9-10
Early online date21 Jan 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords

  • Slow deep breathing
  • paced breathing
  • pain
  • baroreflex
  • blood pressure
  • cardiac vagal tone
  • HEART-RATE-VARIABILITY
  • RESPIRATORY SINUS ARRHYTHMIA
  • BAROREFLEX EFFECTIVENESS INDEX
  • BLOOD-PRESSURE
  • BARORECEPTOR STIMULATION
  • NERVE-STIMULATION
  • SENSITIVITY
  • MODULATION
  • FREQUENCY
  • PERCEPTION

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