Dynamic, but not static, pain sensitivity predicts exercise-induced muscle pain: covariation of temporal sensory summation and pain intensity.

Cross-section studies suggest that measures of pain sensitivity, derived from quantitative sensory testing (QST), are elevated in persons with chronic pain conditions. However, little is known about whether development of chronic pain is preceded by elevated pain sensitivity or pain sensitivity increases as a result of prolonged experience of pain. Here we used QST to test static (single suprathreshold stimuli) and dynamic (temporal sensory summation) pain processing of thermal stimuli. Muscle pain was induced using high-intensity exercise (DOMS). Multi-level modeling approaches determined the daily covariation among static and dynamic QST measures and pain intensity. Variation in responses to static pain sensitivity was not associated with pain intensity from DOMS while, in contrast, variation in dynamic pain sensitivity was positively associated with variation in pain intensity from DOMS. This finding supports the use of TSS as a marker of the central pain state and potentially as an appropriate measure for treatment monitoring.