Changing the size of a mirror‐reflected hand does not affect pain perception: A repeated measures study on healthy human participants

Abstract

An adaptive phase with visuo-motor feedback enhances the perceptual experience of embodiment of a reflection of a hand and a painful stimulus does not weaken the experience. This should be considered when using visual feedback techniques for pain management.

Visually induced analgesia in a deep tissue experimental pain model: A randomised crossover experiment

“…Our study found that the visual magnification condition increased pain perception, whereas Mancini et al (2011) noted an analgesic effect. Furthermore, our results differ from those of (Wittkopf et al, 2018) who observed no changes in pain perception associated with cutaneous thermal stimuli when viewing a magnified reflection of the hand in a mirror. While further research is needed to fully understand the relationship between visual size distortion and analgesia, this discrepancy in results is consistent with the discussion presented above.…”

“…It also appears visual distortion of the size of the body part alters this visually induced analgesia. It has been demonstrated that magnification of the hand's perceived size increases analgesia whilst minification compromises the analgesic effect (Mancini et al., ) although there are inconsistencies in the literature (Wittkopf et al., ). Thus, it appears viewing the painful body part may influence the pain experience and distorting size perception can determine the direction of this phenomenon in experimental pain models.…”

“But it feels swollen!”: the frequency and clinical characteristics of people with knee osteoarthritis who report subjective knee swelling in the absence of objective swelling

“… 45 One consistent finding is that people with pain often report that the painful area feels enlarged or swollen. 21 , 29 , 34 , 41 Furthermore, although experimental pain studies involving noxious stimulation to the skin provide mixed results, 25 , 60 visual illusions that magnify the size of the body part have been shown to increase pain with movement in people with complex regional pain syndrome 31 and delayed onset muscle soreness, 55 suggesting a possible causal relationship between perceptions of enlargement and movement evoked pain.…”

“…45 One consistent finding is that people with pain often report that the painful area feels enlarged or swollen. 21,29,34,41 Furthermore, although experimental pain studies involving noxious stimulation to the skin provide mixed results, 25,60 visual illusions that Sponsorships or competing interests that may be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article.…”