Does the mere presence of over-the-counter pain medication affect pain perception? Some preliminary findings

Handling Ibuprofen Increases Pain Tolerance and Decreases Perceived Pain Intensity in a Cold Pressor Test

“…Additionally, framing can influence how painful stimuli are rated (e.g., work on placebo analgesia [25], [26], and framing and stimulus exposure can influence pain sensitivity [27]–[30]. There is evidence that exposure to pain medication can reduce ratings of pain intensity [12]. These studies found that exposure to over-the-counter analgesics led to reduced ratings of pain intensity at 30 seconds post-immersion, but there was no effect of exposure was found for pain tolerance.…”

“…First, the use of experimentally induced pain and the characteristics of the sample (healthy, mostly female undergraduates) limit the generalizability of the finding; it is not clear whether a comparable effect would be observed in people suffering from pain in natural contexts. Second, replication of the current effect is needed to understand the reliability of the novel paradigm used here (but see [12]). Third, although experimenters were blind to experimental hypotheses, they were not blind to condition.…”

“…Third, although experimenters were blind to experimental hypotheses, they were not blind to condition. It is unlikely, though possible, that the experimenters guessed the experimental hypothesis (see Appendix S2; see also [12]). Fourth, although the observed effect was not dependent on changes in positive or negative affect, the specific mechanism by which it occurs is unclear.…”

“…In fact, there is evidence to suggest that seeing pain medication can lead to reduced pain. Previous research [12] demonstrated that exposure to pain medication, relative to a control object, led to lower ratings of pain intensity after 30 seconds of a cold pressor task. The current work sought to replicate and extend that research with several methodological refinements.…”