[Adaptive modifications of cold pain (author's transl)]

Abstract

38 healthy subjects 22-28 years of age underwent the cold-pressor-test seven times on each of 21 consecutive days always at the same time of day. The subjective sensations of cold pain and the objective circulatory reactions were registered. There was observed only a very distinct subjective cold pain habituation from one exposition to the other. The habituation effect on blood pressure reaction however was of expected extent. The long term adaptation showed to have effect on the predominance of the two components of pain perception the epicritic and protopathic pain experience. Initially the cold stimulus produced an overwhelmingly protopathic sufferenig whilst at the end of the three weeks of adaptation there remained only a reduced and localized epicritic pain sensation. Typological differences of pain reactions and pain adaptation are discussed.