Exercise and Movement Interventions in the Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Pain

Dear Colleagues,

Chronic pain, which persists for at least three months and exceeds the normal healing time for tissues, is a growing social and economic problem. It affects a significant percentage of the world's population and is estimated to affect between 10% and over 20% of adults. The prevalence of chronic pain increases with age, and it can affect up to 78% of people over 65. Chronic pain can occur in any part of the body, can have various characteristics, and can come and go without any apparent cause. Research indicates that in this type of pain, neuroplastic changes affect different areas of the brain compared to acute pain. These areas are linked to mood, emotions, and anxiety, resulting in a significant decline in quality of life. In the biopsychosocial model of pain, the physical symptoms accompanying chronic pain stem from an interaction between biological, psychological, and social factors. This type of reciprocal feedback promotes the emergence of negative emotional states, leading to pain catastrophization and kinesiophobic behaviors. Moreover, the long-term psychological stress accompanying these states leads to inappropriate pain perception, exaggerated and excessive pain sensations, and even depression, promoting the development of central pain sensitization mechanisms. This results in excessive reactivity of nociceptive neurons in the central nervous system to normal or subthreshold chronic afferent stimuli, which, combined with certain psychological predispositions associated with experiencing anxiety-provoking situations, perpetuates the mechanisms of chronic pain. Chronic pain treatment is multimodal, encompassing pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, and in some cases even invasive procedures. Additionally, physical exercise and movement therapy are primarily used to treat chronic musculoskeletal pain, but their role in treating other forms of chronic pain is unclear, speaking to the need for research into the effects of exercise and movement interventions in the prevention and treatment of chronic pain.

Prof. Dr. Edward Saulicz
Guest Editor

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• chronic pain
• pain management
• exercise therapy in chronic pain management
• physical therapy in chronic pain management
• rehabilitation in chronic pain management
• the role of physical activity in the biopsychosocial model of chronic pain management
• the role of physical activity in cognitive behavioral therapy