Introduction
OA, pain
CHRONIC PAIN, MINOR
Endogenous pain modulation has been proposed and is discussed as a leading feature of the nociceptive system that can promote or protect the individual against the transition from acute to chronic pain [Offset analgesia can be defined as a disproportionally large pain decrease after a minor noxious stimulus intensity reduction [Interestingly, psychological interventions have never been used in the context of OA. It is of clinical interest, whether psychological processes influence endogenous pain modulation, especially since—amongst others- hypo- or hyperalgesic suggestion have been shown to effectively decrease [This experiment attempted to influence the magnitude of OA by manipulating participants’ expectations using suggestions. In this study, suggestions were used to modulate OA selectively, that is, by changing the pain response in the final temperature phase of the paradigm. Therefore, the á priori hypothesis implied that suggestion would influence the OA effect in a bidirectional manner, i.e., analgesia was expected to be increased or decreased, respectively, compared to a control group that was not exposed to any form of suggestion.