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Exercise Induced Hypoalgesia in Pain-free Stroke and Healthy Populations: a Cohort Study

NCT07327593 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 60

Last updated 2026-03-20

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Exercise has shown multiple beneficial effects in both healthy and post-stroke populations. One of these is the acute reduction in sensitivity to painful stimuli, called exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH). This phenomenon has been studied since 1979 and has shown improvements in pain thresholds with both aerobic and resistance training in healthy, pain-free populations and different chronic pain conditions.

Although there has been extensive research on EIH in healthy populations and those with chronic musculoskeletal pain, surprisingly little attention has been given to individuals with neurological pathologies. Chronic pain is found in more than 50% of patients after stroke, and 70% of affected individuals experience pain on daily activities. Reported prevalences of post-stroke pain (PSP) between different studies, but there is a general consensus that it is an underreported phenomenon. Patients with pain experience greater cognitive and functional decline, fatigue, depression and lower quality of life.

Multiple factors contribute to PSP, and various approaches exist to treat all the variables influencing it. This study aims to compare the effects of exercise on pain perception in healthy individuals and stroke patients without pain, using the same cardiovascular training protocol, to better understand the mechanisms of EIH and its maintenance after stroke, ultimately aiming to improve the treatment of people with stroke.

Conditions

Interventions

OTHER

Cardiovascular training

The cardiovascular training protocol will consist of a 5-minute warm-up aimed at reaching 70% of maximum heart rate (MHR) followed by 20 minutes of sustained work at this intensity (since maintaining this intensity is difficult, especially in the stroke cohort, we will allow for a margin of ±2-3% of MHR and provide feedback to increase or decrease the heart rate). We will aim to keep the heart rate below 73% of maximum heart rate, maintain blood pressure within safe ranges, and keep the effort level between 14/20 and 16/20

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Neuron, Spain

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Alejandro Herrera Rojas, Physical Therapist · Neuron, Spain

Study Design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-04-30
Primary Completion
2026-09-30
Completion
2026-11-30

Countries

  • Spain

Study Locations

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Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07327593 on ClinicalTrials.gov