Effect of movement-evoked and tonic experimental pain on muscle force production.

Our results indicate that movement-evoked pain was a more potent stimulus to reduce knee extension torque than tonic pain. The longer contraction time observed during tonic pain may be a result of a lower perceived pain intensity during muscle contraction. Overall, our results suggest different motor adaptation to tonic and movement-evoked pain and support the notion that motor adaptation to pain is a purposeful strategy to limit pain. This mechanistic evidence suggests that individuals experiencing prevalently tonic or movement-evoked pain may exhibit different motor adaptations, which may be important for exercise prescription.