Researchers have highlighted the benefits of physical activity in cancer survivors with chronic pain.
- While many cancer survivors continue to experience chronic pain after recovery, particularly due to after-effects or side effects of treatments, a new study reveals that physical activity can help reduce the intensity of suffering.
- Among participants who had been diagnosed with cancer, those who exercised more than recommended were 16% less likely to report moderate to severe pain than those who did not meet recommended thresholds.
- “It may seem counterintuitive to some, but physical activity is an effective, non-pharmacological option for reducing many types of pain […] including pain associated with cancer and its treatments,” according to the researchers.
While many cancer survivors continue to experience chronic pain after recovery, particularly due to the after-effects or side effects of treatments, a new study reveals that physical activity, already recommended for most ailments, can help to reduce the intensity of suffering.
Physical activity associated with less pain in cancer survivors
To reach this conclusion, published in the journal Cancer, researchers from the American Cancer Society (United States) and the University of Melbourne (Australia) relied on data collected from more than 51,000 adults without a history of cancer and more than 10,000 who had been diagnosed with cancer. Participants were asked to answer the question “How would you rate your pain on average?”, on a scale from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable), and specify their sports routine habits. As a reminder, authorities recommend 150 to 300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity, or 75 to 150 minutes per week of high-intensity “cardio” physical activity.
Based on the questionnaires, the researchers found that“greater physical activity was associated with lower pain intensity” in people who had had cancer in the past, but also – at an equal level – in those who had not been affected by the disease, we can read in a communicated. Proof that sport would be a remedy for all types of pain.
Sport, a non-pharmacological option to reduce cancer-related pain
In detail, among participants who had been diagnosed with cancer, those who exercised more than recommended were 16% less likely to report moderate to severe pain than those who did not meet the recommended thresholds. Additionally, those who were consistently active since youth or who became active in later adulthood expressed less pain than those who remained inactive.
“It may seem counterintuitive to some, but physical activity is an effective, non-pharmacological option for reducing many types of pain […] including pain associated with cancer and its treatments”, concludes researcher Erika Rees-Punia, lead author of the work. She reminds us that if sport is a good analgesic, it also and above all helps prevent… cancer itself, as a plethora of studies have demonstrated in recent years.