What you look at can influence how much pain you feel, a study has revealed

[Desert Dancer]

I thought this might be interesting for our needle phobic members...

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Contrary to many people's compulsion to look away during a painful event such as an injection, scientists found that looking at your body - in this case the hand - reduces the pain experienced.

The team also showed that magnifying the hand to make it appear larger cut pain levels further still.

The study, published in Psychological Science, is shedding light on how the brain processes pain.

The researchers say that gaining a better understanding of this could lead to new treatments.

Look away?

The University College London (UCL) and University of Milan-Bicocca research, which was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), was carried out with the help of 18 volunteers.

The scientists applied a heat probe to each participant's hand, gradually increasing the temperature. As soon as this began to feel painful, the probe was removed and the temperature was recorded.

Patrick Haggard, professor of cognitive neuroscience from UCL, explained: "This gives us a measure of the pain threshold, and it is a safe and reliable way of testing when the brain pathways that underline pain become active."

The scientists then used a set of mirrors to manipulate what the volunteers saw.

The team found that volunteers could tolerate on average 3C more heat when they were looking at their hand in the mirror, compared with when their hand was obscured by a block of wood.

Professor Haggard said: "You always advise children not to look when they are having an injection or a blood sample taken, but we have found that looking at the body is analgesic - just looking at the body reduces pain levels.

"So my advice would be to look at your arm, but try to avoid seeing the needle - if that's possible."

The rest of the article is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12383092

[boswife]

I wonder if that is how we really do get to be able to get over our phobias.  I didnt think i would be able to cannulate hubby due to RUNNING when they would go to stick him incenter.  Then, once i made the decission to do it i had to look and, well, here i am doing it everyday..lol  I gotta tell ya though whats weard to me now is i still cant stand to watch him stick hisown self to do insulin, or epo.  GAG!  guess if i'd just WATCH id get over that too... interesting!