CAN DOGS EASE OUR PERCEPTION OF PAIN?

A dog’s presence, more than a human’s, can boost pain tolerance.

Are you in pain? When discomfort strikes, do you reach for an extra painkiller? New research suggests that you may be able to ease some of your pain simply by inviting your pet dog into the room to sit by your side.

Pain is often thought of as a physical response to injury or illness. However, the sensation of pain isn’t confined to the affected area; it’s actually a reaction in the brain. Like many mental processes, pain perception is influenced by various factors. One of these factors is the social support we receive from family, friends, and loved ones. In today’s world, dogs are frequently regarded as family members and cherished as companions. A team of European researchers, led by Heidi Mauersberger from the psychology department at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, conducted an intriguing experiment to explore whether interacting with dogs could reduce pain perception in a way similar to how human social support does.

This team conducted two experiments involving 124 healthy females. The researchers were not looking for some unconventional alternative treatment for persistent pain, so individuals with chronic pain or who were taking prescription medications were excluded from the study. Also, the research used only female participants since evidence shows that there is a sex difference in the response to pain in laboratory studies (where males tend to tough it out and deny their perceptions of pain for longer).

What Makes You Hurt?

To conduct a controlled study on pain, researchers need a method that allows participants to experience pain in a regulated and controlled way. For this, they used a common technique called the cold-pressor task. This involves submerging a participant’s hand in cold water, close to freezing (around 36°F or 2°C). First developed in the 1930s, this method was originally designed to create a low-level stress response to measure changes in heart rate and blood pressure. As the hand remains in the cold water, the pain gradually increases. Pain researchers have since adopted this technique, supplementing it with physiological measures like electrical skin conductance (which correlates with pain perception) and behavioral assessments. The key measure of pain resistance is the amount of time a person can tolerate keeping their hand in the cold water before the discomfort becomes unbearable.

Is a Friend or Pet Better at Relieving Pain?

As I mentioned earlier, the research team conducted two studies. In the first experiment, only pet owners were selected as test subjects. There were three conditions: the participant took the cold-pressor test alone, with a friend present in the room, or with their pet dog. It’s important to note that there were no physical interactions between the participant and either the friend or the dog; they were simply present in the same room.

The results were clear. Having a friend in the room helped deal with the pain, but the presence of their pet dog was better. Participants who were accompanied by their dog reported less pain and had a higher tolerance for the discomfort caused by the cold-pressor task. They showed fewer facial expressions of pain, felt less helpless, and showed less intense physiological responses when their dog was in the room.

Are There Therapeutic Implications?

The researchers were curious about whether these findings could have therapeutic applications, so they conducted a second experiment to explore the potential benefits of either human or animal-assisted interventions for pain. In a therapy setting, the people present are likely to be unfamiliar to the patient, and the therapy dog is typically one the patient has never met before. The structure of the second study was similar to the first, but with a key difference: an unfamiliar person could be present in the room. This person was described as a trained staff member who was allowed to provide comforting gestures. Additionally, participants were permitted to pet the head of the unfamiliar “therapy” dog during the procedure. The results mirrored those of the first study—having a person in the room reduced pain, but having a dog present produced even better outcomes.

As a side note, the second study also included some participants who were not dog owners. All participants were asked to share their attitudes toward dogs, and it was found that those with a more positive view of dogs experienced a greater reduction in pain when the dog was in the room.

How Does This Work?

The speculation is that the connection helping people cope with pain is hormonal, specifically oxytocin. Often referred to as the “love hormone” or “cuddle hormone,” oxytocin is produced by the pituitary gland. Studies have shown that this hormone is released when we interact with friends, loved ones, and even our dogs. A pet dog may serve as a better buffer against pain because, unlike humans, dogs never judge the person experiencing pain. Someone in discomfort might worry that a human in the room is evaluating them—perhaps feeling pity for their reactions or wondering why they can’t cope with the pain more effectively. These concerns could diminish the positive effects of oxytocin. It’s thought that the oxytocin released by a dog’s presence provides a stronger defense against pain because it isn’t undermined by worries about social judgment. While the dog may not directly reduce pain at the physiological level, its presence can significantly influence how individuals experience and tolerate pain.

Mauersberger summarizes her results on a highly positive note: “It’s amazing to see how strong the effect of the dogs is. People not only feel emotionally supported but also experience less pain. This opens up new perspectives for the use of dogs in pain therapy.”