A Mouthful of Burning Chili May Temporarily Reduce Stronger Pain Elsewhere
Learn how capsaicin changed response to laser pain and why one painful sensation may briefly dampen another.
Forty-eight university students in Chongqing, China, participated in a study where they held a single cube of spicy gelatin containing capsaicin in their mouths for five minutes. They were then asked to endure 40 short laser pulses to the back of their left hand. After a brief break, the same participants went through the same process again, but this time with a non-spicy gelatin cube.
Researchers found that participants rated the stronger laser pulses as less painful and unpleasant after eating the spicy cube. The researchers suggest that the burning sensation created by the chili might temporarily help the nervous system dampen a second, stronger source of pain in the body.
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