The results of the study show that specifically the sweet smell helped people tolerate the pain - and that group kept their hands in the water more than twice as long, on average, than the participants in the other two conditions, when the smell was present… The actual, subjective perception of pain did not differ across all three conditions, so it seems that the participants subjectively experienced the same levels of pain, but they were able to tolerate it better when the sweet and pleasant smell was present.
The researchers also hypothesized that the analgesic effects of sweet smells are likely the result of learned associations. Whatever the reason, you might want to try popping a few chocolate chip cookies into the oven, or whatever is sweet that you associate with good things, to make your pain more tolerable.
So, what the heck, we have decided to bake chocolate chip cookies in the back office throughout the day to test the theory on our chronic back pain patients. If you think you smell something sweet, you're right.
San Francisco Chiropractor Comments On New Study That Links Sweet Smells with Pain Reduction:
The results of the study show that specifically the sweet smell helped people tolerate the pain - and that group kept their hands in the water more than twice as long, on average, than the participants in the other two conditions, when the smell was present… The actual, subjective perception of pain did not differ across all three conditions, so it seems that the participants subjectively experienced the same levels of pain, but they were able to tolerate it better when the sweet and pleasant smell was present.
The researchers also hypothesized that the analgesic effects of sweet smells are likely the result of learned associations. Whatever the reason, you might want to try popping a few chocolate chip cookies into the oven, or whatever is sweet that you associate with good things, to make your pain more tolerable.
So, what the heck, we have decided to bake chocolate chip cookies in the back office throughout the day to test the theory on our chronic back pain patients. If you think you smell something sweet, you're right.
Just kidding of course :)