How can we better understand and change pain?
The Pain Assessment Lab focuses its research and teaching activities on the precise measurement and quantification of pain. Using established pain paradigms and methods such as quantitative sensory testing (QST), it investigates the mechanisms of pain generation and processing. The aim is to record differentiated pain profiles, understand the relationships between pain, movement, and psychosocial factors, and evaluate the effects of physiotherapeutic interventions on a scientific basis. The research projects combine experimental pain models with clinically relevant questions, particularly in the field of physiotherapy.
In addition to research, the lab is a place for practical teaching: bachelor's students learn how to apply standardised pain assessment methods, interpret complex test results and transfer scientific findings into physiotherapy practice. Through the close integration of research and teaching, the Pain Assessment Lab promotes a well-founded, critical, and innovative approach to pain therapy.
Purpose of lab
- Investigation of the relationship between psychosocial and lifestyle factors, pain sensitivity, and impairment in patients with and without chronic pain
- Determination of pressure and mechanical pain thresholds
- Assessment of thermal perception and thermal pain thresholds
- Detection of allodynia and hyperalgesia
- Quantification of cervical spine range of motion, muscle strength, and endurance
- Conducting biofeedback-based tests and interventions
- Analysis of the relationship between pain and movement or balance disorders
Facilities & Equipment
- TSA NeuroSensory Analyzer (TSA Air 2, Medoc Ltd., Israel) – A precise, computer-controlled device for generating and documenting responses to reproducible thermal stimuli (e.g., heat or cold pain). The TSA 2 is also used to determine thermal pain thresholds in various clinical and research areas.
- Bertec Portable Essential (Bertec® Corporation, Columbus) – A force plate with various balance tests for the objective assessment of balance deficits. Static balance and weight shifting exercises can be integrated into individual therapy programmes.
- NOD device (Bioelettronica, Italy) – Combines an algometer for measuring pressure pain thresholds, a dynamometer for recording tensile and compressive forces, and a biofeedback device that provides real-time feedback on the force exerted during tests or therapies.
- CROM device (Performance Attainment Associates, Minnesota) – The Cervical Range of Motion (CROM) device enables objective and reliable measurements of cervical spine mobility. By combining magnets and inclinometers, cervical rotation in an upright position can also be recorded.
Projects
- Children and Adolescent Lifestyle Questionnaire (CALQ): Development and validation of an instrument for assessing lifestyle determinants in children and adolescents with chronic pain
- Investigation of the relationship between stress, anxiety, depression, catastrophizing, and the severity of allodynia in chronic migraine
- Shear wave elastography of the suboccipital muscles: Investigation of measurement quality in chronic neck pain
- Influence of different stress levels on exercise-induced hypoalgesia in healthy amateur soccer players
- Lifestyle-related characteristics between adolescents with and without chronic pain – a pilot study
- Ignorance, prejudice, and lack of understanding of migraine: An analysis of the social stigmatization of migraine from the perspective of those affected and those not affected
- The influence of social support and physical activity on intrusive pain thoughts in chronic pain patients – a cross-sectional study
- The relationship between pain knowledge, kinesiophobia, and physical activity in chronic pain patients compared to healthy patients
- The relationship between sleep disturbances and the intensity of migraine attacks in patients with migraine: a cross-sectional study
Head of Lab
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