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Mechanisms of Affective Touch in Chronic Pain

CompletedNot applicableNCT04206397
View the official record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Recruiting status changes often. Contact the study team listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, and talk to your doctor before joining a study.

This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.

Brief summary (from the registry)

This study compares how different types of touch found in massage therapies impact pain perception, and whether these effects differ in individuals with and without chronic pain. This study also examines psychological factors that may predict differences in touch perception in individuals with chronic pain. This research will improve our understanding of whether and how massage therapies can benefit pain and health, and whether this differs in people who suffer from chronic pain.

Study details

Official title
Mechanisms of Affective Touch in Chronic Pain
Conditions
Interventions
  • Behavioral: affective touch
Sponsor
Laura Case
Collaborators
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Organization
University of California, San Diego
Start date
2021-09-15
Primary completion
2024-10-21
Sex
All
Age range
from 18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
true
Results posted
Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
Countries
United States
Total sites listed
1

Eligibility criteria

Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Inclusion Criteria: 1. ages 18-65 2. fluent in English 3. physician diagnosis of Fibromyalgia but no other chronic pain conditions (patients) or no evidence of chronic pain (healthy volunteers) Exclusion Criteria: 1. Sensory, motor, or anatomic differences or injuries relevant to study procedures 2. Known anomalies of the central nervous system (including stroke, dementia, aneurysm, or personal history of psychosis) 3. Pregnancy 4. Inability to rate pain or sensations 5. Major medical conditions such as kidney, liver, cardiovascular (hypertension, preexisting cardiac arrhythmia), autonomic, pulmonary, or neurological problems (e.g., seizure disorder) or a chronic systemic disease (e.g., diabetes). 6. History of blood clots or first-degree family members with clotting disorders 7. Current use of opiate medication(s) 8. Contraindications to MRI if participating in pilot MRI study 9. Unable to identify a heat stimulus 50C or lower that generates a rating of a 7 on our VAS scale 10. History of fainting or seizures 11. History of frostbite 12. Open cut or sore on hand to be immersed in cold water bath 13. Fracture of limb to be immersed 14. History of Reynaud's phenomenon (hands get white, then blue on exposure to cold, then red on warming)

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04206397