High-intensity interval training for chronic pain conditions: a narrative review

Chronic pain is defined as pain that persists past the normal healing time. Physical activity and exercise programs are increasingly being promoted and used for a variety of chronic pain conditions. Evidence suggests that physical exercise is an intervention with few adverse events that may improve pain severity and physical function, thus improving the quality of life. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been shown to improve physical outcome measures and to decrease disorder-related disability in people with chronic disorders. Since an overview of the benefits of HIIT on chronic pain conditions has not been published yet, this review aims to report the effects of HIIT alone or in combination with other forms of training on different kind of chronic pain conditions. A search in the main scientific electronic databases was performed. The results of the studies included in this review showed that HIIT is beneficial for several chronic pain conditions, improving pain and physical function. Since HIIT could represent a valid help to conventional drug therapies, it could improve the quality of life of these subjects. The actual quality of evidence remains very low, and further high evidence studies are needed to confirm the promising outcomes reported in this review.