September 20, 2024, 6:53 am | Read time: 4 minutes

People’s perception of pain is as individual as they are. However, it can be positively influenced if you have the right help beside you. But who does it better: dog or human? A study provides a clear answer.

Are dogs or people the better support?

Dr. Heidi Mauersberger from the Institute of Psychology and her colleagues devoted their study to the question of whether the presence of dogs or people influences sensations. Specifically, the study, published in the journal Acta Psychologica, looked at how various factors change perception and coping with pain.

According to the study, while help and support from friends and family have a positive influence on health, it does not always help people cope with pain. The scientists attribute this to the fact that people make judgments more often and investigated the theory that dogs could be more useful in this situation because they do not view people in a judgmental way.

Whereas dogs can have a positive effect, especially with chronic pain symptoms, the presence of other people can actually have a negative effect. This is because sufferers could either feel pitied by those present or feel compelled to explain why they are not healing faster.

The experiment

In their study, Mauersberger and her colleagues, therefore, took a closer look at what happens in the body of a person who is experiencing pain. To do this, they used the so-called cold water test. This involves immersing a limb in ice-cold water and determining the individual stress and pain level. This is considered an effective standard method in diagnostics and pain research.

In the first experiment, only pet owners were among the test subjects. Initially, they were either alone, with their dog, or with a friend in the room. In a second test, non-pet owners were also examined. Here, the test subjects also had to state their general attitude towards dogs.

In addition, the people present were presented as trained staff who were also allowed to respond with comforting gestures in the event of pain symptoms. This was investigated to see what benefits either human or animal-assisted interventions might have.

Are dogs better pain therapists?

In both experiments, how the test subjects reacted to the pain of the ice water was documented. This included subjective statements about the pain level, motor signals in the face, physiological skin reactions, or pain management strategies.

In general, it was found that the participants who were accompanied by their dog reported less pain. They had a higher tolerance for the experiment, felt less helpless, and showed less intense reactions. The results of the second study were also clear. They indicate that dogs can be better supporters overall than humans. While there was a slightly positive effect compared to the company of friends, the presence of a strange animal was more pronounced. These dogs also had a calming effect on the test subjects’ perception of pain.

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“It’s amazing how strong the effect of the dogs is”

“It’s amazing to see how strong the effect of the dogs is. People not only feel emotionally supported, but actually experience less pain. This opens up new perspectives for the use of therapy dogs in pain therapy,” explains Dr. Mauersberger in a press release.

With one caveat, as the scientists themselves admit. This is because the attitude of the people towards dogs was the decisive factor in this experiment. This means that dogs can positively influence only participants with a more positive attitude towards dogs. These people benefited significantly from the presence of the animals in terms of their pain perception.¹