Assessment of Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT) and Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM) After Effect in Patients With and Without Tennis Elbow (TE)

This study at Hashemite University looks at how people with and without tennis elbow (AKA lateral elbow tendinopathy) feel pressure pain and how their bodies briefly "turn down" pain after a cold stimulus. Participants complete brief questionnaires (basic demographics without names, a tennis-elbow symptom form, and a physical-activity form) and then have their pressure-pain threshold (PPT) tested with a handheld device that slowly increases pressure on standard spots near the elbow and wrist; they say when it first becomes painful. To test the body's built-in anti-pain system (conditioned pain modulation, CPM), one hand is placed in ice water (the cold-pressor task) and PPT is measured again at set times (before, during, and after the cold stimulus) to see how much pain sensitivity changes and how long that change lasts. Both PPT reliability and CPM after effect are measured in this study. The study findings may help improve future assessment and treatment of musculoskeletal pain conditions.

NCT Number	NCT07178288
Lead Sponsor	The Hashemite University
Conditions	Tennis Elbow, Health Adult Subjects, Lateral Elbow Tendinopathy (Tennis Elbow), Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT), Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM)
Enrollment	38 participants
Start Date	2025-09-10
Primary Completion	2026-06-30 (estimated)
Study Completion	2026-06-30 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-06-26