1. Mice are brought into the testing room and a period of acclimatization is provided.
2. The surface of the hot plate is heated to a maximum temperature of 55ºC.
3. The mouse is placed in the testing apparatus and the timer is started.
4. The latency to show a nociceptive response with hind paw lick, hind paw flick or a jump is measured with the timer. The mouse is immediately removed when this response is observed.
5. If there is no response within 30 seconds, the test is terminated and the mouse is removed from the hotplate.