Have you ever banged your shin on a coffee table? Boy, that smarts.
Your first reaction, after cursing under your breath, was probably to rub it. Rubbing doesn't make the pain go away, but it sure makes it feel a lot better.
So what's going on?
Here's a story that helps to explain the phenomenon: I once banged my shin (just like we've been talking about), and a brother of mine who shall remain nameless (Chris), decided to help me out. He said, "Come here Drew—this will make you forget your shin." and WHAM!, he punched me in the arm. This new "distration" did indeed cause me to forget my shin.
Well, the same happens when you rub a boo boo. You have two sets of neurons competing for the attention of your brain: pain fibers and touch fibers. When you bang your shin, the pain fibers signal the brain. Rubbing the affected area causes the touch fibers to send another signal to the brain, and as a by-product, reduce the amount of pain signal that gets through.
That's the short, slightly inaccurate, explanation. For the full scoop, click on the three icons below. They will expand to slides that describe the actual mechanism.
Normal Condition
Pain
Pain and Touch
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