IN A NUTSHELL

1 NATURE’S ALARM

Pain is essential for survival, alerting us that something is wrong and that we’ve possibly damaged ourselves. It prompts us into action and is a great teacher – we learn to avoid things that hurt.

2 ALL IN THE BRAIN

Pain emerges from brain activity, but there isn’t a simple one-to-one mapping between the amount of tissue damage and the pain we experience. It’s a highly subjective phenomenon, and our emotions, attention, expectations, and context can all influence the incoming signals to strengthen or weaken the pain.

3 PROBLEM PAIN

One in five adults experiences pain that persists beyond three to four months from the original injury – the definition of chronic pain. Our understanding of the biology behind this is vastly improving, so there could be new therapies on the horizon.