Why Rubbing An Injury Reduces Pain 🤔

If you sprain your ankle, take a handful of leaves and rub the area with them. You'll notice the pain won't feel as bad. You see, the moment you sprain it, pain signals race up your spine. But once they get there, these nerve cells act like a gate. And when the gate stays open, the signals travel up to your brain, forcing you to feel it. But when you rub your ankle, like this, it sends a second touch signal through a different set of nerves. And this actually closes the gate to most of the pain signals, meaning you feel the leaves more than the sprain.