Why acute and chronic pain are so different—and what might make pain last

A new study reveals that when we experience short-term (acute) pain, the brain has a built‑in way to dial down pain signals—like pressing the brakes—to keep them from going into overdrive. But in long‑term (chronic) pain, this braking system fails, and the pain signals just keep firing. This discovery helps explain why some pain goes away while other pain lingers, and it opens the door to new treatments that could stop pain from becoming chronic in the first place.

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