What Is Pain?

We all know pain – the sensation our bodies feel when we burn a finger on the stove or knock our "funny bone." It plays an important role in our lives. It helps us learn boundaries to keep us safe, but it's obviously not something we want to feel all the time.

It's important to understand that not all pain is created and treated equally, though. Actually, there are two different types of pain that can have a big effect on your stress levels.

This is the pain you get when you stub your toe on the coffee table. A short, sudden burst of sharp pain rushes to the foot, we hobble around and yell before it quickly goes away. Even the smallest amounts of acute pain can be made much worse if our mind is in a stressful place, but we'll get to that in a bit.

The second is called chronic pain. This is a much more severe feeling that's harder to shake. It could come from things like a bad back or arthritis and linger for months. In order to ease this type of pain, you need to do some mental work. Chronic pain is a major cause of long-term stress if it's left alone.