In the second world war, Henry Beecher observed that some of his soldier patients, despite being injured on the battlefield, required no strong painkillers. The effects of fear, stress and emotion on the brain had switched off their pain. But we all possess an innate ability to control our pain levels. The secret lies in a structure located in the very middle of your brain: the periaqueductal grey (PAG) This small, heart-shaped region contains neurons whose role is to alter incoming pain signals reaching the cerebral cortex. In doing so, it is able to dampen down any pain that would otherwise be experienced. It has been suggested that long term pain is persistent and not useful to the body – which is why prescribed exercise might be able to work for ache and pains. There is growing evidence that the release of painkilling substances called enkephalins can be enhanced in a variety of different ways – one example is the use of the painkiller ibuprofen.
