Eli5: why does “shaking it off” dull the pain?

Question

Eli5: why does “shaking it off” dull the pain?

In: 7

Answer 1

A couple of reasons. For musculoskeletal injuries, moving can relax affected muscle groups, lessening pain from strains.

Otherwise, acute pain from injuries usually softens or disperses on its own as pain receptors drain the chemicals which allow them to generate signals. Moving around and shaking it off creates distracting stimuli which draws our attention away from injury pain until it softens.