Why does screaming alleviate pain?

Question

When I stub my little toe on the leg of a table but there are a lot of people around me, I’ll just walk it off while maybe taking a few deep breaths and wiping some tears away from my eyes. The pain is excruciating and just gets worse. However…

When there is nobody around and my pinky toe falls victim to a razor sharp edge, I just scream bloody murder and somehow that alleviates the pain.

How does a noise you make with your mouth take away from the pain on another part of your body?

In: Biology

Answer 1

IIRC when you scream, it takes your focus away from the site of the wound and lessen the pain. Another possible explanation is that it trigger the fight or flight response, flooding your body with adrenaline. That also serves to reduce pain