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Showing posts from September, 2023

Why we wince when we hurt?

 “Ouch!” When we feel pain or discomfort, the wincing response is a normal, instinctive response. It is our body's defence mechanism against possibly harmful stimuli. Like an automatic response, wincing can also be influenced by our emotional and psychological condition. The act of wincing might vary due to various expressions such as surprise, fear, or distress. A little bit of scientific explanation, when we experience pain, sensory receptors in our skin send signals to the spinal cord, which then relay the information to the brain. The brain then sends electrical impulses to the muscles, causing them to contract or spasm, resulting in the wincing sensation. One light-hearted fact, human also wince when we sometimes anticipate pain. Before it occurs, due to prior experiences, our brain processes the potential treat, which leads to an anticipatory response.  For example, one anxiously anticipates an injection to be slightly uncomfortable and winces even before the doctor acts on y