Pain is a vital part of our body's defences, and without it we could not survive.
Pain warns us what things are dangerous, and so helps us avoid damage to our body. If the body is already damaged, pain helps with healing because it makes us protect our injuries. Some babies are born with a rare condition that makes them unable to feel pain. They do not learn the lessons that pain teaches, and as a result suffer many fractures and infections.
Pain happens when nerve endings in our skin and our internal organs send messages through the central nervous system to our brain. The brain itself can not feel pain. There are two types of pain - acute pain, which lasts a short time and is removed when the cause is cured, and chronic pain, which can last a lifetime and can not usually be treated. Chronic pain must be managed using drugs or other methods.