Why can pain persist long after the injury that caused it has healed? This episode explores what pain really is, how your brain determines when you feel it, and how something as simple as the wording in an MRI report can influence your recovery. Along the way, we examine a construction-site injury that surprised ER doctors, a sham knee surgery that proved as effective as the real procedure, and a therapy that left two-thirds of patients with chronic back pain pain-free.

This video is for educational purposes only. If you have a fracture, infection, or nerve compression, please see a clinician.