ABSTRACT
“Walk it off!” “No pain, no gain!” These phrases are ubiquitous in sport because pain has traditionally been seen as a necessary byproduct of athletic achievement. Athletes themselves recognize it as a part of their everyday lives, and coaches, spectators, and companies have glorified it as the mark of physical superiority. But what is pain? This chapter introduces the underlying biological, psychological, and sociological mechanisms of pain and explores how these interact in the context of sport injury. It also considers pain-related complications that may arise during rehabilitation, such as sensitization and kinesiophobia. We discuss the psychological issues that result from pain and its normalization, and the reader’s views will be challenged as evidence is presented to suggest that pain can be both facilitative and debilitative for athletes within and outside of sport.
