Providing pressure above or below an injury site can provide genuine pain relief by activating A fibers that inhibit C fibers according to the Gate Theory of Pain.

“When we rub our skin or an area, or we provide pressure nearby it, we activate the so-called A fibers, the bigger wires and neurons that innovate, meaning they jut into that area of skin. And those A fibers, the ones that respond to mechanical pressure actually are able to inhibit those C fibers, th”