system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: When I feel pain from a burn I feel the instant pain then a brief period before throbbing pain starts, are there two different pain receptors?
gpt
When you burn yourself, an immediate reflex occurs to make you pull your hand back. This isn't pain, and it isn't even processed by the brain, but directly by the brain stem. When that reflex is occuring, you haven't had enough time for the pain signals to be transmitted and processed by the brain yet. When those signals get there shortly after, your brain processes them and then creates a pain response localized to that area, essentially telling your hand "Hey, hand! You should be hurting right now!" Your obedient hand then says "Ok! I'll keep you updated on how much this hurts too!" And then your hand hurts like a bitch.