Pain scientist Dr Rachel Zoffness tells Harry Bullmore that chronic pain is ‘terribly’ misunderstood and mistreated. She shares her no-cost methods for lessening it C hronic pain affects roughly one in three people worldwide . If you have experienced it, you’ll know that it is not constant throughout the day. This pain might flare when it’s at the forefront of your mind or when you’re stressed , then scale back when you’re relaxed or distracted by a TV show. This suggests that pain isn’t just