ELI5 Hair - pluck out a hair, then rub the pain away, why does this work?

ELI5 Explain Like I'm 5: Bite sized answers to stuff you should know about - in a mini podcast

When I pluck a hair out of my forehead, the area hurts a lot, but I can reduce the pain to nearly zero simply by briefly rubbing the area. Why is this? What is the gate control theory? Why do some hairs grow only grow to a certain length (like our eyebrows), while others grow forever?

... We explain like i'm five!

Thank you to the r/explainlikeimfive community as always and in particular the following users whose questions and comments formed the basis of this discussion: notnat3, perry_cox29, real_shadowave, snekcharmer123456789 & storeoh

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