I don't know if anyone else has noticed it but when I'm in pain and I try not to think about it, it seems to help a little. Is there something else to it or is it actually not thinking about it that helps? And how does not thinking about pain work if nerves are involuntary?

Sounds like you are into
a type of "self hypnosis".

Check this out:

Pain

Thanks Tree, that's close to what I'm thinking of. How does it help lessen the pain though if nerves are involuntary? What I'm thinking of isn't really hypnosis though, just simple 'not thinking about the pain'.

I am very familiar with the effect of not thinking about it and its apparent results where chronic pain is concerned. I have chronic arthritis pain and spinal stenosis which makes it difficult and painful to just stand in place for any length of time. However when I am busy working on a home improvement or some such activity, which requires some concentration on the task at hand, the pain is much more tolerable, by virtue of the fact that I am obliged to just not think about it. . I think most chronic or ongoing pain is more severe when one thinks about it because it becomes exasperating. If we just know that the pain is going to be gone in a minute or two, like an injection, it's easy to tolerate. Maybe it is a form of self hypnosis, but I think it is just that we can only think about one thing at a time with any degree of focus. And I believe the only successful way to "not think about something" is to THINK ABOUT something else.