Significance statement: When in pain, pain relief can become an all-dominate goal. The perception of such pain relief can vary depending on external and internal characteristics and thus modulate, for example, requests for pain killers in clinical settings. Here, we show that perceived intensity and pleasantness of pain relief changes with repetitions and whether the preceding pain is perceived as uncontrollable. Such mechanistic knowledge needs to be considered to maximize the effects of pain relief as a rewarding and reinforcing stimulus.