The primary afferent nociceptor is central to the experience of pain. It is only rarely that pain occurs in the absence of a previous or acute activation of primary afferent nociceptors. For this reason specifically silencing the primary afferent nociceptor or its functional connectivity in the spinal cord dorsal horn is an important approach to developing novel analgesics. One rational strategy is to identify ion channels specifically expressed by nociceptive sensory neurons with a view to developing drugs that specifically shut down nociceptors. An alternative approach is to find a way of blocking the transduction of natural stimuli that activate nociceptors. Many nociceptors are polymodal in nature meaning that they often respond to both noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli (Lewin and Moshourab, 2004). Although much progress has been made in identifying candidate ion channels involved in the transduction of cold or heat stimuli (Jordt et al., 2003), there is still a big gap in our knowledge about the transduction of noxious mechanical stimuli. In this short review we will concentrate on the high threshold mechanotransducer in nociceptive sensory neurons.