The present invention provides methods of preventing and treating pain, by modulating, e.g. inhibiting, the activity, function and/or expression of a PLCγ in a subject. The invention further relates to methods of identifying agents capable of modulating the activity and/or expression of a PLCγ, or capable of modulating binding of a ligand or binding partner to a PLCγ, and their use thereof for the prevention and/or treatment of pain. In a further aspect, the invention provides methods for the diagnosis and prognostication of pain by determining whether there is modulation of activity and/or expression of a PLCγ relative to a corresponding control.