 |
Why do paper cuts hurt? |
The Five Senses
You’re reaching for a piece of drawing paper when your hand scrapes the edge of the stack and…OUCH! It’s a paper cut! Why does a cut from a piece of paper hurt so badly?! After all, paper cuts are usually on the surface of the skin, which means they may not be as deep as other cuts. It turns out that the location of paper cuts plays a big part in the amount of pain we feel from them!
Many paper cuts occur on the fingers—after all, we grab the paper with them! Since we experience the world around us in part through touch, and since we touch many things with our fingers, it makes sense that these body parts would be full of nerves! The more nerves there are, the more pain we feel.
Also, paper cuts affect the nerves at the surface of the skin. When these types of nerves are injured, we feel a stinging pain rather than the achy pain of deeper cuts. And boy does the sting hurt!
Another reason why paper cuts hurt badly is the fact that many of these cuts do not produce enough blood to clot and seal the wound. Therefore, the cut remains exposed, making it more likely to be irritated. It’s a good thing that washing and bandaging the cut can help ease the pain!
- Glass, Don. “Paper Cuts, Why So Painful?” Indiana Public Media. The Trustees of Indiana University, 08 Mar. 2007. Web. 30 Jan. 2012.
- Cox, Lauren. “The Peculiar Pain of Paper Cuts.” ABC News. ABC News Internet Ventures, 08 Feb. 2008. Web. 30 Jan. 2012.
- Chang, Steven, MD. “Quirky Questions: Why do teeny little paper cuts hurt so much?” OneMedical.com. One Medical Group, Inc., 02 Mar. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2012.