Paper cuts are probably the tiniest, most harmless injuries we can sustain. But as I’m sure you can attest, they hurt a ton more than many of us would expect.
We’ve all experienced that surprisingly painful sensation that comes from accidentally slicing our fingers with the edge of a piece of paper. You’d think a little cut like that wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s as if your skin has been ripped open — and in actuality, it has, just on a very small scale.
So why do these seemingly inconsequential wounds hurt so much?
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In a nutshell, paper acts as a much smaller handsaw. It’s several times thinner than the average kitchen knife blade, allowing it to make very fine cuts on the skin despite its flimsiness.
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Thin cuts can activate a large number of nociceptors, or our pain receptors, over a small surface area. Our fingers have an especially high concentration of nociceptors, making paper cuts especially painful.
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