All cuts hurt, but one type of cut seems to stand out the most as being disproportionately painful to the injury you have received. We are talking of course of the humble yet ridiculously ouchy paper cut.
So why do they hurt so much? Is it the shape? The shallowness of the cut? The feelings of betrayal and embarrassment that come from being injured by paper?
One reason why they hurt so goddamn much is that they tend to occur on parts of the body that are very sensitive, such as fingers or, for any remaining aristocrats out there still sending letters, the tongue.
“The nerve networks of these body parts can discriminate with exceptional clarity and specificity, sensations of pressure, heat, cold and injury. Our brains even have specialized areas to receive signals coming from these parts in high definition,” Gabriel Neal, Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Texas A&M University, explains in an article for The Conversation. “The exquisite sensing abilities that makes our fingers, lips and tongue so good at what they normally do, also makes injuries all the more painful.”
Other sensitive parts of the body, your face or genitals for instance, would also feel heightened pain, which is one of several reasons why you don’t use your genitals to open Amazon packages.
Another reason is due to the shape of the paper itself. Though to the unaided eye, the edge of a piece of paper may look like a nice neat straight edge, looking a little closer it is more like a saw blade than a chef’s knife, resulting in more of a chaotic rip than a clean slice.
“The depth of the wound is perfect for exposing and exciting the nerve fibers of the skin without damaging them the way a deeper, more destructive injury can severely damage the nerve fibers impairing their ability to communicate pain,” Neal adds. “With a paper cut, the nerve fibers are lit, and they are fully operational.”
Occurring in some of our favorite and most-used areas also means that you are more likely to reopen the wounds throughout the day, as you perform other tasks with your hands and mouth. As well as this, the shallow cuts mean that a scab doesn’t develop, leaving the wound exposed, and you with an incredibly irritating and painful wound from a flimsy bit of paper.
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The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.
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