why do paper cuts hurt so much?

Question:

Answers:
Because they're on your hands, usually, and your hands have many sensitive nerves. That's why we use our hands to feel things. because they have so many nerves.

Other Answers:
Because you're cut!

Your fingers are very sensitive

Because a papercut is basically a cut that's caused by paper. That's why its called a "paper cut".

Because they cut through sensitive capillaries and there are many nerve endings in your fingers.

because once you have a paper cut you hit the finger all the time and aggrivate it-ouch!

bcs the paper is cutting very deeply and its not a strait cut like from a knife, so it's like many many small small cuts connected together and very deep.

ask the paper why their cut hurts so much then u'll know.

Lets start off by thinking about pain. What is the point of it? Surely we would all be better off without this unpleasant sensation? Well this isn't actually the case- as nasty as it is; pain is on the whole a really good thing. It is our body's way of forcing us away from danger and making us rest until any injury or illness has had a chance to heal. Evolution has kept selecting for our ability to feel pain as those who can't are more likely to get themselves killed before they can reproduce and their genes get wiped out of the gene pool.

The major importance of pain to our bodies is illustrated if we think about the millions of touch receptors in our skin. In every square centimetre there is 1 receptor for warmth, 6 for cold, 15 for pressure and a huge 200 for pain. Pain is felt when these pain receptors are stimulated and the nerves send a message at around 180 miles per hour to the brain that tells us we are hurting.

Now the problem with paper cuts is that they usually occur on our hands and hands just happen to have more nerve endings than any part of the body. Our palms, lips, nipples and genitals, are areas particularly sensitive to touch, and therefore also to paper cuts, due to the presence of a particular type of touch receptor in these areas that responds to light touching.

A paper cut is generally not a serious injury despite how it feels, and only irritates the nerve endings in our hands rather than destroying them like a really bad injury would. This unfortunately means all the nerves work just fine as they send their message to the brain. In the case of a serious injury, it might not hurt too much to start with as the damaged nerves have to repair them before they can contact the brain.

What else? Well, paper cuts aren't the same as razor cuts- the edge of the paper is pretty blunt and serrated so it rips and tears our flesh leaving little bits of paper in the wound. Our body doesn't like it much when foreign objects end up imbedded in our skin and it tells us about it by making it hurt.

So, knowing all of this, I'm afraid isn't going to make a paper cut hurt any less but at least you know what is causing all the pain now. If it all gets too much you can always try hitting the cut with a hammer to destroy some of the nerve endings and maybe it will hurt a bit less.

Paper is wood. It's like having tiny slivers and as smooth a cut as it seems, it is like a serrated knife although on a smaller scale. Ouch! Makes me squirm thinking about it.

because there are a lot more nerves at the finger tips same reason why a hang nail or broken cuticle hurt a lot more. nerves=more signals to the brain

You see, the edge of paper is very, very thin, which means that the edge is sharper, and the cut goes deeper than for ex. a knife, which compared to the edge of paper, is like comparing a piece of thread with a roap to anchor ships. So, combine sensitive nerves in your hand with DEEPER cuts (although not seen, the wound IS narrow), there you have your increase in pain.

That is the same case as cutting yourself with the edge of some tall grasses.

Usually paper cuts aren't very deep.Between every two thin layers of skin is blood and when you get a paper cut it lets in oxygen which causes it to hurt more.The closer the cut to the surface the more air.It just hurts quicker than a deeper cut.

If you look carefully, you'll see that every piece of paper has been viciously guillotined all around the edges by mankind. Maybe it's just getting its own back ..

"Now the problem with paper cuts is that they usually occur on our hands and hands just happen to have more nerve endings than any part of the body. Our palms, lips, nipples and genitals, are areas particularly sensitive to touch, and therefore also to paper cuts, due to the presence of a particular type of touch receptor in these areas that responds to light touching.

A paper cut is generally not a serious injury despite how it feels, and only irritates the nerve endings in our hands rather than destroying them like a really bad injury would. This unfortunately means all the nerves work just fine as they send their message to the brain. In the case of a serious injury, it might not hurt too much to start with as the damaged nerves have to repair them before they can contact the brain.

What else? Well, paper cuts aren't the same as razor cuts- the edge of the paper is pretty blunt and serrated so it rips and tears our flesh leaving little bits of paper in the wound. Our body doesn't like it much when foreign objects end up imbedded in our skin and it tells us about it by making it hurt."

http://www.ratlab.co.uk/papercut.htm
Source(s):
Pretty much the same explanation here:

http://van.hep.uiuc.edu/van/qa/section/Everything_Else/Health/20020326233206.htm

More Questions and Answers

The consumer health information on youqa.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.

why do paper cuts hurt so much?

Health Resources