# Why are paper cuts so painful? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2002, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-paper-cuts-so-painful/100914 "2002-03-30T12:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-paper-cuts-so-painful/100914/1 "2002-03-30T12:37:57Z")
They don’t go very deep, usually. They appear to involve less trauma than, say, skinned knuckles. Yet they hurt like crazy; seemingly out of proportion to the actual injury. Why is this? ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-paper-cuts-so-painful/100914/2 "2002-03-30T13:31:50Z")
This is a WAG, but… shock? Maybe you wouldn’t expect such a flimsy thing to hurt, so the pain you actually experience is blown out of proportion… Just my really WA $0.02… ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-paper-cuts-so-painful/100914/3 "2002-03-30T13:43:16Z")
From [A Moment of Science](http://amos.indiana.edu/library/scripts/papercuts.html) : > [@](#): > > Like a superficial cut by a razor blade, a paper cut smoothly parts the skin. But while a clean razor leaves little behind to irritate the wound, a paper cut deposits material that really stings. Paper is made of pressed wood mulch and a variety of chemicals. When paper cuts into the skin, chemical-coated fibers as well as bacteria and tiny particles remain in the wound and stimulate pain receptors in the skin. There’s more on the page. ---
**Author:** ![Eggles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d9b06d/32.png) [@Eggles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eggles)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-paper-cuts-so-painful/100914/4 "2002-03-30T14:21:48Z")
I believe the apparently out-of-proportion amount of pain associated with a paper cut is because the fingertips are richly endowed with nerve endings (which is why for example a blind person uses fingertips for reading braille and not their knuckles). Damage to these pain receptors is what all the pain is due to. ---
**Author:** ![Kalashnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kalashnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalashnikov)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-paper-cuts-so-painful/100914/5 "2002-03-30T16:25:31Z")
I’d have to agree with \*\*Ice Wolf \*\* (cool name BTW) that it must be something in the paper itself, since in my line of work I frequently get cuts from razor knives, and they don’t hurt much at all. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-paper-cuts-so-painful/100914/6 "2002-03-30T18:00:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eggles \* > \*\*I believe the apparently out-of-proportion amount of pain associated with a paper cut is because the fingertips are richly endowed with nerve endings (which is why for example a blind person uses fingertips for reading braille and not their knuckles). Damage to these pain receptors is what all the pain is due to. \*\* Although our fingertips have many nerve endings, paper cuts hurt just as much when they occur in the webbing of our fingers, or even elsewhere on the hand (as I can recently attest to). So, I don’t believe that’s the reason. ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-paper-cuts-so-painful/100914/7 "2002-03-30T19:03:57Z")
I wasn’t thinking of the residual effects of the material(s) left behind in the cut. **Ice Wolf** provided an excellent cite and quote. I hadn’t thought it completely, through, I guess. Makes sense, though. Thanks.