This morning I grabbed a mug out of the microwave, hissed, and dropped it: the handle had heated up to about five bajillion degrees, and three of my fingers got scorched. Ever since, it’s hurt to wash them in medium-heat water. And we’ve all had the experience of eating too-hot soup, scalding our tongue, and gingerly making our way past hot liquids for a day or so.
On one level, this makes sense: you burn yourself, you’re extra-sensitive to pain. But I’m not sure what the mechanism is. Is there some insulation around nerves that’s cooked away? Do nerves lower their temperature threshold for measuring pain? Do you receive the same sensation, but your brain is interpreting it differently?
This seems like a five-year-old’s question, to I’m prepared to feel very stupid at the answer. But I’d still like to understand.