# Why do tiny little cuts hurt like an SOB while larger ones sometimes don't? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 23, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097 "2012-07-23T01:52:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097/1 "2012-07-23T01:52:10Z")
So in my going on 6 decades on this ball of dirt I’ve received multiple gouges, cuts, and even been stabbed a couple of times (no lie!!!). Today I got a tiny little cut on my finger from a shard of glass and it hurt like a sonovabitch!!!:mad: Which reminded me that of the times I got stabbed I felt almost nothing…EVER! Not even when it was healing. So why do paper cuts and other tiny injuries sting but bigger ones don’t? My guess is the body doesn’t send an endorphin rush to the little ones. This has to be a better theory than the shrug I got from the butthole doctors I asked the couple of times I was more severely injured. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097/2 "2012-07-23T02:34:14Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > So in my going on 6 decades on this ball of dirt I’ve received multiple gouges, cuts, and even been stabbed a couple of times (no lie!!!). > > … > > This has to be a better theory than the shrug I got from the butthole doctors I asked the couple of times I was more severely injured. Why did you go to a proctologist for a stab wound? … ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097/3 "2012-07-23T03:44:05Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Why did you go to a proctologist for a stab wound? … Do you really want the details, do you? :p:D:eek: [Million to one shot Doc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eghL7ORV1lg) just kidding!😉 No, really! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097/4 "2012-07-23T04:49:37Z")
A WAG but when you get a relatively serious injury your body shuts down pain receptors in the injured area so you won’t be incapacitated and eaten by the sabre-toothed tiger that just bit your leg. But a paper cut is too minor an injury to evoke this shutdown so you get to experience it in full. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097/5 "2012-07-23T05:24:30Z")
Right, also, sometimes in deeper cuts you have severed a nerve. There’s also shock. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097/6 "2012-07-23T05:45:02Z")
Some prior work on this question. Thread by **soccaplaya** , from Aug. 2002. Lots of speculations why. [Why do paper cuts hurt soooo bad? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=128710) Thread by **alice\_in\_wonderland** , also Aug. 2002. Got paper cut on eyeball! [I just got a paper-cut on my eye-ball... - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=131656) Thread by **nongoog** from Feb. 2007. How many paper cuts would you tolerate if you got paid $100 for each? [If someone would pay you $100 per paper cut... - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=410138) Thread by **Kn\*ckers** from Oct. 2002. God DAMN paper cuts! [God DAMN Papercuts!!! - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=141154) See post #15 by **DAVEW0071** for some speculation why they hurt so much. Also mentions yet another paper cut on the eyeball (post #20) and mentions an earlier GQ discussion (but no link to it) in which **Quadgop** [_sic_] **the Mercotan** discusses (post #21). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097/7 "2012-07-23T05:50:24Z")
I wonder if pain above a certain threshold causes the body to put out endorphins that it doesn’t below that threshold. It would be something like having an air conditioner that only comes on above 80 degrees, but then cools down to 75 degrees. It’s going to feel hotter on a 79 degree day than an 85 degree one. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097/8 "2012-07-23T08:57:42Z")
I don’t have any answer. I’m just posting to say that I would average a paper cut about every year or so. But for some reason last week I got two in one day on one hand. _Damn,_ but being a lawyer is a dangerous, rugged, Real Man’s[sup]TM[/sup] profession. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097/9 "2012-07-23T09:22:26Z")
Is there any proof BIG paper cuts don’t hurt? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097/10 "2012-07-23T12:01:38Z")
The areas that tend to get papercuts are fingers and hands…which is where we have an awful lot of nerve endings packed into a small area. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097/11 "2012-07-26T06:34:12Z")
Similarly, superficial burns often hurt like a motherfuck when deeper, more severe burns don’t, simply because they’ve destroyed the nerve endings. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tiny-little-cuts-hurt-like-an-sob-while-larger-ones-sometimes-dont/629097/12 "2012-07-26T07:45:23Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > The areas that tend to get papercuts are fingers and hands…which is where we have an awful lot of nerve endings packed into a small area. This. Tiny cuts on hands = hurt a lot Tiny cuts elsewhere = not so much Large cuts elsewhere = not so much Large cuts on hands = hurt a lot, but we expect that, because we perceive a large cut to the hand as a serious injury.