Injuring your finger while cooking or cutting yourself on a piece of broken glass can be excruciating. However, a simple piece of paper can also be a surprisingly formidable “assassin” that causes you to bleed.
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Let’s explore why a piece of paper can also make you “bleed”
Have you ever wondered why such a thin piece of paper can cause you to cut your finger and sometimes feel even more painful? This article will help clarify that question.
We know that peripheral nerves consist of a network of branching nerve fibers throughout the body. Attached to each of these branches are special nerve endings that can sense unpleasant stimuli such as cuts or burns.
These nerve endings are called pain receptors (nociceptors). In our hands and fingertips, there are millions of these pain receptors. They respond to almost everything: high temperatures, harmful chemicals, or simply things that puncture your skin.
Sensitive pain neurons send signals to the brain to “report” the newly received injury. The brain makes the body aware of the wound.
However, why do cuts from paper tend to hurt more than cuts from a knife? Experts suggest that when a knife accidentally cuts your skin, it leaves a relatively neat and deeper wound. However, the flexibility, specifically the softness and pliability of the paper’s edge, results in a shallower cut but with a larger surface area.
Moreover, a piece of paper can also leave behind harmful chemical particles that make the wound harder to heal. Although it may not bleed much, this type of wound exposes tissue and cells without any protective layer. Every time you use your hand for something, the cut “moves”, causing discomfort and pain to be transmitted to the brain.
Additionally, experts also pay attention to the psychological aspect of cutting oneself with paper. Our brain always assumes that an object “as harmless as paper” cannot cause a bleeding wound, which is why when you accidentally cut yourself, you feel more pain.
