Why do paper cuts hurt so much?

The edges of a sheet of paper are sharp enough to score the skin, but not sharp enough to make a clean cut. The paper therefore tears the skin like a small serrated saw.

Particularly sensitive nerve tracts run through the fingertips. However, as the fingers are used very often, the many nerves become pain receptors that transmit all pain information directly to the brain.

Although the cut is not deep, the concentration of the most sensitive pain receptors is highest directly under the surface of the skin. In addition, a superficial cut does not bleed properly. As a result, no real scab forms, which means that the cut nerves are exposed to fresh air for a long time and continue to hurt.

And as the fingertips are among the most stressed parts of the body, these wounds reopen with the slightest wrong movement.