BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: *daylia*
Date: 01 Feb 04 - 12:20 PM

The pain came later, after the operation to tidy up the stump (long before they started stitching them back on again). Why?

Strollin Johnny, what you're describing is called "phantom limb syndrome". While the physical body part has been lost, the nerves and brain area that controlled it are still intact. It takes quite a while for the body to adjust, to "realize" that the part is gone. Until it does, pain and other uncomfortable sensations (like the limb being twisted out of position, or twice as big as usual etc) are VERY common.

This makes for quite the tortured existence for a while. People who've had a foot amputated often complain about the lost foot itching constantly, and not being able to scratch it ... and lying awake all night just DYING to scratch it ....

daylia

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: bbc
Date: 01 Feb 04 - 12:04 PM

Yup, Crazy Glue is wonderful stuff! I read the hint on Heloise. Make sure the cut is clean & just glue it together! Keeps it clean & together so that it has a chance to heal & you can get on w/ your life in the meantime.

best,

bbc

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: GUEST,Sue
Date: 01 Feb 04 - 10:33 AM

Paper cuts sting so much because air gets into the cut and that's why they hurt. Put something on the cut to block the air into the cut and you will be fine. Vaseline works well, as would liquid bandaids, previously mentioned.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Peter T.
Date: 01 Feb 04 - 10:21 AM

British toilet paper used to not cut, but was a formidable abrasive. Last time I was there they had matured to having the humane variety, though the other stuff still sells -- I suppose it must have sado-masochistic memories for some, like being spanked by matron.

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: GUEST,Strollin' Johnny
Date: 01 Feb 04 - 08:03 AM

The one above about the amputated finger-end made me think of this, it will really make your eyes water. A guy I knew years ago (like about 35 years!) had his right arm severed at the elbow by a sheet-metal cutting machine. He told me that when the blade came down the first time, it cut his hand off. He said he didn't feel a thing, but instinctively made a grab for his severed hand WITH THE ARM THAT HAD JUST BEEN CUT! You guessed the next bit - the blade came down again and got him at the elbow! Again no pain, just a lot of blood. He stayed pain-free and conscious the whole time until he was anaesthetised at the hospital. The pain came later, after the operation to tidy up the stump (long before they started stitching them back on again). Why?

Just curious. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: GUEST,Johnny in OKC
Date: 01 Feb 04 - 02:10 AM

Oh dear, Lady Penelope,
I can't bear to THINK about it!
Johnny

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: lady penelope
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 08:46 PM

How little you know, Johnny. There is indeed toilet paper that can bring a tear to you eye................


TTFN Lady P.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: GUEST,Johnny in OKC
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 08:37 PM

Nature's way of punishing banjo players.

Just be glad that TOILET paper doesn't cut.

Love, Johnny

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: lady penelope
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 07:36 PM

Gareth......tch,tch,tch. (Hehehehehehehee!) Friend of mine had a similar experience with a microtome (weighted blade for cutting tissue specimens for slides). She took the tip of her finger off. The technician who was training her was pissed off 'cos she had to clean the whole set up out, 'cos my mate had bled everywhere. She said she really didn't feel much until the skin started to grow back. Then, she said, it hurt like b***ery.

For those with healing problems, try making sure you're getting enough zinc (a multivit tablet will do) as this is essential for good healing. As people have already said, stopping the skin from drying out is a big plus ( it also helps to stop infections ) and helps prevent a build up of scar tissue.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Gareth
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 07:24 PM

True - but I then, as an alternative I might have been a Pantomine Star !

Gareth - "Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock"

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: JennieG
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 07:19 PM

You'd have to train the sheep to stand very still and not run away Gareth!
Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: *daylia*
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 07:19 PM

Gareth, you are BAAAAAAAAd!   LOL!   

:-)    daylia

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 05:22 PM

Got to watch out for those Weapons of Manual Destruction, Gareth...

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Gareth
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 03:00 PM

Interstingly I calculate that (using the built in counters) that I have run sonething like 650,000 bits of 80 gsm duplicator paper through RISO 3700 and 1510 series high speed duplicators in the last 12 months.

And yes my hands have been cut about, including cuts under the fingernails Which Hurt ! Normally they just sting.

In my case it is normally a question of suck it clean, and if that dont stop the bleeding apply a bit a tissue paper.

I further calculate that beteween now and 10th June 2004. I will have printed, or been responsible for printing, another 750,000 passes.

Thank God it is difficult to get your hands caught in the roller.

That happened to me once using an old fashioned flat bed printer, I was turning it over by hand to demonstrate to a group of trainees in Canterbury Labour Party how the safety guard worked. Th put my hand in harms way to demonstrate how the safety gaurd worked.

Bad move, some C*** had disconected the gaurd trigger. I had not checked that it was connected and the inevitable happened.

I've still got the scars on my fingers. (It will cost 'Catters a pint for me to show them) The leaflet in the press at the time wass framed, complete with bloodstains, in the print room at the Whitstable Labour Club, as a warning !!!!!

Still, just as well we found out in demonstration mode, otherwise my sex life would have been ruined - Well have you tried catching a sheep with one hand and a hook ????

Gareth

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 01:39 PM

Part of it is that being cut by a piece of paper is a bit humiliating. However many times it happens it feels like soem kind of insult.

That's probably related, at mental level, to the physcal thing that JohninKansas emotions - the body feels it's so insignificant it doesn't help out with pain reief. So we have a double insult to deal with. The paper is saying "thought you were so touch - can't even beat a little piece of paper", and the body is saying "What a wimp you are..."

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Peace
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 01:27 PM

Well, how stupid was that. I'll get my glasses. Read the whole thread and couldn't figure out what everyone was talkin' about.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Peace
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 01:26 PM

I imagine they sing so much because they are really happy.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Peter T.
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 10:43 AM

The one that is really depressing is the fact that there are all these nerves in our face when you go to the dentist. I mean -- why are there nerves in our teeth? (I know, they are in the gums, but it is a real bummer).

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: GUEST,Strollin' Johnny
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 07:52 AM

Isn't it one of life's great imponderables, the full answers to which we shall never know? Like if you drop a piece of toast, why does it always land buttered-side down? I prefer not to know why these things happen, it means there's never a shortage of topics to kick to death in the pub on Sunday night.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: *daylia*
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 07:48 AM

Human beings have more "touch receptors" (tactile nerve-endings) in their faces and fingertips/hands than in any other area of the body. Fingertips have as many as 700 "touch cells" in 2 square mm of skin surface. And fingers are a VERY busy body part ... even when injured, they can rarely be idle. SO healing takes longer too. That's why paper cuts hurt so much.

MOst people are under the impression that the genitals have the most nerve-endings, but this is false. The nerve-endings in that area are specialized for certain, uh, unique sensations ... but there is actually far less "wiring" available there than in the fingertips or mouth.

Wow, come to think of it, that says a lot about the relative effectiveness of various techniques of .... oh never mind ....

Kaleea, Chinese doctors have a WONDERFUL ointment that speeds the healing of cuts and growth of new skin. I cannot remember the name now -- it was in Chinese anyway -- but I really regretted it when I ran out. I used to use it for first aid, and for my guitar students complaining about the pain in their fingertips as they developed callouses. It works great! Unfortunately I'd have to drive a couple hours to get to the nearest Chinese doctor now, but if there's one close enough to you Kaleea, I suggest you ask about this cream.

It's very inexpensive, too -- like $4 a tube.


daylia

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 06:27 AM

It's because we instinctively take a bit more care with knives and sharp things - but when did your mother ever tell you never to run with paper?

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 02:56 AM

Liquid bandage always hurts me *much* more than the original cut.

I work in an office sometimes where we use scalpels a lot. But the sore cuts people get are usually paper cuts. Strange.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: JennieG
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 12:21 AM

All the answers above make sense to me. But I like the one from Liz best - 'death by a thousand paper cuts', brilliant! Photocopy/computer paper is usually the culprit but I have also been cut by the edge of office cardboard folders. By golly that hurts.
I'm much safer with sharp objects - knives, scissors, rotary cutters, no problem there!
Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: MarkS
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 10:08 PM

Sttaw Legend - What kind of paper is not organic already?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Sorcha
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 09:43 PM

Kaleea, try puttin either pure Vitamin E oil or jojba oil on the dry scars. Both are good. Or, a good quality olive oil. Scars should not do that if they are properly healed.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 07:15 PM

Well that's how Crazy or Super Glue was developed - it was meant as a quick skin repair to avoid stitches that would pull through. Another great medical step forward thanks to the necessity created by war. The epidural anaesthetic was developed under the same circumstances, in Korea. Made it possible to work on stomach and leg wounds without putting the patient out completely, thus making it faster and a bit safer.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 06:58 PM

Hi Kaleea

have you tried putting a plaster, (Bandaid), with the pad soaked in
olive oil on your finger overnight? ( or even all day if possible).

I have used this idea on dry split lips when regular ointments and
salves have done nothing, and found that the cut heals quickly.

The olive oil does not dry out as ointments do, and it keeps the
skin supple and moist so that it flexes instead of cracking, and
so can heal.

Hope this helps you and others who get these skin cracks.

Cheers

Cattail !

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 03:45 PM

Hairy paper!! The mind boggles!....John

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 02:44 PM

"Use liquid bandaid"

You know of course that stuff is just Krazy Glue...

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: greg stephens
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 02:42 PM

It must be the hairiness of the paper that scrapes and hurts. Similar sized cuts from razors and knives dont tend to hurt very much at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Zhenya
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 02:36 PM

Use liquid bandaid or something similar on finger cuts. (Let one coat dry and after an hour or so, put on a second one.) Your fingers will function without pain, it won't come off from just washing your hands, and by the time the liquid bandaid peels off, the cut will be healed or almost healed. (In fact, the label on the bottle recommends it for musicians, among others!)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Sttaw Legend
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 07:39 AM

Use organic paper.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 07:09 AM

There was an item in "New Scientist" a few years back that said the reason paper cuts hurt more than metal cuts is paper is not smooth like metal.

Paper is composed of zillions of microscopic fibres & some stay in the cut.

Nasty stuff paper, my latest cut has healed now. It was only on the fingerpad, not the usual joint so I only swore for a short while, but naturally it hurt for a long while and kept opening every time I moved my fingers.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 05:07 AM

I've also heard the theory that it is both a cut and a burn, i.e. friction between paper and flesh.
John

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 04:38 AM

JennieG -

The reason paper cuts sting so much is precisely that they are such insignificant wounds. When there is larger scale trauma, the body compensates by "desensitizing" the location - it goes numb, at least to a degree. A paper cut is usually too small to cause this reaction, so the open surfaces of the cut dry out, harden a little, and act about the same as if you had a small thorn in the flesh.

Anyone with much experience with insulation products, or even with much metal work, will attest that the most "hurtful" stickers are the ones that are too small to see.

Kaleea -

I can sympathize with the scar tissue problem. The only real solution is to get rid of the scar, but the "accepted" method there is usually something on the order of a skin graft - or even a series of them. It doesn't usually seem worth it unless the problem is severe. I've come to just accepting an occasional "leak" from a few old "character marks." It does seem that the ones that "open" occasionally get a little smaller each year, so maybe it's part of the healing process.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 04:17 AM

Moisturise, moisturise and moisturise again. Improve your vitamin E intake and keep your hands warm.

I suspect it's a form of torture, devised by the cunning orientals who developed origami and kirigami - slow death by a thousand paper cuts.

I'd like to know how I get them without noticing until about 30 minutes later....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: Kaleea
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 01:53 AM

I suspect that since we "feel" with our fingers, our fingers have really good receptors which may cause more pain. maybe since we are constantly doing things with our fingers we notice it more. Well, it sounded good, anyhoo!
    I'm trying to figure out how I can keep the old scar tissure from opening up every winter. I had 2 separate cuts close together on one thumb from years ago, & every winter at least one will pop open. This year, I got one healed up after about 2 weeks, & then the other one opened up & that was 3 weeks ago! It has finally stopped looking infected. My chronic dry skin, I suspect. What do I do?

Subject: BS: Why do paper cuts sting so much?
From: JennieG
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 01:44 AM

Folks, we're not into brain surgery here. This week at work I have suffered two paper cuts - one on a finger, the other on a knuckle - and they sting like blazes both at the time of cutting and for a day or so afterwards. Why is this, when they are such insignficant wounds?
Cheers
JennieG