Doctor reveals why paper cuts hurt so bad

Note: Imagery in the video above may be disturbing to some.

By Sean Dowling, Buzz60

Achilles had his heel, Superman had kryptonite and we mere mortals have a not-so-secret weakness too: the dreaded paper cut!

While anyone who has ever had one knows paper cuts are absurdly painful for the size of the injury, you might not know why.

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So here it is: they aren't that deep, but cuts from paper aren't clean slices, either.

Instead, a piece of paper cuts through skin more like a jagged saw than a knife -- ripping, shredding and tearing your skin.

According to Dr. Hayley Goldbach, a resident physician of dermatology at UCLA, paper cuts are so painful because of our nerve endings.

Fingertips are packed with more pain receptors than almost anywhere else in our bodies.

Goldbach also notes, "It would probably hurt a lot if you got a paper cut on your face or in your genitals."

As mentioned before, the cuts aren't that deep, but that's exactly why they're so painful.

A deeper wound causes bleeding, but then the blood will clot and a scab would develop, protecting the wound from the outside world.

However, a shallow wound like a paper cut doesn't offer this protection, leaving the skin exposed to the elements.

So it never hurts to keep a bandage handy! You don't want that paper cut to hurt any more than it does already, do you?

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