Why do papercuts hurt the way they do?

Because its your skin being cut open. It may be small, but usually they’re pretty deep.

It slices through many tiny nerve endings. I like to keep tea tree oil on hand, it instantly stops the stinging.

I have heard that it is the bleach & dyes they put in the paper, but that could be n old wives tale. As small as they are, they are up there on the pain scale.

Your fingertips have some of the highest concentration of nerve endings on your entire body. A papercut, since they usually occur on your fingers, ends up hitiing many many more nerves than a typical cut, and therefore it hurts more.

It’s the tree’s revenge.