How does your body decide how much something hurts? Why might skinning your elbow, banging it into a wall, or getting stung there by a bee all hurt different amounts if none of them leave lasting damage and are in the same place?
In: 8
Combination of nerve density and the type of injury, which relates to how much antagonism happens at the site. When you cut yourself, you anger a bunch of neurons at the site AND your immune system will recruit a bunch of inflammatory factors as part of dealing with the microbes that have been introduced at the wound. These combine to make a wound site that can be painful for days as your body fights the infection, and that red, pulsing site of inflammation actually assist with this process. In contrast, just banging your elbow into something might break a few blood vessels to make a bruise but your immune system isn’t needed since you didn’t invite any invaders to the party. Lastly, bee stings (and other bites and stings) introduce a chemical that amplifies the pain signals (on purpose, to deter you from bothering the bees). This venom can make the pain disproportionately worse than an equivalent sting you would feel, say, from a hypodermic needle.
Latest Answers