why is temperature pain delayed but needle pain is immediate?

Question

If you spill hot water on your hand it takes a second to register as painful but a needle prick is immediately painful. Why?

In: 1

Answer 1

Pain is felt when nerves are stimulated. Needles are jammed through multiple layers of skin, quickly (if you are being treated kindly). The pain from a burn will register once the damage is deep enough to hit nerves. It depends on how hot, and how deep, the burn goes. I can tell you that I immediately feel the pain of a burn when my forearm bumps my 500 degree (Fahrenheit) oven.