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Description
Stubbing your toe hurts. It's right up there with paper cuts and chapped lips. Annoying, minor injuries that hurt way more than they have any right to. But it turns out, there's a good reason why stubbing your toe hurts so much.
When you stub your toe, you're slamming it with a force equal to 2-3 times your body weight. That's about the same force as a karate punch! And since your toe has a tiny surface area, that force can't spread out. So the pain stays concentrated at the point of impact.
It's the same reason it hurts more to step on the tiny, pointy end of a thumbtack than the wider, blunt end. But you don't just feel an immediate shock like when you step on a thumbtack. There's that aching throb that comes after. That's because when you stub your toe, you're actually hitting a bundle of special nerve endings called nociceptors. They all fire at once, blaring a danger signal.
Researchers suspect the pain we feel from mishaps like a stubbed toe might've saved our ancestors' lives. Back before antibiotics, even the tiniest cut could mean a deadly infection. And feet, which were constantly in contact with dirty, bacteria-infested surfaces were particularly vulnerable. So people who had extra- sensitive feet might've been more careful about where they stepped. As a result, they'd be less likely to get infections and would live to pass on their genes.
So the next time you collapse to the floor, cradling your aching toe you can thank your great great great great great great grandpa for the privilege.
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