何苗

Few minor injuries are as painful as the dreaded paper cut. Just thinking about it probably makes you cringe （畏縮）. However， these cuts are usually small， hardly noticeable， and rarely bleed. So what makes them so painful？

很少有一些小傷能夠像被紙劃傷那樣讓人疼痛和害怕。光是想一想可能就讓你不寒而栗了。然而，這種劃傷通常傷口很小、很難被察覺到并且不怎么會流血。那為什么被紙劃傷會這么疼呢？

A paper cut is similar to a cut with a razor blade （剃須刀刀片）， with one major difference. A razor blade makes a smooth， clean incision （切口） in the skin， leaving behind few if any foreign particles （異物） that might cause the wound to become infected. Although it might hurt initially， the pain brought on by a small razor cut usually fades after a few minutes.

被紙劃傷跟被剃須刀片劃傷很像，但是有一點不同。剃須刀片造成的傷口較為平整，幾乎不會留下任何會導致傷口感染的異物。雖然剛被剃須刀片劃傷的時候很疼，但是過幾分鐘疼痛感就會慢慢消退。

Like a cut by a razor blade， a paper cut smoothly parts the skin， but while a clean razor leaves little behind to irritate （刺激） the wound， a paper cut leaves material that really stings （劇痛）.

被紙劃傷的傷口和剃須刀片造成的傷口一樣，也很平整。但是干凈的刀片不會留下任何物質(zhì)去刺激傷口，而紙劃傷口卻會留下一些讓人感到疼痛的物質(zhì)。

Paper is made of pressed wood mulch （壓縮木片）， and a variety of chemicals. When paper cuts into the skin， chemicals， as well as bacteria and tiny particles （細菌） remain in the wound and stimulate pain receptors in the skin.

紙是由壓縮木片和多種化學物質(zhì)構(gòu)成的。當紙劃過皮膚時，化學涂層纖維、細菌和細小顆粒物就會留在傷口里，對皮膚里的痛覺感受器產(chǎn)生刺激。

Since the cut is usually small and shallow （淺的）， the skin on either side of the wound closes quickly， leaving the chemicals and other particles inside. The result is a good deal of pain， and since the closed wound doesnt allow for much bleeding， the pain seems entirely out of proportion （不成比例） to a cut that you can barely （幾乎沒有） detect （發(fā)現(xiàn)）.

由于傷口通常很小且很淺，傷口會很快愈合，同時會把纖維和其他粒子留在傷口里面。所以，你才會感到十分疼痛，由于閉合的傷口幾乎不會流血，所以說，即使傷口小到你幾乎察覺不到，但是傷口造成的疼痛感卻是要人命的！