Stubbed Toe Is A Disproportionate Experience! – Dave’s Diary

So here’s the scene: It’s the middle of the night, I wake up thirsty and don’t want to wake up wife or daughter next door as I get up to go to the kitchen for a glass of water.  All is quiet and going well until in the dark I discover where Dewey the wonder dog left his new ginormous bone!  I respond - and now everyone is awake including I’m sure, several of the neighbors down the block!

So WHY does it hurt so much to stub your toe???  Toes are small but the pain is big-what gives?

Health sciences Professor Chris Geiser says he knows why. He explains that humans have long used their toes to test out how new environments feel on the skin. This is due to their location on the body, and also because our toes contain many nerve endings, allowing us to quickly assess if something is hot, or cold and more.

Also, before the invention of shoes, it was much easier to injure your foot, and lack of medicine meant that you could die from even a small cut becoming infected. This means that humans who injured their toes the least had an "evolutionary advantage."

So next time your stub your toe, remember you may owe your existence to your toe sensitivity.

And the next time I stub my toe in the night Dewey might owe his existence to the fact he’s my wife’s favorite.  Grrrrrrrrr!