Science Says What Parents Already Know: Stepping On A Lego Really Effing Hurts

In the hierarchy of things a person can step on, few things rank worse than Lego. My baby is too small for Lego, but I took a triangular block to the arch of the foot last month and carried a visible bruise for a week. Any gamers out there know the agony of stepping on a four-sided die shaped like a tiny, hard plastic pyramid with the soft part of one’s heel. And for their tiny size and easiness to lose in the carpet, we all know we’re going to take one sooner or later. According to science, it will be the worst thing ever.

(Related: Lego Magazine Thinks 5-Year-Old Girls Need Beauty Tips)

Over at Yahoo Parenting, Micah Abrams of Fatherly stepped into the science of why it hurts so effing badly to step on a Lego. For starters, a single Lego can withstand nearly 1,000 pounds of pressure before it starts to deform, and the strength of the Lego is the perfect evil when paired with the weakness of your foot. The human foot is basically a giant pain sensor. The bottom of the foot is one of the most sensitive parts of the body, and it has 100,000-200,000 nerve endings just ready to register the feeling of stepping on a 2×4 plastic rectangle and let your brain know that it really, really hurts.

As Abrams writes:

A 165-pound person standing on a single Lego will put those 100-200,000 exteroceptors under 3,262,222 pascals of pressure, or 32 times what they’re under when you’re relaxing on the couch (where you’re undoubtably sitting on a Lego).

Ugh. Lego, I love you, but you’re making Beanie Babies sound pretty great right now.

I know Lego are supposed to be good for my daughter’s developing brain and future problem-solving and creativity, but right now I can’t stop thinking how much safer my feet would be if I could just give her some soft blankets and put on the TV.

Photo: Shutterstock