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Ouch! Video reveals why stepping on Lego is so painful: Feet have 200,000 receptors that are triggered when they stand on bricks

Lego is made from ABS plastic making it strong and resistant to snapping
A person stepping on a brick generates 3 million pascals of pressure
The average human foot has more than 200,000 pain receptors on its sole
This means the pain is concentrated and sent quickly to the brain

Published: 09:10 EST, 2 March 2016 | Updated: 09:23 EST, 2 March 2016

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They can turn even the most luxurious of carpeted floors into a pain-filled obstacle course, yet Lego bricks are not particularly sharp or even that hard.

Now scientists have revealed why stepping on a Lego brick in bare feet is so excruciatingly painful.

They calculate an average person weighting 165lbs (75kg) can concentrate more than three million pascals of pressure onto the surface of a piece of Lego on the floor.

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Lego bricks might look like innocent toys, but the combination of a foot packed with pain receptors and the hard plastic can cause excruciating pain when they are stepped on. Nerve cells called nociceptors are responsible for sending electrical the signal to the brain when a brick is stepped on (illustrated)

This force triggers nerve fibres in the foot known as A-Delta nociceptors that are responsible for sensing pain.

These then send a signal to the brain, which is amplified with the help of chemicals called neurotransmitters.

A video posted by American Chemical Society, claims it is the combination of plastic in Lego bricks which help to contribute to this pain.

The bricks are made from three different types of basic polymer building blocks which give it strength, resistance to snapping and a shiny appearance.

There are two different types of nociceptors responsible for detecting and alerting the brain to pain. In the case of standing on Lego bricks it is the A-Delta (illustrated right) that send the signal

Lego is one of the world's most popular toys, but when spread out across the floor it can also become a hazard for anyone walking across without any shoes on (stock image of Lego on a floor pictured)

This means, when stepped on, the bricks don't bend at all, instead transmitting the force of the person's body weight up into the 200,000 nerve fibres on the sole of the average human foot.

The video explained: 'Thanks to the custom chemical tailoring of the ABS plastic, that little brick doesn't give at all under the pressure of your weight cramming it way up into your foot giving your A-Delta fibres a whole lot to talk about.'

Lego is one of the most popular toys on the planet and an estimated 600 billion bricks, figures and pieces have been produced since 1949.

Scientists estimate that an average sized person can generate three million pascals of pressure when they step on the top surface of a Lego brick. As the plastic does not bend or give, this force is sent up into the foot instead, where around 200,000 pain receptors are clustered on the sole

Surprisingly, the body reacts before the brain has even registered the pain as the signal from the A-Delta fibres trigger motor neurons which cause the muscles in the leg to react (illustrated)

Lego bricks are made out of three basic monomers (illustrated) - the building blocks that make up a polymer or plastic - which give it strength, resistance to snapping and to make it shiny. However, these all help to make the bricks unyielding when stepped on and why it's so incredibly painful

LEGO KITS STIFLE CREATIVITY

They have helped transform Lego into some of the most popular toys on the market and even turned its coloured bricks into valuable collectors’ items.

But the best-selling Jurassic World and Star Wars Lego sets may be stifling children's creativity, according to a recent study.

Rather than traditional bricks, which relied upon children's imagination to create something wonderful from a pile of plastic, the themed kits come with instructions.

Researchers found these instructions make it too easy to create spaceships and dinosaurs and do not spark any creativity in youngsters.

Children who were given the traditional toy bricks without instructions were found to outperform those who had been given the sets with step-by-step instructions when they later did other creative tasks.

Each brick is constructed from three monomers - acrylonitrile, 1, 3 butadiene and styrene.

However, most parents will know the pain of stepping on one of these plastic bricks which has been left scattered on the floor.

Surprisingly, however, our bodies react to stepping on a Lego brick before we even feel the pain.

Signals sent towards our brains by the A Delta nerve fibres travel to the spinal cord first, which triggers something known as the withdraw reflex.

Motor neurons control the movement of our muscles and when activated by the signal from the A Delta nerves, they cause our leg to quickly pull away from the Lego brick.

While this can be useful for removing the source of pain quickly, it works less well if there are other bricks scattered on the floor – leading to a painful hop across the room.

The American Chemical Society said: 'In other words you actually move your foot way from the Lego before your brain has the chance to comprehend the immeasurable pain you area about to endure.'