system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why does salt numb the pain of oral wounds but cause excruciating pain in wounds everywhere else on the body?

Salt-water numbs an open cut when I bite my tongue, but burns like fire if it gets into a paper-cut...
gpt
I've never known salt to numb pain, but it will help clean out sores or wounds. Salt raises the pH (makes it more alkaline instead of acidic) of the mouth, making it less friendly to bacteria. The pain from oral wounds is often made worse by bacterial infection, and rinsing with salt water cleans and helps protect against bacteria that would otherwise thrive in the mouth.