What causes the painful sensation produced by touching dry ice?

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thermoreception in polar bears — Thermoreception Warm-blooded animals, such as polar bears, maintain stable body temperatures and adapt to substantial geographic and seasonal temperature fluctuations. Thermal adaptation is supported by the function of sensory structures called thermoreceptors.

The painful sensation experienced when touching dry ice is not caused by the activation of standard thermoreceptors alone. Instead, it results from the abrupt activation of nociceptors triggered by the rapid formation of ice crystals within the skin.1

While thermoreception involves specialized ion channels that respond to temperature changes, the intense, sharp, biting pain associated with deep cold is a distinct physiological response to tissue-damaging stimuli.21