Tickling Stories Tmf (2024)

FAQs

What is the most sensitive part to tickle? ›

In fact, traumatic or negative experiences with tickling, especially during childhood, can lead to a fear of being tickled — or even life-long trust issues.

and you wouldn't be able to regulate your breathing, and you'd be very stressed. You could have asphyxia, a brain aneurysm or a heart attack. So you could actually be tickled to death.

Many people find small, blunt, brush-like objects like back-scratchers and even hairbrushes and combs to be very ticklish, along with small rod-like objects like q-tips and pencils.

The soles of the feet and the underarms are two of the most common ticklish places on the body. But the feet's ticklishness fits nicely with Darwin's theory, since the soles of the feet are accustomed to diffuse pressure from the rest of the body when we're standing or walking [source: Mintz].

In fact, the body movements of someone being tickled often mimic those of someone in severe pain. Older research shows both pain and touch nerve receptors are triggered during tickling. And people laugh just as hard whether they're being tickled by a person or by a machine.

Several reported tickling as a type of physical abuse they experienced, and based on these reports it was revealed that abusive tickling is capable of provoking extreme physiological reactions in the victim, such as vomiting, urinary incontinence, and losing consciousness due to inability to breathe.

Upon being tickled, the hypothalamus subsequently kicks the body of the ticklee into fight-or-flight mode and enables it to act out in the form of complex reflexes — these could be shrieks, laughter, or some kind of motor movement, such as kicking, doubling up, or flinching away.

“Excessive tickling can also lead to anxiety in children. Not only this, but tickling can even cause death from asphyxia, brain aneurysms or other stress-related injuries when done constantly. It is better to avoid tickling the baby to make sure that there are no problems due to it,” said Dr Kathwate.

The relaxing effect of tickling has given rise to the concept of “tickle spas.” The professionals in these spas tickle a person gently with their fingertips or with a feather. This is believed to release the “feel-good” hormones in the body. It makes the person feel calm and may also help manage anxiety.

Is tickling good for relationships? ›

Tickling is great for bonding

Depending on who is doing it, it can also be a great way to build relationships, according to Charles Darwin.

Pregnancy leads to modifications in sensitivity to tickle, specifically with regard to the right half of the body and to some extent in body schema.

Anything unpleasant could be used as a torture. And that includes forced tickling.

2% of the world can tickle themselves. That means that just because you can tickle yourself doesn't mean you're schizophrenic. According to research, schizophrenic people can tickle themselves, but not all people who can tickle themselves are schizophrenic.

One reason feet are ticklish is that they have more densely packed nerve receptors than most other places on the body. Upwards of 8,000 nerve endings can be found in your foot. This huge amount of nerves makes your feet more sensitive than other body parts, and more ticklish, too.

It might be tempting to speculate that areas of the skin that are the most sensitive to touch would also be the most ticklish, but this does not seem to be the case. While the palm of the hand is far more sensitive to touch, most people find that the soles of their feet are the most ticklish.

A standard tickle apparatus was used to apply stimuli to the soles of left and right feet of subjects. Subject ratings of the strength of the tickle sensation felt after each stimulus revealed that the right foot was significantly more sensitive than the left.

During a tickle, the skin's nerve endings shoot electrical signals to the somatosensory cortex, a part of the brain that processes touch. Meanwhile, the anterior cingulate cortex analyzes these signals as either harmful or playful. But in the back part of the brain, the cerebellum gives you away.

Physical Harm

If your child is too young, tickling them can lead to physical harm. It can be too extreme for their delicate skin, leading to redness, irritation, and injury.