Thursday, April 16, 2009

The Benefits of Tickling

(Part 1: Soft tickling)

At my wedding, one of my groom's vows was a promise to tickle my feet. This was only half-facetious: foot-tickling, for me, has come to be an expression by my loved one(s) of affection and the provision of relief at the end of a long day, much as monkeys groom each other to express intimacy and the desire to take care of each other.

Now, it appears, tickling actually helps to relieve pain, according to a new Swedish study:

"Basically the signals that tell the brain that we are being stroked on the skin have their own direct route to the brain, and are not blocked even if the brain is receiving pain impulses from the same area. In fact it’s more the opposite, that the stroking impulses are able to deaden the pain impulses," says Line Löken, postgraduate student in neurophysiology at the Sahlgrenska Academy.

It seems that we are hardwired for grooming.


Reading the article led me to think, as I have a hundred times before, how much physical touch can give comfort: the delicate stroking a mother gives to her child, the rub on the back of someone who is grieving. Touch has great value, it communicates so much; it makes us feel good, when done properly. Our bodies respond to it.

In more ways than one, it seems. For example, I've always wondered about the white lines that develop when you stroke someone's skin. Have you ever noticed that? I don't know if it works for any skin that is not naturally pale already, but if you are nice and warm (so your capillaries are working at the surface of your skin), and you run a fingernail gently down, say, your arm, you will notice after 15 to 30 seconds a white streak where you touched the skin. I have always wondered what this reaction is.

I did finally get an answer of sorts from a dermatologist, who said that this reaction is discussed as part of the Triple Response of Lewis, which is a description by a Dr. Lewis in 1927 of the skin's reaction to being scratched or otherwise injured. Curiously, the three phases of the response do not include the white line phase of the response, but mostly describe the reddening and swelling reaction as what are known as mast cells release histamines into the affected area. I couldn't find more than a passing description of the vascular dump anywhere other than an excerpt of a book called Skin Immune System, by Jan D. Bos, which came out in 1997.

A light injury does not lead to the triple response. Instead, a "white line" is produced by the emptying of capillaries under the contact site... The reaction lasts 15 minutes and edema does not develop. The response has not been systematically studied because it is difficult to induce reproducibly. The white line response is reminiscent of white dermographism and adrenoceptor mediated blanching.

As far as I can tell, "adrenoceptor mediated blanching" is the kind of blanching we experience when we are stressed - in other words, they are tied into the fight-or-flight reflex, and are associated with the sympathetic nervous system, which is connected to the same response. So when we get hurt or when we are fearful, or are under great emotional upheaval, we get the urge to run away, to save ourselves... and we tend to go paler in those situations.


Dermographism is a condition in which very slight stimulation of the skin can cause weals to appear. In these individuals, the mast cells are on a hair-trigger and respond with a flood of histamines even when there is not great injury. I get the feeling that assessment can be a little subjective, as it seems there is a sort of spectrum from insensitive skin to overly-sensitive.

Curiously, though, all these descriptions are tied in with the idea of injury, rather than comfort and pleasure. So what is it that makes having one's feet tickled so pleasurable?

Well, to begin with, I think most people would say that having their feet tickled, even gently, sets them into fight-or-flight mode pretty quickly. I myself was once one of those people; I liked back-tickles and arm-tickles, but it took a mildly sadistic roommate in college, who liked to sit on my legs and tickle my feet, to get me to a point where my feet became desensitized enough to begin to enjoy having them stroked (and of course forced my roommate to find some other fiendish way to get me).


Once the desensitization had kicked in I began to find that tickling my feet, after a long day of walking and standing in hot shoes, actually helped cool them down, made them stop hurting and decreased the swelling significantly. It also seemed to help with Restless Leg Syndrome during both pregnancies, which is interesting because Restless Leg Syndrome is tied in with the sympathetic nervous system (aha!) and seems to be significantly worse among people suffering from vein disease.

I spoke by email to Ms. Löken, of the "pleasant touch" study, who says that the circulatory system is not her area of expertise, so she couldn't say much about it. But it seems to me that tickling's happy ability to bypass pain and go directly to the brain, and the skin's not-quite-injury response to it, must interconnect somehow. What if the blanching isn't related to injury, but to some other purpose? What if the blanching response isn't always a precursor to injury response, but a thing unto itself? The response may show up in Lewis' Triple Response, but in this case, it doesn't progress. And I wonder if pain is the only thing tickling affects? Could it be a new answer to some minor health issues? Perhaps it is the new acupuncture, and we will soon see Tickle Clinics springing up everywhere.

Now that would be a thing worth seeing.

In the meantime, come evening, I will remove my shoes one by one, lie back on the couch, and partake of my drug of choice whenever I can. Hail to the Tickler!




Next: The Other Kind of Tickle

Addendum: It seems that I got into realms I hadn't dreamed of. Ah, the naivete! Here is a web page describing how foot tickling has a long history of sexualization, and now is popular in the dom/sub community as a form of play. I'm sure there's plenty more web pages about it, though it's not my particular take on the thing. Knock me over with a feather!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I react with violent force to tickling. Can't stand it. I've actually hit or kicked people reflexively. It's really uncomfortable and it's hard to get people to understand that it's not just harmless fun. I consider it just as upsetting as if you slapped me, hard. So, always get consent before tickling. Some people really can't handle it, or ven find it physically painful. You don't want to get kicked in the face or head-butted in the nose, trust me.

That said, light stroking, gentle stroking, is good.

I don't know how widely known this is, but from those who move in BDSM circles, I have learned the trick that, if your partner is having problems controlling his reaction to pain, light stroking or tickling, particularly along the midline of the body, helps a lot. I have observed this to be true for myself, and for others I have played with.

I have also personally discovered that for me, it alleviates hiccups. I can do it to myself by stroking from my breastbone up to my throat, very lightly. This is a mercy, as I get hiccups at the drop of a hat in the next county.

Anonymous said...

loved your thoughts on tickling! Mind if I offer some advice on rrestless leg?, take B-12, it might not be as romantic but it works like crazy.

It'sAllTooMuch said...

Robin Dunbar, who studies baboons, thinks that human language started as a substitute for grooming, because humans lived in such large groups that grooming was impractical. He thinks that language as means for transmission of knowledge was a byproduct. It sounds wacky, but he makes some good points. If language were only about transmission of knowledge, then there would be far, far less talking. Also, a lot of transmission of knowledge, back then, would have consisted of, "Watch me, and do what I'm doing." You would not learn how to sew skins together by having someone describe it to you.

So, for humans, touch is more private than for other monkeys. But, we still respond to it, giving and getting. I wonder if that is why humans like to pet cats and dogs, and maybe why cats and dogs evolved to like it (assuming cats evolved in any way to please humans). After all, dogs don't pet other dogs.

Anyway, the book is "The Human Story". Also has a cool discussion of why chimpanzees would not understand the plot of Othello, even if they understood English.

nantares said...

I'm not a fan of being tickled either, but I do agree about the value of touch. I'm wondering if the popularity of massage therapy doesn't come so much from the muscle relaxation as it does from the sense of comfort and connection (which I don't think very many people articulate).

In any case, here's a slow loris whom I'm sure would concur with your conclusions... :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLdQ3UhLoD4

Anonymous said...

I find being tickled on my feet relaxes me, and after a stressful day I ask my wife to tickle my feet, which usually sends me to sleep!
I personally think tickling is good for you, it relaxes you and sends endorphins into your system.Arms, legs and feet and also back are very relaxing when tickled, and seems to help me when I have a migrain.
I used to be so ticklish that I couldnt stand it, but seemed to get better and sticking it out and I personally think it must stimulate your acupuncture points.

Anonymous said...

I love to be tickled by the right person. It's kind of a reaffirming of trust in having someone touch you and bring about pleasure. I love having my shoulders and tummy tickled by certain people, but my feet haven't really been tickled by anyone since my siblings and I grew up. I love having them gently stroked, so I wonder if the same pleasant release of joy I get from being tickled elsewhere would also apply to my feet if someone were to tickle me now. Tickling is a social phenomenon that is not only fascinating . . . it's just so cute too!

Anonymous said...

I have had my feet tickled since I was a little child I am now 26 and I still have to get it done it was something my dad started as a child he still does it till this day.. Everything you have written is true completely relaxes me... I have to get my foot tickle fix I sure hope my future husband knows this otherwise were going to have issues :( hahaha!!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love getting my feet tickled. My partner does it so well he has a gift lol it just completely relaxes me I love the tingly feeling especially right at the arch of my feet. Me and my boyfriend are meant to be as he gives me feet tickles and I scratch his back lol we're just like animals really but very compatible animals :D

Anonymous said...

To add to the enlightenment on tickling, I think adults who enjoy being tickled, or who are relaxed by it are often misunderstood. We are in the minority. I have enjoyed getting tickled for as long as I can remember. As an adult, I absolutely crave it. I crave a full body therapeutic tickle session. I'd die and go to heaven. More than any other spot, however, I love having my feet tickled for an extended period of time. It is so relaxing and relieves stress. I'm convinced it is all about the body map and reflexology points. People are not all wired the same way. Someone else's nightmare is another person's dream come true. It's easy to assume that people like me are not truly ticklish, and that if we were, we would not like it. In my experience, that is not exactly accurate. As a kid, my feet were extremely ticklish, and I always wanted to be tickled there. At age 20, I had a college roommate who found out my feet were ticklish. He and his GF were amused and thought that I was like a "ticklish little boy"...as if I was too old to be so ticklish. Sometimes, he would grab one or both of my ankles and go at my feet. I would laugh really hard and flail and squirm and try to get away, but I secretly hoped it would never end. Those tickle encounters were likely less than even 10 seconds long. I would only have been embarrassed about my reaction, but would have never disliked it continuing for much longer---esp both feet at the same time--don't even get me started. Years later, I really am much less ticklish. I can be tickled and not lose control. I can sit back and thoroughly enjoy it. I am no longer tickled in such a playful way, so maybe I don't even know if I could be made to laugh and squirm by being tickled, but I hope I could be. It sounds crazy, but I wish my feet (and other areas) were still as ticklish as they were when I was a kid! I really do. To me, MORE ticklish is MORE pleasurable. The only good part is that I won't kick anybody and no one will think I am hating it. But if the reaction is not good enough, people stop tickling you! I would seriously go to a tickle spa if one existed. Finally, I relate and sympathize with my fellow ticklees who really enjoy it. It is a hard thing to explain to a spouse or S.O. who can't relate to it, or just finds it odd,or worse. I have had a little luck with some girlfriends, but never told them half of what I have told here on this post. I never knew how. Well, this is how. I think these are the talking points to try to explain it. If my long post helps any of you, you are welcome. I think you have to volunteer it w/o any embarrassment and just explain you are wired so weird that you actually love being tickled. If your S.O. sees it is very much like a backrub or a backscratch to you, they may be inclined to treat you to what you love.

Anonymous said...

The tickle-scratch is stone-cold proof that god love's us. In particular, a tickle-scratch on the inner part of the thigh or feet is truly heaven, especially with sharp nails.