Tickling is something very familiar yet very mysterious; so what it tickling all about?
Tickling is enjoyable for some people and agony for others and yet either way tickling makes you laugh –if you are ticklish; it is unique in that despite the appearance of enjoyment tickling can be in fact tortuous for some people. So where does tickling start and what results in the ticklish response?
Physiologically speaking no one really knows why we laugh when we are tickled; there are theories that the tickling response is a warning that hidden areas are exposed and although it seems to bring amusement it is actually a very old protection system.
Obviously areas that have many nerve endings seem to be ticklish; so that the stimulation of the surface nerves, such as on the soles of the feet, will tickle most people. A deeper kneading of the muscles, such as around the waist or knees, will often produce a different level of ticklishness and bring about a more violent ticklish response. However, it seems to be impossible to tickle yourself, despite all those nerve endings! So is there a deeper meaning to tickling?
It may come from early ancestral attempts at communication however tickling is often a form a ‘playful attack’ which suggests old ‘flight and fight’ responses.
For some people being the one performing the tickling is for the purpose of seeing the person being tickled laughing and for those who like to be tickled that sensation of uncontrollable laughter is the reason to be tickled in the first place. This is obviously more psychological than ancestral and links to dominant and submissive personality types.
The lighter touch may even become more sensual whereas the heavier act of tickling usually causes the person being tickled to dispense with all sensation except laughter.
There have been a few studies and some time has been spent in researching tickling and trying to find out why ticklishness actually exists; however, no one really knows.
For some people though, the act of being tickled can be extremely torturous and herein lays the problem: since the person being tickled is laughing, often hysterically, the person doing the tickling somewhere thinks that the tickled person must be enjoying the experience. Never assume just because they are laughing that they like it!
So for all those spontaneous ticklers put there please be aware that tickling is often not fun! For some people though, tickling is a wonderful experience and they simply love to be tickled.
So we can see that ticklish areas, such as soles and knees and underarms, are pretty standard amongst people and we can also see that if you are ticklish then, love it or hate it, you will laugh. However, why tickling exists at all is…well… a more ticklish problem.
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