Also
http://www.bondage.com/id/8/which/303/show_column.html
Illuminations: Tickling - A Learned Pleasure
by silkenluv
Published 2005-03-30
Definitively, to tickle is to touch a body part lightly to excite the nerves and cause uneasiness, laughter, or spasmodic movements, according to Webster’s.
How ticklish one is depends on how sensitive the surface of the skin is. This surface sensitivity serves a purpose of survival in that it lets us know if we are getting to close to something that is potentially harmful to our health. The parts of the body, which are most vulnerable to injury, are the same body parts, which are most sensitive to tickling sensations: the feet, chest, abdomen, neck, and armpits. It is safe to assume the development of sensitivity to the tickling sensation is most likely evolutionary as it serves to enhance the body’s ability to protect itself from potential harm. The response to being tickled involves neurological and physical reflexes, which are involuntary and deliberate at the same time.
Tickling, according to some psychologists is a bonding and social activity. When tickling is done just long enough to have the tickled victim writhing and giggling wildly then stops it is usually a positive experience. Tickling can be used to induce a state of panic in people who are severely ticklish and who are tickled for a long amount of time without relief. Tickling can induce exhilaration when undertaken playfully and with care. When tickling is done to an extremely ticklish person for prolonged amounts of time it can induce a state of terror, panic, fear and even anger.
During the days of the Roman Empire records were found documenting a Roman torture known as goat licking. It was used to punish people. The victim’s bare feet were covered in salt, or a sweet substance then goats licked them usually until they were blistered. The Chinese used tickling tortures for nobility. It was seen as a perfect punishment because it left no marks and the victim recovered fairly quickly. They would restrain the victim with the soles of their feet exposed and would tickle them for hours. The stocks were invented to specifically restrain a person with the soles of their feet exposed. In Colonial American times tickling was used not so much as a torture but as a form of public humiliation. Stocks would be used to restrain a person making the soles of their feet easily accessible and passersby would tickle torture them.
There are those who take the social aspects of tickling from a playful social activity, and combine it with ticklings historical attributes of torture to make it something totally different… these people are known as Tickling Fetishists… also known to some as Doms, Masters, or Tops. The tickling Dom enjoys subjecting his submissive to tickling sessions that often hover on the edge of real torture. For people who are very sensitive to tickling sensations tickling can be serious edge play. Some people have incredibly strong reactions to it. For some being helplessly tickled can cause them to feel seriously angry while others will cry as a result of prolonged tickling. Honestly, I don’t know many submissives that claim to love being tickled. I do however know more than one Dominant that loves using tickling in a scene. Some have learned to manage their response to the sensation of tickling and let it take them into subspace while others just continue to hate it.
The response to tickling no matter if it is something you have managed to find pleasure in or something you hate is often times a knee jerk reaction. If I know that someone is going to tickle me I start cringing before they ever even touch me, and when they do touch me I squeal and scream. If I am surprised with tickling of my ribs, stomach, or arms my response is a knee jerk like response that could seriously hurt someone because I swing before I realize I have done it. Being tickled out of the blue is not something I have ever enjoyed.
Tickling induces laughter so it makes the victim appear to be having a good time when often times they are absolutely panic stricken and pissed off. With a little mental dissemination homework on the part of the submissive the habitual panicked response to the sensation of being tickled by someone can be managed well enough to find pleasure in the occasional tickling scene.
The way I managed to control the initial panicked reaction to the tickling sensation was to touch myself in the place, which was most sensitive, which for me was my neck, and under my arms. Granted it is pretty much impossible to tickle yourself but by touching myself over time I grew to respond to the sensation of being tickled much more calmly. Instead of cringing and jerking I would make myself remain relaxed as I insisted that the person trying to tickle me stop doing it. I never got to the panic phase of the response and slowly I was better able to control the response to the sensation induced by someone else.
The most tickle sensitive place on my body is the back of my neck. Because I have learned to control the panic response to being touched there I have found that my neck is one of the most sensitive erotic zones on my body. I do not panic anymore and so I am able to relax and just feel how the sensations there arouse my entire body. It is impossible for me to be still when I feel soft fingertips or lips on the back of my neck. My response is condoled, and tight. It sends chills racing up and down my spine and I will writhe against him in a sweet exquisite state of distress that will lead to ecstasy.
The panic response to tickling represents a sudden rush and release of endorphins as evidenced by the giggling as well as adrenaline as is demonstrated when someone suddenly wants to lash out, and the adrenaline can kill or significantly weaken the effect the endorphins can have on your body. By learning to control that habitual response you will be much more able to relax and let the sensation take you to a place you never dreamed it could.
At times even when one has learned to control their response to tickling, the sensations induced can be too powerful for you to be able enjoy them without the assistance of well placed bondage. Some sensations used during a tickle session can feel incredible erotic and pleasurable yet absolutely unbearable at the same time. While in bondage you have no choice but to endure the sensations. Remember, do your best to relax and keep the panic from rising. Let the feelings and sensations move your body in his rope just the way he loves to see you move. Relax and accept the feelings they cause and float away to that place only he can take you.
The most important part of any scene is that its participants are able to come away from it feeling good about the encounter. Some people have such a strong reaction to tickling that it’s hard to imagine being able to relax long enough to condition your mind to respond differently than it always has. If this is you, negotiate the scene and its limits with your partner. Often times during an intense tickling scene the limit can be postponed if the one in control is willing to slow down and let their bound victim have a brief break from the sensations before they completely over power them in a negative way.
As submissives most of us get our thrill from being overtaken by sensation and out of control. Tickling is one of those sensations, yet it is different. It takes practice to learn to negotiate the intensity tickling offers but it is time well spent for those of us who get our kicks from sensory overload. Learning a controlled response to tickling can allow you to find something completely different in the sensations you feel today from those you have experienced in your past.
Life is fragile ... Cherish today.
lol
But many (most?) long time BDSM participants don't acknowledge tickling as part of BDSM. The concept is often derided as being too silly for the serious painmonger.
