tickling and laughter

[JAT]

I was wondering if it's the same for any of you...

When I'm tickled on my feet it REALLY tickles, yet it doesn't make me laugh (maybe a little sometimes). Although, if I'm tickled on my sides or underarms I can't stop laughing. I'm extreamly ticklish so that's not the issue. I was curious if anyone had an idea why some places make me laugh and others don't?

 

[Krokus]

Strange. . . .

Thats weird.....I can understand it though......

 

[QBWeaver]

I wish I could help ya there but I cannot. I'm just ticklish just about everywhere and I'm giggling and screaming throughout the ordeal! And I DO mean ordeal!

 

[terorizer]

JAT, I know precisely what you mean. It's the exact same way for me. I couldn't tell you why, though I've always felt there are a million kinds of tickles and a million ways of giving them. So it would appear there are as many ways the brain and body processes them as well. Who knows??? Sometimes I think it's fun not to know stuff...not generally...but sometimes. :- )

 

[TICKLERBOY123]

It is a curious phenomena! I had always imagined that tickling involved lightly storking a part of ones body, and if that person was ticklish, laughter would ensue. But from my limited experience tickling is not quite like this! Whilst the most ticklish stimuli result from light stoking of a part of ones body, one must actually physically dig into and aggressively wiggle the fingers to produce copious amounts of laughter. Indeed, tickling in this way opften leads to some bruising and discomfort afterwards, however, it produces the most laughter. One girl i met had extremely ticklish feet - but to simply lightly touch the feet would elicit no laughter. However, to instead aggressively touch and stroke the feet would cause this girl to laugh and struggle with much detremination to avoid the tickling. Can anybody explain this? If i scratch my body i feel pain - but to scratch someone elses body causes great amounts of laughter! I must say that i have probably exaggerated in describing how i tickle - i do not intend to hurt the lee and this has never resulted, but i don;t want you to get the wrong impression.

 

[Barlow]

When I was in high school, I was dating a girl that was very ticklish. But she really hated being tickled on her feet. The thing is, she would have a completely different laugh when I tickled her feet. She would scream and laugh (ha,ha) when I would tickle her upper body, but when I tickled her feet he would have more of a tee hee hee laugh. And that ALWAYS happened. It never failed. Of course, it took some serious wrestling to get her shoes off. 😉

 

[dig dug dog]

JAT,

I think there is a difference between a tickly sensation--like stroking the feet, for some--and generating the feeling of being under a "playful attack". The first feeling can be almost unbearable, but it is the latter one which causes real laughter: that sense of being out of control and under someone else's power.

Some people can feel totally out of control when their feet are teased and touched, but other people only perceive themselves as under "attack" when their ribs, underarms, etc. are prodded and probed. When this happens--and they know the "attack" is not "for real", they will laugh, chuckle, snort, scream, giggle, guffaw....

dig dug

 

[Ticklish9's]

Laughter vs. Squirming

I scratch someone else and it tickles, but I scratch myself and...it still tickles. 🙂 Maybe I'm just wierd. Anyway, to answer the question, I've noticed that an awful lot of tickling involves squirming and kicking and screaming rather than laughter. I, for one, hardly ever laugh. I DO giggle a lot, but outright laughter eludes me in favour of a good deal of kicking and struggle and gasping for breath. In most of my rather limited experience, other people have reacted pretty much the same way, such that I don't even really count laughter as a typical response to tickling. Could be we all just have tough skin up here.