turned on tingles
February 11, 2010 10:32 PM   Subscribe

My lower back tingles when I get turned on or frightened; does yours?

So up until last week I thought that this was a universal experience. When someone whispers in my ear, or kisses my neck, or when a song really moves me, or when I get really frightened, I feel a sort of tingling or tickling in my lower back. The sensation is also in my neck and down my spine, but probably greatest at the small of my back. It makes me squirmy, and it's both enjoyable and slightly uncomfortable. Does this happen to anyone else? Any ideas for what's causing this?
posted by whalebreath to Human Relations (27 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
I get this. I actually like it, insofar as it happens rarely. If there's a god, I imagine that he's running his fingers down my back.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:35 PM on February 11, 2010


Response by poster: Hm I want to mention also that when I'm experiencing a kind of severe few hours of anxiety or depression, my spine feels somewhat uncomfortable, and I feel like I just want to get out of my body but can't get away from myself.

And sometimes I feel like I just need someone to hit me. Not in any kind of masochistic way, just that my body feels uncomfortable and a few good whacks seem like they would feel good. I don't know if any of this is related.

Also, my spine gets tingly just talking about it.
posted by whalebreath at 10:38 PM on February 11, 2010




Yes, that happens to me. Sometimes it's uncomfortably strong, even around people I'm comfortable with.
posted by wierdo at 11:00 PM on February 11, 2010


Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about. The boyfriend who first discovered the hot spot on my back called it my C-spot (christened after my last name).
posted by scody at 11:09 PM on February 11, 2010


I get it too. I don't know what causes it. Maybe it's some sort of kundalini energy rising. Thought it was just me. You described it exactly.
posted by healthyliving at 11:10 PM on February 11, 2010


My boyfriend gets these, he says: "I get these tingles around the same things; anxiety, depression, or the novelty of experiencing something new. I've noticed that I'm also able to induce them after they've got themselves started by just scribbling on paper really fast and kind of thinking really fast. I also get the urge to just flail around and put a lot of tension on my muscles by stretching my fingers really hard and such; its feels really great. I know that masochistic urge too, I get more the urge to run through walls or get crushed by something though. Exposing myself to any sort of sensory experience also seems to get it going after its started like listening to music really loud or looking at things that are really intense like bright colors (they also get going by reading things like poetry or looking at art). It can be entertaining but after a while it gets so uncomfortable I just want to start banging my head against the wall. Its pretty fun too cause if I look at the scribbles I did when I had the tingles they kind of come back for a bit of time.
posted by lovecricket at 11:19 PM on February 11, 2010


Sounds like the result of the good old pilorection. What many people call "shivers down the spine" seem to be quite common: see the long list of results in this Google search and this explanation from Google answers, which focuses more on the shivers as a fear reaction rather than something pleasurable.

I don't know why most people experience this somewhere along their back. I don't get the reaction there at all, but down the back of my legs instead.
posted by maudlin at 11:29 PM on February 11, 2010


*sigh* piloerection. If it lasts longer than 4 hours, call a doctor.
posted by maudlin at 11:32 PM on February 11, 2010


I get this too, and I get it most often when there is a swell of orchestral or choral music, and also during the kissing pre-sexytimes, and when I get shocked by some twist of events on a movie or tv show. I call it a frisson.
posted by Mizu at 11:37 PM on February 11, 2010


I get this too, but not the hitting thing. I do have an urge to be squished when overly anxious though and occasionally can't sleep for the need to stretch. I figure the squish thing is replacing overwhelming emotional/mental feelings with an overwhelming physical one. The stretching is similar but probably to do with actually needing to stretch.
posted by geek anachronism at 12:48 AM on February 12, 2010


Response by poster: Yeah I get the stretching thing too. Sometimes I wish that I was on some kind of old fashioned stretch/torture machine...or that horses were tied to my 4 limbs and running in different directions. Weirdo.
posted by whalebreath at 1:10 AM on February 12, 2010


As Mizu points out the French have the idea pretty much nailed with "frisson" - which can be traced from the latin "frīgēre" - to be cold: you shiver and get goosebumps as if you suddenly were. Those goosebumps would make the hair on your back stand on end if you were a cat or a dog: there is nothing particularly unique to humans about the response. This article on the mechanisms of musically evokes frissons might interest you. It may be that the response is linked to the physiological response that we have to fear to some extent.
posted by rongorongo at 1:40 AM on February 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


I used to get that in my head when, as a kid, we stole drinks from the parents' liquor cabinet. So, yeah.
posted by notsnot at 3:04 AM on February 12, 2010


It happens to me too. Especially with the neck kissing. And yes, its good but can also start to feel nigh unbearable. Kind of like being tickled (disclaimer: i havent been properly ticklish in years)
posted by stillnocturnal at 3:29 AM on February 12, 2010


I get this, only it's in the back of my knees. Just a data point.
posted by thebrokedown at 4:02 AM on February 12, 2010


i get this when the girl at the salon is washing my hair in the fancy sink. something about a stranger touching the back of my head? i always thought it was just me.
posted by janepanic at 4:19 AM on February 12, 2010


Yes. Nothing else really to add here. Just another data point.
posted by jquinby at 5:41 AM on February 12, 2010


As with seemingly everyone else, I thought I was the only one. The GF who discovered it was delighted to be abe to turn me into jelly.
posted by vbfg at 6:34 AM on February 12, 2010


I get this too, lower back radiating up spine or vice-versa but it's always a response to a good emotion - contentment or comfort usually, not fear and it is always a very pleasant feeling.
posted by pointystick at 7:07 AM on February 12, 2010


I get this feeling when I am happy , excited, or relaxed (i love it when people play with my hair and it gives me that feeling).

When I am nervous though my GI tract launches an assault on me. It sucks.
posted by WeekendJen at 8:43 AM on February 12, 2010


Possibly related, a doctor accidentally discovered that he could trigger orgasms in women by sticking electrodes in their spines. So if sexytime makes your lower back tingle, maybe it's part of that same electro-nerve-stimulation connection. It doesn't address the fear part, but is something.
posted by Askr at 9:08 AM on February 12, 2010


Another data point here, that when I'd give my sweetie backrubs, the lower-back part was the part where it became less about relaxation and more about sexytime, and I don't think that that was entirely due to getting physically closer to the down-there area.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:08 AM on February 12, 2010


My guess is that it's related to the energies of the first and second chakras (sorry to get esoteric/new age-y if that's not your thing, but I like reading this stuff because I find that western science is so limited in its understanding about pretty much everything.) It just sounds like your body, and your spine in particular, is receptive to certain emotions - namely, fright and eroticism, which are pretty powerful emotions. Our bodies have our own intelligence and hold a lot of emotion... I wish I could know more about the mind-body connection because maybe then I'd have a better explanation for you!
posted by foxjacket at 1:36 PM on February 12, 2010 [2 favorites]


Kisses on the neck give me the same feeling without fail. I've never felt it in any situation outside of sexytime, though...
posted by juicedigital at 11:03 AM on February 13, 2010


I've called mine "brain tingles", since I get them on my head (upper left and right sides). They are activated purely by certain sounds/voices, and make me feel fantastic. I try to get them as often as possible :)
posted by Sakura3210 at 12:50 AM on February 14, 2010


Can't say I've felt anything there myself, but I've had a girl tell me to stop touching her there because it was overwhelming (in a good way). I imagine it's something like getting tickled.
posted by wonnage at 2:50 AM on February 14, 2010


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