How To Stop Being Ticklish: Try This Technique - Healthline

Maybe your like

HealthlineSubscribe

Nutrition

How to Be Less Ticklish

Medically reviewed by Alana Biggers, M.D., MPH — Written by Scott Frothingham on October 30, 2019

How to stop being ticklish
Why we can’t tickle ourselves
Why we’re ticklish
Takeaway

While there are those who enjoy being tickled, some of us find it annoying, awkward, and uncomfortable. Some people have an almost violent reaction, such as kicking when their foot is tickled.

Keep reading to learn more about the ticklish response, including why some people are more ticklish than others, and how to stop being so ticklish.

How to stop being ticklish

According to Dr. Emily Grossman of The Royal Institution, there’s a technique you can use to reduce the tickle response. When someone attempts to tickle you, put your hand on their hand.

Grossman suggests that this action will help your brain better predict the sensation of being tickled, and help you suppress your tickle response.

Why can’t you tickle yourself?

According to Illinois State University, your brain typically focuses on new things in your environment. Familiar things, such as a common action that you’ve done in the past, is seen by your brain as unnecessary information.

So, your brain predicts what you’ll feel when you make a common action. According to a 2013 study, it’s believed that these predictions are based on an efference copy initiated by the motor cortex of your brain.

Your brain uses previous experiences to predict sensory responses

When you perform a common action, your brain uses the efference copy to predict sensory reaction. If the action happens as expected — meaning the efference copy and the sensory information are matched — additional sensory information doesn’t reach the brain.

If you attempt to tickle yourself, you have an expectation of what’ll occur when you touch yourself. When the expectation matches the efference copy, the sensation of being tickled doesn’t reach the brain, and you have no reaction.

Being tickled by another person

When we’re being tickled by someone else, we don’t have an efference copy because we’re reacting as opposed to taking action. The sensation of being tickled reaches the brain.

Managing the reaction to tickling

Grossman’s technique of putting your hand on the hand of the tickler uses the concept of being unable to tickle yourself to manage your reaction to tickling.

Why are we ticklish?

While there’s no consensus on why, exactly, humans react to tickling the way we do, there are several theories for why people are ticklish.

Some of these theories revolve around the ticklish sensation being:

an alert to danger that becomes funny when we realize that it’s another person
a learned behavior that promotes familial and social bonding.
a defensive reflex to protect vulnerable areas, such as the armpits, neck, ribs, and inner thighs
a protective reaction to avoid insect or worm infestations

Key takeaways

Being ticklish is more complex than you might think. Moreover, all aspects of the ticklish response aren’t fully understood by the scientific community.

Although there’s limited clinical research on how to stop being ticklish, one technique you might try is this: When you’re approached by a person who’s planning to tickle you, place your hand on the hand they’ll be using for tickling. This action may help suppress your tickle response.

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Arthur K, et al. (2015). Questions answered on planet Ceres, Cubs, tickling. https://news.illinoisstate.edu/2015/11/ask-an-expert-questions-answered-on-planet-ceres-cubs-tickling/
Blakemore SJ, et al. (2000). Why can't you tickle yourself? DOI:https://doi.org/10.1097/00001756-200008030-00002
Harris CR. (1999). The mystery of ticklish laughter. http://charris.ucsd.edu/articles/Harris_AS1999.pdf
Niziolek CA, et al. (2013). What does motor efference copy represent? Evidence from speech production. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2137-13.2013
The Royal Institution. (2015). How to stop yourself being ticklish with Dr. Emily Grossman [Video file].https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_ozTpZUvs0

Share this article

Medically reviewed by Alana Biggers, M.D., MPH — Written by Scott Frothingham on October 30, 2019

How To Stop Being Ticklish: Try This Technique - Healthline

Health Conditions

Condition Spotlight

Wellness Topics

Product Reviews

Featured Programs

Featured

Lessons

Newsletters

Lifestyle Quizzes

Health News

This Just In

Top Reads

Video Series

Find Your Bezzy Community

Follow us on social media

Nutrition

How to stop being ticklish

Why can’t you tickle yourself?

Your brain uses previous experiences to predict sensory responses

Being tickled by another person

Managing the reaction to tickling

Why are we ticklish?

Key takeaways

How we reviewed this article:

Read this next

Why Are People Ticklish? Causes And Prevention

Why We Are Ticklish (and How To Overcome It) - Lifehacker

How To Stop Yourself Being Ticklish - With Dr Emily Grossman

How To Trick Yourself Into Being Less Ticklish - Mental Floss

IWTL How To Stop Being Ticklish : R/IWantToLearn - Reddit

How To Become Less Ticklish - Quora

This Is Why Some People Are Ticklish—and Others Aren't

I'm Too Ticklish To Enjoy Massage - Inner Outer Health

How To Stop Tickling Trick, Why Am I Ticklish - Refinery29

How To Be Less Ticklish During Medical Exams: 10 Steps - WikiHow

What To Know About Ticklish Feet - WebMD

20 Ways To Tickle Your Partner - The Advocate

How To Stop Yourself Being Ticklish - With Dr Emily Grossman

Contact