Asperger's and skin sensitivity

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I have always been hypersensitive in many ways.

Some of you mention being tickled, and this is something that has been a problem for me throughout my life. But I don't have to be tickled, just a touch can cause great distress.

Especially on my belly, my lower belly and at my sides (my armpits). I have gone into convulsions when people touch my lower belly, but I just can't seem to make them understand that when they touch me in this area, the sudden convulsive contraction of my muscles is painful.
Because of this I am not able to truly relax when I'm with someone ... you know, in bed, i.e. - I know they want to touch me, and if they do it right and on the right places of my body, I like it, but I always feel I have to be alert and will often have my arms covering the areas of my belly and sides; this isn't easy though, and thus the other person almost always manages to touch me and cause some lighter convulsion, even though they don't mean to do it ... they just forget, and often don't take me seriously when I explain why they shouldn't.


There is also a certain kind of touch that can almost bring me into ecstasy. - Those I have known throughout the years have always told me how odd they think it is that I don't "relax". But when I feel this way mu muscles move and give way with each subtle stroke. I can also sometimes not restrain myself from "moaning". - This is the only way of being touched that I recall as a kid which was nice, my step-mom's mother used to cuddle me this way. - And the areas where touch make create this effect is strange as well: My back, the outside of my arms and legs (always the outsides).

Where pain is concerned I am double, so to speak. Like some of you guys who have posted, I can take high amounts of pain without feeling too affected, and if I tend to feel affected I can usually "will" it off. - But certain so called "small" typed of pain can almost invalidate me.
I used to not be aware that I had a high pain threshold, but I've learned over time that I do. Yet it can be hard when others think I'm over-reacting to something they find to be "worthy" of little or less feeling of discomfort.


Note... I hope the above isn't too graphic; I assure everybody there is nothing sexual in it whatsoever! Only being cuddled and padded, that's all it is.

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Another thing that ruins a great deal of my everyday life is my sensitivity to air humidity. Where I live the air humidity is extremely high, and that alone has made me consider moving away.

Being wet and clammy is the worst I know. I really, really hate it! ... The feeling of the wet cold hair at the back of my neck, or down my back, is so distressful that I actually have dreaded having a bath (I only have access to shower, as I'm poor and in my state bathtubs have been removed from all citizen's homes, except those who are rich).


The same dread towards getting wet and/or clammy makes me postpone doing exercises, even though I love it - and especially love the longterm effect on my physical wellbeing.
And this is a major problem at present, as I am in the process of losing weight and all in all regaining a good health, wherefore I really need to do some exercise - also in order to avoid losing muscle mass.

.......

I'm highly sensitive to certain textures, as well as some foods' textures.

I'm sensitive to light, wherefore I always have sunglasses nearby (I'll pay for quality)...
- I have created a means to minimize the pain: Whenever I know I'm about to enter an area with different or more intense light, I shut my eyes and wait until I can "see" (with closed lids) that my eyes/vision have/has adjusted as much as possible. It means I have to stop up and sometimes have people look strangely at me, but it's worth it.

With sound I'm a bit strange: My hearing is very acute, and even low sounds can make me jump, or I listen to sounds that others can't hear. Some kinds of sound can be hurtful, where others don't seem to notice them. - But some sounds, especially music and pieces of music that I love ... I can hear these a very high volume. Yet, at the times I've been to a concert I found the sound was painful and I had to leave, while the audience was screaming for the volume to be turned up further.

My sense of smell is at time overwhelming, whereas if there's nothing nearby that I don't like the smell of, I find it to be a good thing that assists me in my everyday navigation through my surroundings.
But it makes it hard for me to do some otherwise everyday things such as empty a garbage bin if something in it happens to smell in a certain way. It can make me physically sick...
- I have created a technique to cope with this too: Where it is possible to quickly remove the source of the smell by cleaning or carrying it away, I take a deep breath and keep it until I'm well out of "danger", lol.

*******

Isn't it "funny" how many people seem to say: "Why can't you just change and stop getting cramps from my touch? When I've told you you're too sensitive you should stop being so! So why don't you!?"
"I think you are stubborn, you don't WANT to feel nice when I touch you!"
"Apparently you WANT to be different and strange!"
"It's your own fault because you CHOSE to be a crybaby!"


... '^L^,

Hypersensitivity has always played a major part in my life. Especially regarding sound and touch.

I have a really high intolerance for contact from clothing, so I prefer to wear very casual clothing in public - generally loose-fitting jeans and oversized T-shirts. Wool is a categorical no. When I'm in the privacy of my own home I wear only a pair of loose cotton shorts, or nothing at all.

I have to shower immediately I wake up because of the sheen of perspiration making my skin feel clammy, and I wash my hands in excess of 50 times a day on a bad day. If I have to handle something oily it takes a long time for my hands to feel clean.

I'm also extremely uncomfortable with people touching me, unless I'm very familiar with that individual.

There are many more examples I could give, but I'm sure you've already got the idea.

Mm, I get this too. I *hate* being tickled, and soft touches irritate me to no end. My boyfriend once tickled me into a full-blown panic attack because he didn't know about this, so it can get pretty serious. I also despise anything sticky on my skin, like plasters/band-aids, tape and the like. I hate being sweaty for the same reason.

Yep, I'm not even going to say anything because I identify with at least 90% of what has been said.

Ditto...

Suddenly all of this random stuff that I thought was weird about me (and just me) is starting to coalesce. Like "Oh, maybe it's all connected and that's why I do X or Y."

Yep, being touched in any fashion on the torso region is incredibly uncomfortable.

My sensitivities to touch are centered mostly in my hands, feet, and face.

I hate being tickled. It used to make me cry uncontrollably and I vividly remember being terrified of it as a child. This one does center mostly around my mid'section, but I don't like tickles anywhere on my body.

my skin sensitivity is mostly limited to extreme itchiness and irritation with tags, seams, pet hairs in my clothes or my hairs touching my face. and the bottoms of my feet are so ticklish it's really frustrating to try and relieve an itch there. i can barely touch the soles of my feet sometimes. don't like to walk around barefoot unless floor is comfortable temp and spotlessly clean, and i don't like to walk on sand - can feel every tiny little thing. palms very ticklish as well. worse when i was young - i would go insane when someone pretended to tickle me. i'd feel it all the same. if a dog licks my face i will convulse with laughter and be unable to push the dog away.

when i was five or so i fell off my bike and scraped elbows and knees very bloody, but didn't feel anything until i saw the blood. pain threshold now is all over the place. different from day to day.

I have dry skin. It's always peeling and itchy. But I don't tan or burn easily at all.

I don't think I have the degree of sensitivity described in most of the posts, but I do have trouble being touched. It makes me flinch even then I am touched romantically and sweetly. The bottoms of my feet are extremely ticklish, to the point that if they are touched at all in any way it's uncomfortable (but only the arch, so walking is not a problem).

I often cut the tags off clothing, which bother me espcially if I am sleeping. When I'm sleeping I can't have a light breeze or a fan on me, or I can't sleep. I can't even breathe on my arm,

My worst sensitivity is to sharp objects breaking the skin, like stepping on a shard of glass, or needles of any kind. Getting a blood test is torture.

Unfortunately, I don't think I have any of the lack of sensitivity in other areas to make up for it, though I am much more tolerant of muscle pain than anything on the skin..

As a kid, was aware that assembling a plastic model of a car with glue for me was a challenge. Had a combination of challenges such as involuntary inattention, a lack of great gross and fine motor control, and an imperfection in feeling the parts of the car model.

Also remember taking trumpet lessons from a very good musician who said to breath from the diaphragm when playing the trumpet. He said he could feel his diaphragm move.

Later I tried to feel my diaphragm (couldn't), looked it up in an encyclopedia to see where it was located.

I really cannot feel my diaphragm in any way near how the professional musician did.

I cannot normally feel my own pulse on either wrist using the fingers of the opposite hand either.

Have looked at this and view it as/part of it as an inability to sense normal sensory data. Since I cannot sense the data, I cannot respond to the data.

Symptoms like the above hint at why I found trying to use a trampoline challenging.

Imperfect sensory processing can make it more difficult to make adjustments.

Regarding temperatures, I felt that I perceived cold water as colder than many others did, for example, during summer camp the Boy Scouts would regularly enter a large, cool lake to swim. I hesitated feeling that the large, cool lake was, for me, a large cold - very cold - very very cold lake - so cold that I could not view swimming in it for ten, twenty, thirty minutes plus as fun at all. I believe that my ability to accurately sense and adapt to (normal) water temperature is a little off.

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Words

Sensory processing
Sensory integration
Accurate sense perception

Yes, I have sensory issues like that.

I am extremely ticklish.
I can't deal with hot, humid weather (I easily get sick in it).
If it is drizzling outside I have to put my umbrella up cuz the lightness of that kind of rain bothers me SO much!
I like the feeling of getting pierced.
The feeling of being sweaty is so disgusting to me that I avoid exercising.

It depends on the situation, who's touching me, and where, but yes, I do have problems with touch and skin sensitivity.