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Hypersensitive To Touch

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I also have a hard time being touched, especially unexpectedly. At the same time, I do wish I could be comforted or held in a safe way.

I can totally relate to what a3a2 and flower describe with the tingling, goosebumps or electricity. Sometimes being touched is so hard to deal with and exhausting as much as dealing with the startle--or even the dissociating.

Boy can I relate to that electric feeling... eesh.

pianogirl
 
I can really relate to this.

A while back in one of my therapy sessions, my therapist had my husband come in and he had him touch me, and he asked me what I was feeling - like what sensations my body felt (I am really sort of far away from my emotions in situations like that and am much more in touch with my body sensations so we discussed those). Then we progressed to him putting his arm around me, etc. It was a really good thing to do and it really helped me to figure out some specific things that bothered me about touch, more than just touch in general.

I don't know how much this would help if it wasn't done in a structured setting like therapy, though. I probably wouldn't want to just wing it and do it at home, because it seems like it's important to do with some kind of third party.

I have the same aversion to kissing that some others in this thread have described, too. Mine is really mostly with kissing on the mouth, though, for whatever reason.
 
Touch is a big problem for me. So is the fear of being touched. The actual touch isn't that bad but i flinch and move away if someone comes near and avoid it as much as possible to the extent that i don't use public transport incase someone brushed up against me and trigggers a flashback. Its become habit now. Its good to know from the other posts others have issues with touch aswell because i thought it was just me and my extreme reponses. Thanx for posting people!
 
I'm very hypersensitive to touch. I can do the touching, but don't touch me! If someone touches my back, I cannot stand it, even if it's a light touch, I feel extreme physical pain (although I know it's in just in my head) and that pain lasts for at least a day. I can't stand any type of touching, whether it's hugs or a tap on the arm. It doesn't work out too well in a marriage though, does it?
 
I can handle touching although my skin is extremely sensitive. My trauma is not related to anything of sexual nature. I'm very hyper aware of my skin and those around me. Small sounds will startle me as though someone took a bullhorn and screamed in my face though. I'm severely sensitive to loud voices, yelling, anger tones as there is where some of my symptoms first began in my childhood. I barely sleep as the slightest sound, light or movement wakes me up in an instant. I've been to sleep therapy and other than pills, they don't' have much to offer me. I didn't know until recently that this could all be symptoms of the PTSD.
 
My arms, back and shoulders are very sensitive to touch. If someone comes and taps me on the arm to signal that they are there (because I startle easily) it is physically painful no matter how light the touch is. It feels like someone has bruised my skin. I will also have days where someone touching me is very annoying and invasive - and that makes me cranky to have someone touching me. Also, what is with everyone wanting to hug each other? Yes, we are friends but I don't always want to hug someone. I don't know how to extricate myself from that type of situation.
 
I realize this is a dead thread, but oh man!! I am happy to hear that someone else has this symptom.

I have days where I cannot stand that my clothing is touching me. I am watching a program on TV right now about Temple Grandin and she was talking about how clothing really effects kids with autism, and it was like a light went off for me. I googled sensitivity to clothing on skin with PTSD and this page came up...funny, seeing as how I was already a member LOL

When my clothing is bugging me, I find myself constantly pulling and re-adjusting my tshirt, my bra, twisting the band of my jeans around...socks are probably the worst for me though. Most days, I cannot stand how socks feel on my feet and how the band feels on my calf. On those days, I am usually really out of sorts in general, and find that my mood is quite agitated to say the least. I also struggle with feeling really really really itchy then too!

Is this how it is for others too???
 
YES! Sorry, but I'm excited to see your post. I never considered it to be an issue.

It's bothered me since I was 7 (from what I remember). I couldn't stand the way the sock seams touched my feet.

I do a lot of 'adjusting' too.
 
omg! I have days where nothing feels right on me and it drives me completely and totally nuts!!!!! and I usually end up wearing the same clothes for days on end (talk about feeling like a freak)....because those are the only ones that feel okay....I never knew that this had anything to do with ptsd. There have been times that it is so bad that it's taken me 30 - 45 minutes to get out of the house making me very late for appointments. can i say yet again how glad i am that i found this site!
 
OMG!!! seams on socks are my nemesis. i am not kidding you. I will kick off my shoe when I am driving if I feel it bugging me.

I wear the same clothes too. I seem to fall into a "set" that I rotate through. I didn't really realize this was anything to do with cPTSD, but after watching the program about Temple Grandin, and her description of how clothing effects people with autism, and how lots of mums of kids with autism will only buy from thrift shops because the clothes are worn in already, or how she has to wash new underwear several times before she can wear them, it clicked.

At home, I am usually in my favourite PJ pants and a t-shirt with no bra cuz otherwise I feel like I am being picked and poked in my back and shoulders, or that the pants are too tight in the legs, or the ankles, or whatever.

My mum hates that I wear baggy clothing. But I don't do well with anything remotely tight. And the softer the material the better. So long as it is not super synthetic.

My sensitivities include smells as well. I can smell things that no one else can. And then all of a sudden one person will get the slightest whiff of it.

This is awesome to read that other people struggle with this too. I mean, sorry you all deal with it too, but at least I don't feel like such a freak. If I am out with my mum and find that I am getting really cranky with her, I have been noticing that my clothes are really bothering me. Not sure which came first...
 
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