I’ve had hemorrhoids for like 25 years, so I’ve always been very discerning about my toilet paper.
this entire time, I’ve been using whatever toilet paper I have found to be the softest as facial tissue, to blow my nose, as well. my reasoning being, if this stuff is gentle enough for my hemorrhoids, of course it’s going to be gentle enough for repeated use on my upper lip.
then, a friend turns me on to one of those new “with lotion” facial tissues (my bathroom tissue always has aloe in it) and wouldn’t you know it, my upper lip finds it to be softer than the toilet paper. but, when I try using it as toilet paper, my anus doesn’t find it to be less irritating than the toilet paper.
why do my butthole and my upper lip think that different things are softer? is it just chemistry?
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Dammit, yet another question that I spent too much of my life on.
It comes down to nerves and tissue (cell, not paper) types.
The outside of your nose and the tissues of the anus are not the exact same. There’s a different concentration of “nerve endings”, and different types in different concentrations.
I doubt you want the full Monty of it, but if you look up the term “sensory receptors”, you can do the deep dive very easily.
The short version is that we have specific types of “nerve endings” (that’s what they’re called colloquially, hence the quote marks, but I’ll stop using those at this point). They detect pressure, temperature, pain/injury, etc.
The concentrations of them (as in how many per square inch), and the assortment of them (as in how many of each type in that square inch) varies across the entire body. The easiest way to demonstrate the relative principle is to touch your fingertip to your nose, your lips, your genitals (seriously), and your leg.
You’ll find that your brain interprets the signals in an interesting way. It’ll filter the less intense signals. You touch your finger to your lip, what your brain “says” is that your lips are being touched by something, and the signal from your finger takes the back seat. You touch the same fingertip to your thigh your brain says the finger is the primary sensation, and you feel the thigh via the finger rather than the finger via the thigh the way the lips worked.
Give it a try on whatever parts of your body you want. There’s going to be a shifting perception of whether it’s your finger touching something ( where emphasis is placed on the signals from the finger), or it’ll be the section of the body being touched by the finger (signal from the touched location being emphasized).
The anus and the nose have different jobs. The anus, mostly, needs to detect pressure, injury, and some degree of chemical contact the nose needs less pressure sensitivity, but more motion sensitivity. So you’ll get a different overall sensation with any given substance that’s pushed against either, and when the same substance is moved across either. The difference may end up being minor. But both are sensitive enough that most people can tell a difference between paper tissue products blindfolded.
Back in the day, I wiped asses for pay. The only patients I had that couldn’t tell the difference between brands of TP had medical issues that interfered with nerve signals. Do a test for yourself. Find a buddy to hand you tp or facial tissues and keep a log (heh, he said log while talking about butts). There’s a very good chance that every single one will feel different. You’ll probably be able to tell which brand is which if you’ve used that brand before.
You can probably even tell the difference with your fingers tbh. But you wouldn’t likely be able to if the same products were placed or rubbed on your back
You’d also notice that different objects will feel different when just placed on an area and pressed gently into the skin vs when you wipe the area with it.
Skin is an amazing thing. It’s armor, a sensor array, a biological filter, sunscreen, and a temperature regulator all in one! Plus other functions tbh, but shit like that gets overwhelming to read for a lot of people
You’d be amazed what you can discover with just an hour sitting around and touching things to parts of your body.
MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Oh my god! I’m sitting here touching myself like a fucking madwoman. Thank you so much! Brilliant, brilliant comment. I had no idea, how have I lived without this knowledge? Ok I’m touching myself again, this is hilarious.
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Best response ever.
bitwolf@lemmy.one 2 weeks ago
This was wild to experience. Thank you for the interactive educational lesson.
If Lemmy had a c/bestof, I’d be cross-posting. Thank you OP!
thrawn21@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You’re in luck, there is a best of Lemmy!
TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Thanks for taking the time to write this.
Posts like this prove to me that Lemmy is ready to replace Reddit. Probably not completely true for everyone, and every topic, but we’re getting there.
tilefan@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
hey cool. thanks
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
No worries ::
ChexMax@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Thank you posting such an in depth and interesting explanation!
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Glad to :)
Interstellar_1@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
This is an amazing comment! TIL, sciencey comments like these are what I most miss from reddit.
TheKMAP@lemmynsfw.com 2 weeks ago
So it’s not sheer quantity of nerves but it’s also the different types? Cool.
And the nose has a lower standard for “move across” and injury?
I wanna see your TP tier list. I have a bidet at home, but I also have weird/random allergies that give me diarrhea so if I’m eating random stuff outside, and poop more than twice a day, I have real bad time.
Thanks for the post. This is the kind of niche shit I love.
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Yup, there’s multiple sensory nerve endings.
Iirc, the nose is high in pain/injury receptors, motion, and temperature, but low on pressure. Mind you, that’s relative. It’s still one of the more sensitive spots on the entire body, even regarding pressure.
My top TP is charmin. A lifetime of IBS has proven the brand’s (regardless of which version) ability to clean up with the least amount of friction, and less of the roll being used, and it is the least irritating to my skin there overall.
Scott comfort plus is right behind charmin.
They comes cottonelle, which is pretty similar across their product line. Not a lot of variation in comfort levels there.
Anything else, I just can’t handle for long. Like, here and there, I can make do, but my parts won’t be happy about it.
I’m with you, bidet all the way at home.
zzx@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Eligible for best of lemmy
Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
What does it mean if the sensation always seems to be “my finger is touching” vs “I’m being touched by a finger”? I feel like I completely understand what you’re getting at and it’s something I’ve never thought about before so I’m touching myself all over but everything feels like it’s being touched by my finger. I haven’t found a spot that feels like my finger is touching it yet and I really want to.
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Well, barring some form of medical issue, chances are that you’ve run into the mind-body connection.
It’s entirely possible to override the filtering the brain does. You can decide to pay attention to the signals from your finger more, and your brain will usually obey.
And it is possible that either your fingers are extra sensitive, or that the places you’re touching are atypically low in comparison to your fingers.
Generally, the two most sensitive spots on the body are the lips and the genitals. But there’s stuff that can interfere with that isn’t abnormal or a problem, but still shift the way the brain processes the signals coming in.
I’d try dimming lights, or even cutting them off, and very gently, with only enough pressure to make contact, move a fingertip, usually the index finger, across your lips. You can also try treating your finger like a lollipop, and wrap your lips around the tip to gently kiss. That gives greater area of contact, which will help if the issue is something like thicker skin on the lips.
And, at the risk of seeming weird, gently touching the glans penis (the head) or clitoris almost always works as the nerve density there is as high as it gets.
For me, my entire face feels the finger, but once I get past the chin or into the scalp, it shifts. Some people only have the lips, nose and sometimes eyes that are more sensitive than the fingers.