I cut my finger, and now it's a source of pleasure for me. How and why?

Factual Questions
1

Some family friends brought over a toy school bus for my 18-month old son on Saturday. It was tied to the box with some hard wirey string. The wire was too hard to break so I decided to use a knife to cut it (couldn’t find the scissors). To make a long story short, I sliced my left middle finger on the index finger side, right at the first knuckle from the hand. I felt something similiar to an electric shock go all the way up my left arm and even into my neck.

I was afraid to look down. I was just thinking how embarrassing this is going to be to #1) explain to my kid that I wouldn’t be able to remove the bus for him and #2) to explain to my guests and my wife that I’m going to need a ride to the ER because of the gift that they brought for my kid. What I’m thinking: Since it’s my fault for being so dumb, do I need to apologize? Yes, of course. But I’m the one in pain and I’m the one who’s going to have to live without a middle finger for the rest of his life. Anyway, I look down and sure there’s plenty of blood. But it’s not nearly as deep as it felt. So I bandaged it up with some tissue (couldn’t find a Band-Aid) and successfully removed the toy bus, using the same knife that almost killed me. I went back to the living room with a napkin in my hand, proud of how “strong” I was for having to endure this pain while carrying on a casual conversation with my guests, who had no knowledge of what had just happened in the other room.

As we were heading over to the dining room, I informed my wife that I’m going to need a Band-Aid, since my finger was cut. We didn’t have any adult ones, so she brought me one with a picture of a blue fish on it (Nemo possibly?). So I put it on and joined the others for lunch. After lunch, we headed back to the living room for some more conversation. I guess my son must’ve noticed the blue fish on my finger. As he comes to me, I think he’s just coming to be close to his dear ol’ dad. But what’s the first thing he dies? That’s right, he takes his index finger and points it directly at the fish on my finger. He actually seems to dig in to it, similar to the way he tries to stick his finger inside his 3-month old sister’s belly button.

So what happens? Well, shock waves once again run all the way up my arm up through the trapezius muscle into my neck. The expression on my face must’ve been frightening because I didn’t say a word or utter a sound, and I seemed to have scared my son, who isn’t afraid of anything. What really scared me was not the pain, but the expressions on the faces of my guests, who were reacting to the expression on my face. I quickly gathered up the strength to explain to the others that I had hurt myself earlier, without being specific.

I managed to make it all the way through Sinday and this morning without re-injuring the finger. This morning, on my train ride to work, I took my thumb and slightly touched the injured area. No pain, no problem. It must be healing. About 3 hours ago, I used my thumb to press it a little harder, you know, just to check if it was maybe completely healed. What I felt this time was very different. It actually felt good. Pleasurable even! Not quite an orgasm, but similar. It’s 3 hours later and I can’t stop pressing on my finger. It’s still kind of like an electric shock, but a NICE electric shock. And only on the finger. I’m doing it over and over because it feels very good. Anyway, now the GQ part: How long will this heavenly feeling last? And why is it happening?

2

Reminds me of that scene in emanuelle where the woman has an orgasm from acupuncture.
Did you accidentally find some weird Chinese Pleasure qi point? Or the secret, hidden fingertip chakra? Do-it-yourself acupuncture may have advantages!

3

All I can say is, if I were your wife I would be hiding the knives. :slight_smile:

4

A friend of mine claims to have experienced sensations of unspeakable euphoria emanating from a place where he had recently been bitten by a spider. At first, he says, the area was painful and turned black, but later on in the week, there was a feeling of physical pleasure shooting out throughout his body at random intervals. So pleasurable was it, he said, that on multiple occasions, he had to stop whatever he was doing just to deal with the paralyzing ecstacy. He almost got in a car wreck because of it too, because it happened once while he was driving and he had to pull over quickly. The spot was on his back, a little bit in from his right shoulder, I think. He told me that a friend of his who was into acupuncture said that the bite was just along a meridian.

5

It’s called cutting - you must be an adolescent girl.

6

There’s several acupuncture points on the middle finger, so it’s hard to say which one you hit without seeing it. Sounds to me like Pericardium or Heart channel, both of which, when stimulated, could produce an emotion of “joy”. In Korean hand acupuncture (which has many more finger points than the Chinese system), the spot at the base of the finger where it comes out of the hand on the palm side corresponds to the genitals, and just above that corresponds to the breasts.

Take with your personal comfort zone grain of salt, but there it is according to several million people. The Western take on it, of course, will be different.

7

Wondered if “cutting” wouldnt come up sooner or later. Skimming the OP, I dont think this is quite the case. However, I advise the moderators to close this sooner or later. And hopefully sooner.

8

?

Why do you think this thread should be closed?

9

i am not sure if this is the same but it could be. my boyfriend was playing hockey and fell and shattered the left side of his face. not really much the doc could do for it so it healed and now since it has been a few years the left side of his face very Sensitive. he could almost climax from it if i rubbed long enough. and on the downside when he get migrane headaches he loses all felling in the left side of his face. he asked the doc about this and he stated it could be caused by new nerve growth on that side of his face. didn’t say how long it would last tho but its been about 2 years now. so maybe you have just got a new source of pleasure. tell your wife and let it be a good thing for you two to enjoy

10

Isn’t pain sometimes the result of something that, with less intensity, would be pleasure? I think it’s telling that it didn’t start to feel good until a few days later. Now that it’s partially healed, it feels like touching any other finger but more intense, and thus pleasurable.

On the other hand, you could just be a masochist. I had a friend who used to clamp clothespins onto his ingrown toenails.

11

If we were living in Primo Levi’s universe, the answers would be (in reverse order): because you were dosed with Versamina; and until you managed to damage, wound, and starve yourself to death.
(From his short sci-fi tale “Versamina,” in which a scientist accidentally discovers a compound that reverses the normal neuroprocessing of tactile stimuli. Pain is felt as pleasure; thirst and hunger become acutely enjoyable, too. The scientist was unfortunately too rash and dosed himself, the better to understand the behavior of his lab animals. For all of his cognitive understanding of the experience, he ends up no more able to control his induced addiction to pain-inducing behaviors than they were.)

12

Friends of mine are into play-piercing. They surface pierce each other (she pierces for a living, he is a tattoo artist) as a part of their sexual relationship. I don’t 100 % understand it, but it may relate to your situation.

13

Alas, the pleasure was short-lived. This morning, the good feeling was replaced by what feels like a bruise. In fact, as I look at my finger, it is bruised. No more tingly, electricy pleasure. Perhaps it will come back once the bruising subsides. I’ll let you know if and when this happens.

14

I would like to know about “Cutting” Is this subject taboo?

15

Well, I don’t know if it would fall under the “advocating illegal activity” clause of the board. I don’t *think *self-injury is illegal, but I’m certainly no expert. Let me just send you to this site, which seems to have a decent overview without being too technical.

16

I think discussing cutting and condoning cutting are two different things. Are there rules against discussing the subject here?

17

As always, Google is your friend.

18

Better question: Will doing it make you go blind? :wink:

19

For a period of time during the healing process, we experience a tickling or itching sensation, caused by the growth of new cells. The pleasure you feel might be similar to the pleasure of scratching an itch. This explains why some people feel compelled to pick their scabs.

It’s possible that synesthesia might be involved as well.

20

Dunno. I also like to pick other people’s scabs if they’ll let me or if I can catch them off guard. :slight_smile: Terrifically satisfying if it’s the right kind of scab.