# Tiger Balm /Bengay Question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-balm-bengay-question/73600>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 24, 2001, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-balm-bengay-question/73600 "2001-07-24T06:28:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![fandango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5ac83/32.png) [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2001, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-balm-bengay-question/73600/1 "2001-07-24T06:28:05Z")

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I love the warm feeling of Tiger Balm when I spread it on my body, but I have just one question: After lathering it on my chest, it starts to heat up…except my hands don’t feel it: why? I thought hands were supposed to be one of the more sensitive parts of the body. Why won’t the skin there react to those type of ointments?

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2001, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-balm-bengay-question/73600/2 "2001-07-24T12:30:37Z")

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The palm of the hand has some of the thickest skin on the body (soles of the feet is probably #1). The nerves that detect the heat (as opposed to those that detect pressure and make the fingers sensitive) are buried under the thicker skin.