If I were to rank the sensations that I go through on a day to day basis on how much pleasure they give me I would list sexual stimulation as one and a nice hot shower as two – I don’t think I’m alone on this one. Sometimes a good shower almost feels like a dull orgasm over the entirety of my body.
So why does it feel so good? The only effect I know of hot water on the human body with some confidence is the expansion of blood vessels…is increased blood flow a reason?
The only other explanation I can think of is that this is a part of our lizard brains from the distant past where being cold and hungry was normal. Thus, when Og was nice and comfy the brain would reward him with fun chemicals to enforce whatever he was doing because it increased his survival.
Hot water (either from a shower, bath, or hot tub)tends to relax muscles in the body, so perhaps another reason it feels so good is that all the tension that your body’s muscles have built up is now released.
A shower also massages you with the force of the water, and some people find that steam helps breathing problems. Scented soaps are a pleasant addition-- sort of an aromatherapy session.
Don’t underrate taking a good solid dump first thing in the morning. That’s a helluva sensation right there. And if the hot shower follows immediately, you’ve got a one-two punch that’s hard to beat. The triple play: morning sexual stimulation followed by a good bowel movement and a hot shower. Throw in a hot buttered croissant for breakfast and you can’t ask for much more.
When Agent Foxtrot and I were camping in West Virginia with some friends, I got a painful sunburn. He rubbed some aloe on my shoulders, and my resulting moan of relief prompted a friend of ours at the other end of the tent to say, “Um, should I leave you two alone?”
Aloe on sunburned skin is at least as good as a hot shower or scratching an itch. Ahhhh.
Hot water is one of God’s gifts to man. I have a friend who makes fun of me for all the time I spend in my hot tub (dude, the 70s are over!) but I don’t care! I love a hot soak on a cold night.
Since we’re fighting ignorance here, am I the only one who thinks orgasms are the nonpareil? I loves me a hot shower, a good itch, and nice buttery croissant, but none of them have anything on the Big O. I’m continually surprised when people say such mundane things are better. Really? I mean, really really? Or is that just the ol’ hyperbolic whooosh going on with me?
All these things can be intensely tactile or sensual, but the pleasure perceived varies depending on need, mood, quality of stimulus, duration, anticipation, etc. Orgasms vary as well.
TMI alert: IMHO nothing, but nothing compares to a really great orgasm(s). But a deeply satisfying sneeze or yawn or footrub or an amazing sunset could easily be more sensually pleasurable than a mild orgasm.
Well, sure, if you’re itchy, an orgasm isn’t going to do jack for that, just as when you’re horny, scratching your left arm ain’t gonna cut it. But you know, all things being equal?
Granted that not all orgasms are created equal, I’d still take a mild one over a sneeze, for chrissake. I think a nice hot shower will always be better than a sneeze, for that matter (some of my sneezes hurt). And let’s not muddy the waters with “an amazing sunset,” because that’s not a bodily pleasure, it’s more of an aesthetic one, which is a different ball of wax entirely.
Maybe this all something about me… or maybe it says something about the rest of y’all.
Apologies if this is a massive thread hijack. I started another thread about it in IMO.
On a blistering, sweaty, humid day, a hot shower is unpleasant, counter-productive and possibly dangerous. As for the big O, well, let’s just say that as we age, the memory of such things remains fresh, but the experience lacks a little in the zip category. But a really ripping bowel movement – it’s always a winner and a blessed relief. I’m 73 now, and I know of what I speak. There’s nothing like moving the big brown guy. And if there’s a croissant afterward, that’s gravy (so to speak).
I thought the shower felt really good during labor. The nurses had to caox me out to take the occasional reading. I know other moms have said this too.
I recall my birthing instructor actually offering some theory as to why it felt good, but honestly she was such a flake that I don’t have a lot of confidence in the info.
