This week, you’ll begin developing your tactile awareness—your ability to notice and interpret what you feel through touch. This practice can help reduce pain and improve how your nervous system processes sensory information.
Even if you’re not currently experiencing pain, enhancing your tactile awareness can improve body awareness, lower your risk of future injuries, and even strengthen your intuition. Everyone can benefit from these exercises.
Curious about why this works? Read to the end for a quick explanation of the neuroscience behind it.
Two Point Awareness
- Find a paperclip, ideally a larger one.
- Unfold it so you have two prongs pointing in the same direction. Position them about a centimeter apart—close enough that both prongs can touch your fingertip at the same time.
- Place the prongs on your fingertip. Can you feel both points? If not, widen the prongs slightly until you can clearly sense two distinct touches.
- Try the same thing on your arm. Does it feel like one point or two? Keep adjusting the distance until you can distinguish both. Then try on your thigh or upper arm. You’ll notice you need to space the prongs farther apart to feel both points.
- If you have pain in your upper body, including your neck and upper back, do this exercise on your hands. If you have pain in your lower body, either your back, hips or legs, do this exercise on your thigh or your feet.
Advanced homework:
For this exercise, you will need a partner to help you.
1 Close your eyes.
2 Have your partner gently draw a letter, number, or simple shape on your skin (like your back, hand, or forearm) using a finger or a blunt object (e.g., pencil eraser).
3 Try to identify the shape or letter you felt.
4 Repeat a few times, switching locations or objects if you like.
Every Day Extra Credit:
Start using your sense of touch instead of your vision. When you want to get something in a drawer, or in a bag, don’t look, instead touch. Slowly feel the different objects until you find the one you want using touch.
The Why
When you’re in pain, your brain often loses some of its ability to sense exactly where that pain or touch is coming from. For example, if someone touches your ring finger knuckle, and your sensory awareness is strong, you’ll know exactly where you were touched. But if your awareness is low, you may just feel “a finger” being touched, without knowing which one.
This lack of precise awareness leads to more pain—and an increased risk of injury.
The good news?
You can retrain your brain and improve sensory awareness in just a few weeks of consistent practice! This can lead to less pain—and more detailed sensation: the softness of a sweater, the warmth of a hug, the comfort of holding hands.
Plus, research shows chiropractic care enhances sensory awareness—so stick with your care plan!
As always, let me know how you’re doing, and feel free to email me with any questions. I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.
Meggie
