High sensitivity of the glans penis is a disadvantage that interferes with normal sexual intercourse. Hypersensitivity, HSP: what is it? Strong sensitivity of the body

SENSITIVITY (sensibilitas) - the body’s ability to perceive various types of irritations coming from the environment or internal environment, and respond to them with differentiated forms of reactions.

Sensitivity plays a large role in the adaptive activity of the body. Its study is important for assessing the state of the functions of the nervous system. In addition, the problem of sensitivity is of great importance from an epistemological point of view, since through sensitivity and the sensations arising on its basis, a subjective reflection of the objective world and the processes of cognition are carried out.

Physiology

Sensitivity as a specific differentiated form of response to the action of stimuli arose from a more elementary property of the simplest organisms - irritability, or the ability to have a general undifferentiated reaction to stimuli. This evolutionary principle was formulated by I.M. Sechenov.

Sensitivity is the result of an improvement in the adaptive reactions of the body (see Adaptation) in the process of evolutionary development, occurring as a result of the formation of special morphological structures in certain areas of the body and a selective increase in their ability to respond to the appropriate (adequate) stimulus. The most significant development of sensitivity is associated with the emergence of specialized sensitive (sensory) nervous structures - receptors (see) and complex sensory organs - vision (see), hearing (see), smell (see), taste (see), balance (see Balance of the body), perceiving and converting various forms of physical energy acting on them into a series of afferent impulses transmitted to the central nervous system. The highest form of sensitivity is sensation (see), that is, the ability to subjectively recognize the properties of a stimulus. Some more complex forms of sensitivity, for example stereognosis (the ability to recognize a familiar object by touching with eyes closed), arose during the transition of a person to a vertical mode of movement, which led to the transformation of the hands from a support organ into an organ of labor activity. The development and complication of sensitivity occurs not only in the process of phylogenesis, but also during the life of each individual, in the process of his production activity. For example, sensitivity reaches a high level of perfection in those involved in the organoleptic evaluation of nutrients due to the training of a certain type of sensitivity.

Sensitivity is based on reception processes (see), biol. the meaning of which lies in the perception of irritations acting on the body, their transformation into processes of excitation (see), which are the source of corresponding sensations (light, tactile, pain, etc.). However, not everything that excites the receptor is accompanied by a subjectively experienced sensation. For sensation to occur, a certain intensity of stimulation is required. So, for example, to excite a separate light receptor of the eye (rod), one quantum of light is enough, but the sensation of light occurs when several quanta of light act on the eye. The minimum intensity of stimulation that can cause sensation and is called the sensation threshold, as a rule, is higher than the sensitivity threshold of an individual receptor. In cases where the excitation coming from receptors in the central nervous system is below the threshold of sensation, it does not cause a corresponding sensation, but can lead to certain reflex reactions of the body (vascular, etc.).

An explanation of the physiological mechanisms of sensitivity is given by the teaching of I. P. Pavlov about analyzers (see). Analyzers consist of peripheral sections - receptors, a conductive part - afferent (sensory) pathways and cortical (central) sections, represented by brain structures. As a result of the activity of all parts of the analyzer, a subtle analysis and synthesis (see Afferent synthesis) of stimuli acting on the body is carried out. In this case, not only passive transmission of afferentation from receptors to the central part of the analyzer occurs, but a complex process including reverse, efferent, regulation of sensitive perception (see Feedback), carried out at all levels of passage of the afferent impulse into the central nervous system (see Self-regulation of physiological functions).

The type of sensitivity that is most important in the life of a given animal is provided in the brain by a large section of the cortical (central) part of the corresponding analyzer. For a mole, for example, the most important type of sensitivity is smell; Accordingly, more than half of his brain is occupied by the central section of the olfactory analyzer. In birds, the sense of balance is of great importance; therefore, they have the greatest development of the cerebellum. In humans, a significant part of the brain is occupied by the central section of the analyzer of skin and muscle-joint sensitivity of the hands and face.

Sensitivity constantly changes during the development and functioning of the body, adapting the body to irritations of varying intensity. The sensitivity of the eye, for example, allows you to see both at night and in bright sunlight, that is, in light brightness that varies billions of times. This adaptive ability of the body is ensured by a complex sum of sensitivity adaptation processes occurring both in the receptors and in the central sections of the analyzer. With the loss of any type of sensitivity, compensatory development of its other types is observed. For example, people who have lost their sight or hearing usually have a high level of skin sensitivity.

The work of X. Megun, G. Moruzzi, R. Granita and others established that any sensory impulse arising in the peripheral receptor apparatus reaches the cerebral cortex not only along specific (see below) conductive (lemniscal) pathways, but also along nonspecific systems of the reticular formation (see). The anatomical substrate for the flow of nonspecific afferent impulses is the spinoreticular tract and collaterals to the cells of the reticular formation, which give off fibers to the spinothalamic tract and the medial lemniscus at the level of the brain stem. The reticular formation also has a descending regulatory influence on the process of afferentation in sensory pathways through the activating and inhibitory reticular systems (see Functional systems). It also participates in the selection of information coming from the periphery to the higher parts of the sensitivity system, passing some impulses and blocking others.

Classification

Depending on the location of the impact of the corresponding stimuli, superficial (exteroceptive) and deep (proprioceptive) sensitivity are distinguished. Superficial sensitivity includes pain, temperature (heat and cold), tactile (sense of touch), hair sensitivity, feeling of moisture, etc., deep sensitivity includes muscle-articular, vibration, sense of pressure and sense of weight. Separately, more complex types of sensitivity are distinguished: localization, discriminatory sensitivity, two-dimensional spatial sense, stereognosis, etc. Sensations arising from irritation of receptors of internal organs or vascular walls are referred to as interoceptive sensitivity. (see Interoception). All these types of sensitivity relate to general, or contact sensitivity, associated with the direct impact of irritants on the skin, mucous membranes, muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, and blood vessels. In addition to general sensitivity, there is a special sensitivity associated with the function of the sense organs. This includes vision, hearing, smell, and taste. The first three types of special sensitivity are associated with distant receptors, that is, terminal nerve formations that perceive stimuli at a distance, the last - with contact receptors.

G. Guesde proposed dividing sensitivity into protopathic and epicritic. Protopathic sensitivity, phylogenetically more ancient, characteristic of a more primitive organization of the nervous system, serves to perceive sensations that signal a danger threatening the body. Protopathic sensitivity includes types of sensitivity associated with the perception of nociceptive (Latin nocens harmful) irritations that threaten the body with tissue destruction or even death, for example, the perception of strong, sharp pain irritations, sharp temperature irritations, etc. Epicritic sensitivity, phylogenetically later, is not associated with perception of damaging influences; it allows the body to orient itself in the environment, to perceive weak stimuli, to which the body can respond with a so-called choice reaction - a certain motor act that is in the nature of a voluntary action. Epicritic sensitivity includes tactile sensitivity, perception of low temperature fluctuations (from 27 to 35°), a sense of localization of irritations, their discrimination (discrimination) and muscle-joint feeling. Just as the phylogenetically younger pyramidal system selectively inhibits and regulates the activity of more ancient motor systems, the epicritic sensitivity system contributes to a certain extent to the self-organization of the flow of afferent impulses, inhibiting sensory impulses conducted by the protopathic sensitivity system. Loss or decreased function of the epicritic sensitivity system disinhibits the functions of the protopathic sensitivity system and makes the perception of nociceptive stimuli unusually strong. In this case, sharp pain and temperature stimulation are perceived as especially unpleasant; in addition, they become more diffuse, diffuse and cannot be accurately localized. Such a change in the perception of nociceptive stimuli with a decrease in the functions of the epicritic system (subtle stimuli are poorly perceived or not perceived at all) is designated by the term “hyperpathy”.

Anatomy

The system of general sensitivity (afferent, sensory, system) begins with receptors (see). Receptors are divided into exteroceptors located in the skin and mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and paranasal sinuses, conjunctiva of the eyelids and eyeball (see Exteroception); proprioceptors (see), located in muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, joints; interoceptors (see Interoception), located in internal organs, internal body cavities, and blood vessels. According to the nature of the perceived irritation, they distinguish between mechanoreceptors (see), thermoreceptors (see), photoreceptors (see), chemoreceptors (see), receptors that perceive pressure (baroreceptors), and according to the nature of the resulting sensation - pain (nociceptors), tactile receptors (see Tactile analyzer), etc. Normally, per 1 cm 2 of skin there are on average 100 - 200 pain, about 25 tactile, 12-15 cold and 1 - 2 heat receptors.

Centripetal conduction of excitation from receptors occurs along sensitive nerve fibers, which are peripheral processes (dendrites) of cells of the spinal nodes or their homologues in the head region - Gasserian (trigeminal) node, jugular node (superior ganglion of the vagus nerve), etc. Sensitive nerve fibers are divided into three groups: group A fibers, covered with a thick layer of myelin, along which the afferent impulse is carried out at a speed of 12-120 m/sec; group B fibers, covered with a thin myelin sheath, conducting impulses at a speed of 3-14 m/sec; non-myelinated (myelinated) fibers C, along which the impulse is carried out at a speed of 1 - 2 m/sec (for more details, see Nerve fibers). The maximum frequency of action potential oscillations is observed in fibers of group A, a lower frequency in fibers of group B, and a minimum frequency in fibers of group C. Group A fibers serve as conductors of tactile and deep sensitivity, but can also conduct impulses of pain stimulation; group B fibers conduct pain and tactile stimulation; Group C fibers, as a rule, are conductors of pain stimuli.

All stimuli perceived by receptors are directed to the spinal ganglia or ganglia of the cranial nerves, in which the bodies of the first neurons of all types of sensitivity lie. Their axons, as part of the roots of the sensory cranial nerves (see), enter the brain stem or, as part of the dorsal roots of the spinal nerves, enter the spinal cord (see), forming in the latter case two groups of fibers.

A group of short fibers runs in the dorsal roots and, entering the spinal cord, approaches the cells of the dorsal horn on the same side. From the cells of the dorsal horn (the second neuron) axons come that make up the spinothalamic tract. Some of the fibers, having risen by 2-3 segments, pass through the anterior (white, T.) commissure into the lateral cord of the opposite side of the spinal cord and go up as part of the lateral spinothalamic tract (tractus spinothalamicus lat.), reaching the specific ventrolateral nuclei of the thalamus (see .). Another part of the fibers of the spinothalamic tract, which conduct the simplest types of tactile sensitivity (touch, hair sensitivity, etc.), is located in the anterior cord of the spinal cord and makes up the anterior spinothalamic tract (tractus spinothalamicus ant.), also reaching the thalamus. From the thalamus to the sensitive zone of the cerebral cortex there are axons of the third neurons of this pathway (through the posterior third of the posterior thigh or the legs of the internal capsule).

A group of long fibers running in the dorsal roots and which are also axons of sensory neurons of the spinal ganglia, entering the spinal cord, passes into the posterior cord of the same side (funiculus post.), forming a thin bundle (fasciculus gracilis) and a wedge-shaped bundle (fasciculus cuneatus). In these bundles they rise upward, without interruption or crossing, to the medulla oblongata, where they end in the thin nucleus (nucleus gracilis) and the sphenoid nucleus (nucleus cuneatus). The thin Gaulle bundle contains fibers that conduct sensitivity from the lower half of the body, the wedge-shaped bundle of Burdach contains fibers that conduct sensitivity from the upper half of the body. The long dorsal root fibers of these bundles, together with the cells of the spinal ganglia from which they arise and their dendrites, are the first peripheral neurons of a large sensory pathway running from the proprioceptors of the body to the sensory area of ​​the cerebral cortex. The fibers (axons) of the second neurons of this pathway, starting in the medulla oblongata from the cells of the thin and cuneate nuclei, move to the opposite side and reach the ventrolateral nucleus of the thalamus, where the bodies of the third neurons lie. The third neuron connects the ventrolateral nucleus of the thalamus with the sensory area of ​​the cortex. This three-neuron pathway carries out muscle-articular, vibrational (partially carried out by the lateral cords), complex types of tactile, two-dimensional-spatial, discriminative Sensitivity, sense of pressure, and stereognosis. This path does not cross in the spinal cord, therefore the Gaulle and Burdach bundles, located in the posterior cords, conduct afferent impulses from the receptors of the same half of the body. The crossover is made by the axons of the second neurons, forming the so-called. medial loop (lemniscus med.). The medial lemniscus consists of fibers originating from the gracilis and cuneate nuclei in the medulla oblongata. The processes of the cells of these nuclei intersect, forming the so-called raphe. This intersection of the medial loops (decussatio lemniscorum) is called the upper, or sensory, chiasm, in contrast to the motor chiasm of the pyramids, located in the lower parts of the medulla oblongata (see). After crossing at the raphe, the fibers of the medial lemniscus go up and, passing in the posterior part (tegmentum) of the pons, in the tegmentum of the midbrain (see), together with the fibers of the spinothalamic fascicle they approach the ventrolateral nucleus of the thalamus. Fibers from the gracilis nucleus approach cells located laterally, and from the sphenoid nucleus to more medial groups of cells. Fibers from the sensitive nuclei of the trigeminal nerve also come here (see). From the cells of the ventrolateral nucleus of the thalamus, sensory pathways pass through the posterior third of the posterior femur (posterior leg, T.) of the internal capsule, the corona radiata and end in the cortex of the postcentral gyrus (fields 1, 2, 3) and the superior parietal lobule (fields 5 and 7) of the hemispheres brain (see Cerebral cortex).

Sensitivity testing methods

Methods for studying sensitivity are divided into subjective and objective. Subjective methods are based on the psychophysiological study of sensitivity based on the nature of the sensation that arises. Sensitivity can be characterized by spatial and temporal sensation thresholds (see), absolute sensitivity thresholds, differential sensitivity thresholds (see Esthesiometry).

Clinical sensitivity studies (see Examination of the patient, neurological examination) should be carried out in a warm room, protected from noise. The patient should lie with his eyes closed in order to better concentrate on the perception and analysis of the sensations received, and also to exclude the possibility of determining the type of irritation using vision. More or less accurate identification of sensitivity disorders is possible only in an adult. In young children, it is possible to reliably establish only the preservation of pain sensitivity by screaming and defensive movements in response to painful stimuli. Sensitivity is examined briefly so as not to fatigue the patient. During the examination, it is necessary to avoid suggestive expressions that can provoke the occurrence of psychogenic sensitivity disorders in hysterical individuals.

Sensitivity studies require the active participation of the patient. The results of the study depend on the patient’s reaction, his attention, preservation of consciousness, ability to navigate his feelings and, finally, on the desire to be accurate and truthful in answering the questions posed. Only with a qualified sensitivity study according to a specific scheme can one obtain the necessary information for a nosological and topical diagnosis. Repeated studies using techniques not yet known to the patient and subsequent comparison of the results obtained make it possible to significantly objectify the results of the studies.

Tactile sensitivity (see Touch, Tactile analyzer) is usually examined by lightly touching the patient’s skin with a brush, a piece of cotton wool, soft paper, etc.; painful - with a pin prick or other sharp object; temperature - by touching the skin with test tubes filled with cool (not higher than 25°) and hot (40-50°) water. More accurately, temperature sensitivity can be studied using a thermoesthesiometer (see Esthesiometry). In the absence of the necessary conditions, temperature sensitivity is examined approximately by touching the patient’s body with either the metal (cold) or the rubber (warmer) part of the hammer. After applying the appropriate irritation, the patient must immediately characterize his sensation.

The threshold characteristics of pain and tactile sensitivity can be obtained by studying the Frey method using a graduated set of bristles and hairs. Other special sensitivity testing methods are rarely used. The method proposed in 1885 by A. Goldscheider, the application of painful stimulation using a clamp compressing a fold of skin, is practically not used in the study of sensitivity. This method makes it possible to identify areas of hyperalgesia and allows one to determine the level of spinal damage.

Discriminative sensitivity - the ability to separately perceive two identical irritations acting simultaneously at two points of the body (see Touch) - is studied using an aesthesiometer - a Weber compass. Normally, two separate irritations on the palmar surface of the fingers are perceived when one is removed from the other by 2 mm; on the palmar surface of the hand this distance reaches 6-10 mm, on the forearm and dorsum of the foot - 40 mm, and on the back and hips - 65-67 mm.

When studying pain, temperature, and tactile sensitivity, they establish not only the degree of preservation of one or another type of sensitivity, but also the ability of the subject to accurately localize irritation (topesthesia), which can be impaired with certain lesions of the nervous system.

The study of muscle-joint sensitivity (kinesthesia) is carried out with the patient lying down with his eyes closed. The doctor performs gentle passive flexion, extension, abduction and adduction of the fingers or the entire limb in various joints. The subject must determine the direction, volume, and nature of these movements. The study begins by testing the patient's ability to recognize finger movements. Violation of muscle-joint sensitivity leads to a disorder of coordination of movements - sensitive ataxia (see). To objectify the data from the study of muscle-joint sensitivity, a kinesthesiometer device is used.

The preservation of the sense of pressure (baresthesia) is determined by the patient’s ability to distinguish pressure from light touch, as well as to perceive the difference in the degree of pressure produced. The study is performed using a baresthesiometer - a spring device with a pressure intensity scale expressed in grams, which allows you to determine the threshold for feeling pressure and distinguishing its difference. Normally, the subject distinguishes between an increase or decrease in pressure (on the hand) by 1/20-1/10 of the initial pressure. Studies of baresthesia are rarely carried out, since a violation of this type of sensitivity does not have much semiological value.

Hair sensitivity is a peculiar sensation that occurs when a soft brush or piece of cotton wool is passed over the scalp of the skin in such a way that the irritating object only touches the hairs without touching the surface of the skin. Hair sensitivity examinations are rarely performed in the clinic.

Objective methods for studying sensitivity are necessary in cases where no sensation occurs in response to receptor irritation. The most widely used methods in experimental research are methods for recording the electrical potentials of receptors, sensory fibers extending from receptors, or certain areas of the brain and spinal cord. Registration of evoked potentials of various areas of the brain, reactions that occur in response to electrical stimulation of sensory nerves or adequate stimulation of receptors is widely used (see Bioelectric potentials). Currently, a non-surgical technique has been developed for recording impulse activity in human sensory nerves.

Pathology of sensitivity

Sensitivity pathology can manifest itself in both quantitative and qualitative changes. Quantitative changes include a decrease in the intensity of sensation, that is, a decrease in sensitivity - hypoesthesia, or its complete loss - anesthesia (see). According to the type of sensitivity, they are distinguished: hypalgesia (hypalgia), analgesia (decreased or absent pain sensitivity), thermohypoesthesia, thermoanesthesia (decreased or absent temperature sensitivity), topohypesthesia, topanesthesia (decreased or loss of the ability to localize irritation), astereognosis, or astereognosis (loss of stereognosis) . An increase in sensitivity associated with a decrease in the threshold for perceiving a particular irritation is called true hyperesthesia. Qualitative sensitivity disorders include a violation (perversion) of the perception of external stimuli, for example, the occurrence of a sensation of pain during cold stimulation or heat (thermalgia); a feeling of a larger size of the palpable object - macroesthesia (for example, the patient perceives a match placed in his hand as a stick); feeling of many objects instead of one (polyesthesia); sensation of pain, in addition to the injection site, in some other area (synalgia); a feeling of irritation not at the site of its application (alloesthesia); a feeling of irritation in a symmetrical area on the other side (allocheiria); inadequate perception of various irritations (dysesthesia), for example, the perception of painful irritation as thermal, tactile - as cold, etc. A special form of qualitative change in sensitivity is represented by hyperpathy - a peculiar painful perception of various sharp irritations. Tiperpathy differs from true hyperesthesia (or hyperalgia) in that with the latter there is a decrease in the threshold for the perception of irritation. With hyperpathy, on the contrary, the threshold for the perception of irritation (threshold of excitability) is increased (light irritations are perceived in the area of ​​hyperpathy less clearly than normally, or are not perceived at all, and intense irritations, especially nociceptive ones, are perceived as sharply painful, extremely unpleasant, painful). In this case, irritations are poorly localized by the patient; their long-term aftereffect is noted.

Sensitivity disorders not associated with any external influence include paresthesia (see) - various, often unusual, externally unmotivated sensations, such as a feeling of goosebumps, numbness, stiffness of certain areas of the skin, pain in the roots of the hair (trichalgia) , a feeling of skin moisture, movement of liquid drops along it (hygroparesthesia) in the absence of conditions that stimulate the feeling of moisture characteristic of a healthy person (hygresthesia). Especially often, various paresthesias are observed with tabes dorsalis (see) and other diseases of the nervous system, in which the dorsal roots of the spinal cord are involved in the process.

Sensory disorders also include pain that accompanies certain lesions of the nervous system (see Pain), including phantom pain in an amputated limb (see Phantom of amputees), causalgia (see), in which a symptom of hygromania (craving for wet things) is often observed. , indicating the importance of hygresthesia in the sum of afferent impulses that make up human sensitivity.

When the receptor apparatus is damaged, local hypoesthesia may be observed, caused by a decrease in the number of receptor points, as well as changes in the threshold characteristics of different types of sensitivity. The increase in the threshold of pain and tactile sensitivity can be quite significant (for example, the corresponding minimal sensations appear only when irritated by the largest bristles or Frey hairs - No. 8, 9, 10). Hyperesthesia in the affected area is associated with a peripheral mechanism - a pathological decrease in the threshold of excitability of surviving receptors and a central mechanism - an increase in the excitability of neurons in the dorsal horns of the spinal cord. As a result, the first adequate sensations appear when irritated by the most delicate bristles from the set of hairs (No. 1, 2).

When a sensory nerve is damaged, two zones of disturbance are detected: anesthesia in the zone of autonomous innervation of only this nerve, hypoesthesia with hyperpathy in the zone of mixed innervation (overlap with zones of innervation of other nerves); all types of sensitivity are impaired, but to varying degrees (see Neuritis). Multiple symmetrical lesions of the peripheral nerves of the extremities (see Polyneuritis) are characterized by a violation of all types of sensitivity of the distal type - in the form of long gloves on the hands and stockings on the legs (Fig. 1). Moreover, the more distal the part of the limb being studied is located, the more pronounced the hypoesthesia is. Decreased sensitivity is combined with weakness of the arms and legs (peripheral paralysis or muscle paresis), pain of varying intensity, hyperpathy and vegetative-trophic disorders.

Damage to the dorsal roots of the spinal nerves causes sensory disturbances in the corresponding dermatomes - zones of the skin that have the shape of a belt in the chest and abdomen and the shape of longitudinal stripes on the limbs (Fig. 2). Radicular hypoesthesia (anesthesia) affects all types of sensitivity, but not always to the same extent. If the spinal nodes are involved in the process along with the sensory roots, sensory disorders are combined with herpetic eruptions in the corresponding innervation zone (see Ganglionitis).

With a transverse lesion of the spinal cord, anesthesia (or hypesthesia) of all types of sensitivity below the lesion site is most often observed, the anesthesia zone is limited at the top by a circular line. This spinal (circular, or conduction) type of sensitivity disorder is often combined with central lower paraplegia and pelvic disorders, constituting the so-called spinal syndrome (see Paralysis, paresis; Spinal cord). The level of anesthesia, as well as the prevalence of paralysis, varies at different levels of spinal cord damage. When the pathological focus is localized above the cervical thickening of the spinal cord, anesthesia occurs in the skin of the trunk, lower and upper extremities, the upper border of which passes at the level of C 3-4 dermatomes; a pathological focus in the Th2 segment causes anesthesia, the upper limit of which is located at the level of the 2nd rib, in the Th5 segment at the level of the nipples, in the Th9-10 segment at the level of the navel. When the process is localized in the spinal cord below these levels, anesthesia spreads to the lower abdomen, lower extremities, skin of the perineum and genitals.

Damage to the posterior cords of the spinal cord (gaulle and Burdach bundles) causes on the affected side a disorder of tactile, muscular-articular, vibration and other types of deep sensitivity in the arms and legs, accompanied by sensitive ataxia, for example with tabes dorsalis (see).

A lesion of the lateral cord on one side is accompanied by hypoesthesia (or anesthesia) of pain and temperature sensitivity according to the conductive type on the side of the body opposite to the lesion, starting from a level 2-3 segments below the level of the lesion. With a transverse lesion of half of the spinal cord, Brown-Séquard syndrome occurs (see Brown-Séquard syndrome), in which muscle-articular sensitivity on the side of the lesion is impaired (due to loss of function of the homolateral posterior cord), pain and temperature sensitivity on the opposite side of the body disappears ( due to a break in the spinothalamic tract in the lateral cord); tactile sensitivity may not be impaired, since its conductors are located not only in the posterior cord on the affected side, but also in the lateral cord of the opposite (unaffected) half of the spinal cord. Above the level of deep sensitivity impairment, a small zone of radicular pain hyperesthesia is often found.

A pathological focus in the posterior horns of the spinal cord causes a segmental sensitivity disorder on the side of the pathological process in areas of the skin innervated by the affected segments. The sensitivity disorder has a dissociated nature: only pain and temperature sensitivity are lost, while tactile, as well as muscular-articular and other types of deep sensitivity are preserved. Dissociation of sensitivity is due to the fact that tactile stimuli are transmitted to the brain not only through the spinothalamic tract connected to the nerve cells of the dorsal horns, but mainly through the system of the posterior cords. Dissociated anesthesia is characteristic of syringomyelia (see), in which the process usually begins with damage to the posterior horns of the spinal cord. Segmental sensitivity disorders in syringomyelia most often extend to the arms and upper torso, with the area of ​​disturbance having the shape of a “jacket” or “half-jacket.” Segmental dissociated anesthesia can spread only to the upper part of the body ("vest" form), and sensation in the arms remains unimpaired. This type of sensitivity disturbance can also be observed with intramedullary tumors and with vascular lesions of the spinal cord.

When the anterior (white, T.) commissure of the spinal cord is damaged, dissociated anesthesia develops in several dermatomes on both sides, the level of which approximately corresponds to the level of localization of the pathological process.

When studying sensitivity, it should be borne in mind that the skin of the neck and shoulder girdle is provided with sensitive fibers from C3-4 segments, the outer surface of the shoulder - from C5, the outer surface of the forearm - from C6, the radial side of the hand - from C7, the ulnar side of the hand - from C8, inner surface of the forearm - from Th1, shoulder - Th2, nipple level - from Th5, navel level - from Th9-10, inguinal fold - from L1, anterior surface of the thigh (from top to bottom) - from L1-4, anterior inner surface of the lower leg - from L4, the anterior surface of the lower leg - from L4, the posterior surface of the thigh - from L1-5, S1-2, the posterior external surface of the lower leg - from S1, the posterior internal surface of the lower leg - from S2, the genitals and the surrounding area - from S3-5 (Fig. 2).

With selective damage to the nucleus of the spinal tract of the trigeminal nerve (see) in the area of ​​the pons and medulla oblongata (mainly with syringobulbia), disturbances in pain and temperature sensitivity are observed on the same half of the face. In this case, anesthesia (or hypesthesia) spreads in concentric stripes around the mouth and nose; the medial and lateral zones of cutaneous innervation are affected differently (see Fig. 2 to article Trigeminal nerve).

With a pathological focus in the rostral parts of the tegmentum of the pons (see Cerebral Bridge), Raymond-Sestan syndrome occurs (see Alternating syndromes), cerebellar ataxia on the side of the lesion and hemianesthesia of superficial sensitivity on the opposite side of the body. This syndrome is usually associated with blockage of the superior cerebellar artery.

Damage to one half of the medulla oblongata most often causes the occurrence of Wallenberg-Zakharchenko syndrome (see Alternating syndromes): hemihypesthesia on the side of the body opposite to the pathological focus, and sensitivity disorder on the face on the side of the lesion, that is, alternating hemihypesthesia (see Fig. 7 to Art. Alternating syndromes), which is combined with paralysis of the soft palate, muscles of the larynx and pharynx, Bernard-Horner syndrome (see Bernard-Horner syndrome) and vestibular-cerebellar disorders on the side of the lesion. The syndrome is associated with blockage of the posterior inferior cerebellar or vertebral artery supplying the lateral medulla oblongata.

Pathology of the thalamus can cause Dejerine-Roussy syndrome (see Thalamus), which causes loss or reduction of all types of sensitivity, sensory ataxia on the opposite half of the body (due to deep damage to muscle-articular sensitivity), contralateral hemianopsia (see), severe hyperpathy, central pain in the entire half of the body opposite the pathological focus - very intense, diffuse, burning, resistant to the use of analgesics, various dysesthesias with an unpleasant affective component. Astereognosis (secondary) is also often noted. Sensory disturbances can be combined with hemigharesis, usually without pathological reflexes.

In the area of ​​the posterior thigh (posterior leg, T.) of the internal capsule, conductors of all types of sensitivity for the opposite half of the body are compactly located, so damage to it causes so-called capsular hemianesthesia (or hemihypeetesia), which is characterized by a greater severity of damage in the distal parts of the limbs, especially on the hand. Sensory disturbances are usually combined with capsular hemiplegia (see) on the side opposite to the lesion, since the pyramidal tract for the opposite half of the body also passes through the knee and posterior thigh of the internal capsule.

A lesion in the corona radiata of the cerebral hemisphere also causes a violation of all types of sensitivity on the side opposite the lesion, but in this case hemihypesthesia is never as complete as with damage to the internal capsule, since the sensitivity of one limb always suffers much more than the other. This is explained by the fact that the sensory fibers in the corona radiata are located less compactly and occupy a significantly larger volume of the cerebral hemisphere. Destruction of the bulk of the sensory fibers innervating the upper limb may be accompanied by damage to only a small part of the fibers innervating the lower limb, and vice versa.

In the cerebral cortex, sensory fibers end mainly in the postcentral gyrus, in fields 1, 2, 3, that is, in the main cortical sensitive area. In this case, the uppermost section of the gyrus is occupied by sensitivity centers for the leg, the middle third is occupied by sensitivity centers for half the torso and arms, and the lower third is the sensitive area of ​​the face. The postcentral gyrus is the highest synthesis analyzer of general sensitivity for the entire opposite half of the body. The postcentral gyrus is considered somatic sensitive zone I. Additional cortical sensitive zones are described: cortical sensitive zone II in the posterior part of the superior lip of the Sylvian (lateral, lateral) fissure and zone III on the medial surface of the cerebral hemisphere, posterior to the postcentral gyrus. The main synthesis analyzer of the general brain is the postcentral gyrus; other zones play a less important role. In the I and II cortical sensitive zones there are small areas associated not with the opposite, but with the same half of the body.

A lesion in the postcentral gyrus causes monoanesthesia (or monohypesthesia) as a result of loss of function of a certain sensitivity center. As a symptom of irritation, these patients often experience Jacksonian sensory attacks; partial paresthesias in the face, arm or leg are usually short, occurring without changes in consciousness. Hypoesthesia in cortical pathological foci is usually unstable, it is more pronounced in the distal parts of the limb, and muscle-articular sensation and vibration sensitivity are more impaired than superficial sensitivity. With paracentral (parasagittal) localization of the pathological process with destruction of the upper part of the post-central gyri of both hemispheres, sensitivity may be impaired in both areas. When the cerebral cortex is damaged, some special, more complex types of sensitivity also suffer, such as recognizing differences in the intensity of various, including skin, irritations, accurately determining spatial relationships (topognosia), and possibly weakening the ability to discriminate, two-dimensional spatial sensitivity and stereognosis. Primary, cortical astereognosis occurs with lesions mainly in the parietal region.

The localization of the lesion of the nervous system determines the nature and area of ​​distribution of sensitivity disorders; in addition, the characteristics of sensitivity pathology depend on the etiology of the process and the nature of the underlying disease.

Sensitivity disorders are often observed in various nosological forms, and in each form they may have their own characteristics, despite the same localization of the lesion. Features of sensitivity disorders characteristic of certain clinical forms are given in the description of individual nervous diseases and syndromes of damage to the nervous system.

Bibliography: Astvatsaturov M.I. Selected works, p. 284, JI., 1939; Bogolepov N.K. Clinical lectures on neuropathology, M., 1971; Granit R. Electrophysiological study of reception, trans. from English, M., 1957; Darkshevich L. O. Course of nervous diseases, vol. 1, M. - Pg., 1922; Krol M. B. and Fedorova E. A. Basic neuropathological syndromes, M., 1966; Multi-volume guide to neurology, ed. S. N. Da-videnkova, vol. 2, p. 9, M., 1962; Sechenov I.M. Selected works, vol. 1, p. 289, M., 1952; Tamar G. Fundamentals of sensory physiology, trans. from English, M., 1976; Triumphov A.V. Topical diagnosis of diseases of the nervous system, JI., 1974; Physiology of sensory systems, ed. G.V. Gershuni, part 2, JI., 1972; Bicker staff E. R. Neurology, L., 1978; Bing R. Lehrbuch der Nervenkrankheiten, Basel, 1952; D e j e-r i n e J. J. Semiologie des affections du systeme nerveux, P., 1926; Handbook of sensory physiology, ed. by H. Antrum a. o., v. 1, V. a. o., 1971; Haschke W. Grundztige der Neurophysiologie, (Unter dem Aspekt der intergrativen Tatigkeit des ZNS), Jena, 1976; Joschko H. Funktionelle neurologische Diagnostik, Bd 1-4, Jena, 1961 - 1970; Magoun H. W. Ascending reticular activating system in the brain stem, Arch. Neurol. Psychiat. (Chic.), v. 67, p. 145, 1952; M i n s 1 e r J. Pathology of the nervous system, v. 1-3, N.Y., 1968-1972; Penfield W. a. Boldrey E. Somatic motor and sensory representation in the cerebral cortex of man as studies by electrical stimulation, Brain, v. 60, p. 389, 1937; W a r t e n-b e r g R. Neurologische Untersuchungs-methoden in der Sprechstunde, Stuttgart, 1955.

X. G. Hodos; A.P.I. Esakov (physiol.).

High sensitivity in many cases turns out to be a disadvantage. Such a feature as the susceptibility of the head of the penis to irritants does not in itself pose any danger and does not threaten health. However, this property often affects the duration and quality of sex, which entails big psychological problems.

What are the sensations associated with?

The ability to have prolonged sexual intercourse for a man in most cases is a virtue. But in a certain way it depends on the general sensitivity of the organ. The faster and stronger the nerve endings react, and the more there are, the faster, unfortunately, ejaculation occurs.

Strong sensitivity of the glans penis can be congenital or acquired. The congenital form is characterized by the persistence of symptoms for a long time, so the duration of sexual intercourse remains short both in adolescence and in much more mature years, since the hormonal background does not matter here. But all the means leading to dulling of sensitivity - ointments, condoms - are extremely effective.

If the changes occurred as a result of an illness, the signs may differ - they depend on the nature of the illness.

Prostatitis “provides” ejaculation with painful symptoms, to the point that a man loses the ability to enjoy orgasm. And with phimosis, ejaculation can occur before sexual intercourse and without any prior stimulation.

The congenital form of sensitivity is very difficult to correct. However, the use of condoms and special ointments solve this problem, but, however, they have to be used constantly. The acquired form is, to one degree or another, associated with the primary disease. Sometimes surgery is necessary to treat it.

Causes of increased sensitivity of the head

As already mentioned, there are 2 types of hypersensitivity - congenital and acquired. Congenital is caused by an increased number of nerve endings. This condition cannot be called a disease or pathology; it is truly an individual feature that a man will have to come to terms with.

Acquired appears as a result of diseases:

• Phimosis can be either congenital or acquired. In this case, the head of the penis is always closed or semi-closed, since due to the short frenulum it is not freed from the foreskin. As a result, the skin on the head is too sensitive. In the acquired form, the cause of incomplete exposure of the head is scarring of the foreskin tissue. The result is the same - hypersensitivity and inability to have prolonged sexual intercourse.
• Balanoposthitis is an inflammation caused by infection, in this case staphylococci. This condition exacerbates the sensitivity of nerve endings, and as a result, the reaction to stimuli turns out to be too violent.
• Prostatitis indirectly affects the “work” of the penis, but in most cases makes ejaculation a painful process.
• Stress – nervous excitement ensures a constant erection, sometimes quite painful. In this case, the sensitivity of the head increases sharply, but under such circumstances the disappearance of stress returns everything to normal.
• Hormonal imbalance is most often the cause during adolescence. During the period of hypersexuality, constant arousal results in short sexual intercourse. However, over time, this hypersensitivity disappears on its own, due to the equalization of hormonal levels.

High sensitivity and overstimulation

This feature should be distinguished from simple excessive excitement, which naturally occurs after prolonged abstinence or at a young age.

Signs of hypersensitivity of the glans penis are:

• sexual intercourse is always short, both at a young and at a more mature age;
• the duration does not depend on the number of repetitions, that is, both the second and third acts of the night turn out to be equally short. Under normal over-excitement the second act will always be longer;
• when using a condom and lubricant, the duration increases, since the head of the penis is protected from irritants and does not cause such a violent reaction. In this case, sperm is released only when the penis is still in the partner’s vagina. Again, with normal overexcitation, the presence or absence of an excessive stimulus plays a much smaller role;
• When drinking alcohol, the duration of sex increases, which never happens with overstimulation. This paradoxical reaction is due to the fact that alcohol dulls the sensitivity of nerve receptors;
• with the use of prolongators, the time of sexual intercourse also increases;
• a special spray with lidocaine is a means to prolong sex. The mechanism of action is the same: lidocaine dulls sensitivity.

Distinguishing between these 2 concepts is important to understand the essence of the problem. Normal overexcitation is a temporary phenomenon and does not require any treatment. In case of hypersensitivity, certain measures have to be taken, since this problem cannot be solved on its own.

How to reduce?

A man’s sexual abilities are affected by both purely objective external and internal factors - stress, cold, illness, and subjective ones - experiences, hypertrophied demands, etc. Actually, treatment, or rather correction, of such a deficiency as sensitivity of the head is also possible using various methods, including self-hypnosis.

Medicines

This category includes both medications and medications for external use, and even devices:

• A condom with thick latex walls is a simple and effective way to prolong an erection, since the material significantly reduces sensitivity. Many men complain about this feature of the condom, but in this case the density of the film turns into an advantage.
• Additional attachments - such a device can be found in a sex shop. The nozzle is fixed in place of the frenulum and to some extent protects the head from too “close contact”.
• Anesthetic ointments - lidocaine spray, heparin ointment, SS cream, catajel, etc. Ointments reduce the sensitivity of nerve endings, which automatically solves the problem.
• Medicines - medications are used that reduce the general excitability of the nervous system - diprofen, papaverine. In addition, drugs designed to control ejaculation, like Cialis or even Viagra, have the same effect.
• Tonics are usually of plant origin. The drugs affect muscle tone, which helps reduce sensitivity.
• Sedatives - with relatively mild nervous excitement, a regular infusion of motherwort or valerian can help. Potassium or sodium bromide works in the same way.
• Antidepressants - in particular, selective serotonin reuptake suppressors - Paxil, fluoxetine. The drugs relieve nervous tension and relieve obsessive states.
• Tranquilizers - elenium, meprotan, are used for general excessive excitability and some mental disorders.

All medications, in fact, are aimed at symptomatic treatment, that is, eliminating sensitivity during sexual intercourse. Physiological problems are easier to heal. But solving the psychological problems that provoked this syndrome requires both time and effort.

Traditional methods

Excessive sensitivity of the head of the penis is not a problem of today. Traditional medicine offers its own methods of healing.

Some of them are quite rational and applicable at home:

• Mint juice has a kind of “cooling” effect, reducing the sensitivity of nerve endings. Before sexual intercourse, it is recommended to lubricate the penis with juice.
• Cornflower tincture has a slight sedative effect and reduces excitability, which also helps to prolong sexual intercourse.
• A tincture of 5 g of hops and 15 g of motherwort - pour 800 ml of boiling water and infuse overnight, reduces general excitability. The medicine should be taken three times a day, 150 ml for 1 month.
• A collection of equal parts of rose hips, viburnum, rowan and nettle leaves also has a tonic effect. All of the listed components are poured into 1 cup of boiling water and left in a thermos for 30 minutes. Then the broth is filtered and drunk twice a day before meals, 1 tablespoon.
• Tea with periwinkle also helps. 20 g of the dry mixture is poured with water, boiled for at least 10 minutes, and then taken 10 drops twice a day for 5 days. This course is repeated again after 3 days.

Drinking alcohol also dulls sensitivity. However, the use of this remedy is fraught with much more serious complications than premature ejaculation.

Self-control

There are certain techniques that can reduce sensitivity and prolong sexual intercourse. Even with such a feature as a sensitive head.

However, mastering them requires a certain level of self-control:

• Start-stop - with some training, a man learns to predict the moment before the onset of orgasm. To prevent too rapid ejaculation, the penis is at this moment removed from the vagina and pinched at the base of the head. After a couple of seconds, the hyperexcitation subsides and sexual intercourse can be continued. This technique can be repeated several times.

It is important to prevent ejaculation, not stop it. If ejaculation has already begun, pinching can lead to reverse ejaculation and other problems.

• Stopping friction and taking a deep, slow breath works in the same way. In this case, the loss of erection reaches 20–30%, which is enough to prolong sexual intercourse. The technique can be repeated, but for this, of course, you need to have a certain self-control.
• Kegel exercises – Kegel suggested that ejaculation that was too rapid was due to disturbances in the innervation. He proposed solving this problem with the help of special exercises involving the pelvic organs. This will not affect the sensitivity of the head in any way, but will allow the man to have greater control over his own erection and consciously prevent premature ejaculation.

The simplest exercise of this kind is specific tension and relaxation of the pubococcygeus muscle, which occurs when trying to stop or delay urination. This cycle is contraction-relaxation, performed 15 times 2-3 times a day. The load can be increased by contracting the muscles up to 50 times. This practice helps prevent an orgasm from happening too quickly.

Another way to reduce sensitivity is to try to distract yourself during sexual intercourse: think about something unpleasant or at least list in your mind the paragraphs of the next law adopted by the government.

Surgery

Surgical treatment is indicated only for phimosis, when the head is not completely exposed. In this case, the foreskin is simply cut off, and after some time the process returns to normal.

If the head is too sensitive, surgery will not help. Some time ago, neurosurgical intersection of the nerves responsible for the sensitivity of the head was proposed, but such an intervention is fraught with almost complete loss of sensitivity of the penis, and, therefore, a weakening of the erection. Today the method is recognized as crippling and is not practiced.

A sensitive head of the penis is not a disease, but in most cases a feature of the body. There is no need to treat this feature if the problem is not caused by some kind of illness, and it should be solved using conservative methods.
In the video about the causes and methods of treating head sensitivity:

Having emotional sensitivity is quite normal, but at some point, this sensitivity can cause you harm. Control your strong emotions so that they are your allies, not your enemies. Due to increased emotional sensitivity, imaginary or unintentional insults may be perceived with hostility. Misunderstandings and misinterpretations of others' actions prevent you from living a peaceful, happy life. To stop overreacting to everyday events, you must be able to find a balance between sensitivity and common sense, confidence and resilience.

Steps

Part 1

Accept that increased emotional sensitivity is part of you. Neuroscientists have discovered that our ability to be emotionally sensitive is partly linked to our genes. Presumably, about 20% of the world's population have hypersensitivity. This means they have a heightened awareness of subtle stimuli that many people don't notice. In addition, the impact of these irritants on people with increased sensitivity is much stronger. This increased sensitivity is associated with a gene that affects the hormone norepinephrine, or stress hormone, which also serves as a neurotransmitter in the brain and is responsible for attention and response.

Do some self-analysis. If you are unsure whether you are truly sensitive, there are some steps you can take to test yourself. For example, you can complete the emotional sensitivity questionnaire on PsychCentral. These questions will help you evaluate your emotions and sensations.

• When answering these questions, try not to judge yourself. Answer honestly. Once you become aware of the extent of your sensitivity, you can focus on controlling your emotions in a more helpful way.

1. Explore your emotions by journaling. Having an “emotional journal” will help you observe and examine your emotions, as well as your reactions to them. This will help you understand what triggers your emotional overreaction and help you know when your reaction is justified.

   Don't label yourself. Unfortunately, people with hypersensitivities are often insulted and given nicknames such as “crybaby” or “sob.” What's worse is that these insults sometimes become descriptive "labels" that other people use. Over time, it is very easy to apply this label to yourself, perceiving yourself not as a sensitive person who cries only occasionally, but 99.5% of the time behaves in a normal way. Thus, you will focus on one aspect of your personality to the point that you will believe that it defines you completely.

   • Resist negative labels through reframing. This means you have to remove the label and look at the situation in a broader context.
   • For example, a teenage girl cries because she is upset. An acquaintance stands nearby, he mutters “crybaby” and leaves. Instead of taking the insult to heart, she reflects this way: “I know that I am not a crybaby. Yes, sometimes I react too emotionally. Sometimes this means that I cry when less emotional people would not cry. I'm working on responding in a more appropriate way. In any case, insulting a person who is already crying is too rude. I'm too kind to do this to others."

2. Identify the triggers for your sensitivity. You may or may not know what triggers your oversensitive reaction. You may have developed a pattern in your head of automatically reacting to certain stimuli, such as a stressful experience. Over time, this pattern of behavior will become a habit, and you will immediately react in a certain way without thinking about what is happening. Luckily, you can change your reactions and form new behaviors.

   Check to see if you are codependent. A codependent relationship occurs when your self-esteem and identity are dependent on the actions and reactions of another person. The goal of your whole life is self-sacrifice for the good of your partner. If your partner doesn't approve of your actions or feelings, it can be a big blow to you. Codependency is very common in romantic relationships, but it can occur at any stage of the relationship. The following are signs of a codependent relationship:

   • You believe that your satisfaction with life is tied to a specific person.
   • You acknowledge your partner's unhealthy behavior, but you still stay with him despite it.
   • You go to great lengths to support your partner, even if it means you have to sacrifice your own needs and health.
   • You constantly feel anxious about the status of your relationship.
   • Lack of common sense regarding personal boundaries.
   • You feel terrible when you have to tell someone no.
   • You react to everyone's feelings and thoughts by agreeing with them or immediately becoming defensive.
   • Codependency can be overcome. The best option is professional psychological help. There are also various support groups.

3. Do not hurry. Getting to know your emotions, especially sensitive areas, is an arduous task. Don't force yourself to do everything at once. Psychologists have proven that personal growth requires going beyond your comfort zone, but acting too hastily can lead to regression.

   Allow yourself to feel your emotions. Avoiding increased emotional sensitivity does not mean that you should stop feeling your emotions altogether. In fact, trying to suppress or deny your emotions can be harmful. Instead, you must accept unpleasant emotions like anger, pain, fear, and grief—emotions that are just as essential to emotional health as positive ones like joy and elation—and not let them take over. Try to maintain a balance of your emotions.

   Part 2

   Thought Analysis

   1. Learn to recognize cognitive biases that may be making you oversensitive. Cognitive distortions are patterned deviations in thinking and behavior that we have cultivated in ourselves. You can learn to identify and combat these deviations.

      • Cognitive distortions almost never occur in isolation. As you analyze your thinking pattern, you will notice that you are experiencing multiple distortions in response to one feeling or event. Take the time to fully explore your reactions to understand which ones are helpful and which ones are not.
      • There are many types of cognitive distortions, but the most common culprits of emotional oversensitivity are personalization, labeling, should sentences, emotional reasoning, and jumping to conclusions.

   2. Recognize and combat personalization. Personalization is a fairly common bias that causes heightened emotional sensitivity. It means that you consider yourself to be the cause of things that may have nothing to do with you or that you cannot control. You can also take things personally that don't apply to you at all.

      Recognize and fight labels. Labeling is an all-or-nothing type of thinking. It often occurs in combination with personalization. When you label yourself, you generalize yourself based on one single action or event, rather than understanding that what you do and who you are are not the same thing.

      • For example, if you receive negative comments about your essay, it may make you feel like a failure. By calling yourself a failure, you subconsciously think that you will never improve, which means there is no point in even trying. This can lead to feelings of guilt and shame. This also makes it difficult for you to tolerate constructive criticism, because you perceive any criticism as a sign of failure.
      • Instead, you should accept your mistakes and failures for what they really are - specific situations from which you can learn something and become a better person. Instead of labeling yourself as a failure when you get a bad grade on an essay, you should accept your mistakes and think about what you can learn: “Okay, I didn’t do a good job on this essay. I'm disappointed, but it's not the end of the world. I will talk to my teacher to see what I need to do differently next time.”

   3. Recognize and combat “should” statements. Such statements are harmful because they hold you (and others) to standards that are often unreasonably high. They often depend on unimportant ideas instead of those that really matter. By breaking another “should,” you can punish yourself for it, thereby further reducing your motivation to change. Such ideas can cause guilt, despair and anger.

      Recognize and combat emotional reasoning. When you use emotional argumentation, you confuse your feelings with facts. This type of distortion is quite common, but with a little effort you can learn to identify and combat it.

      Recognize and combat hasty conclusions. Jumping to conclusions is very similar to emotional reasoning. When you jump to a conclusion, you cling to a negative interpretation of a situation without any facts to support this interpretation. In extreme cases, this can lead to hysteria, such as when you allow your thoughts to gradually spiral out of control until you reach the worst possible scenario.

   Part 3

   Taking action

   Meditate. Meditation, particularly mindfulness meditation, can help you manage your emotional reactions. It will even help you improve your brain's ability to respond to sources of stress. By practicing mindfulness techniques, you acknowledge and accept emotions as they are, without making judgments. This is very helpful in overcoming excessive emotional sensitivity. Take a class, take up online meditation, or teach yourself mindfulness meditation.

   Learn to interact positively. Sometimes people become overly sensitive because they are unable to clearly express their feelings and needs to other people. If you tend to be overly passive in your interactions, you will find it difficult to say “no” and communicate your thoughts and feelings clearly and sincerely enough. If you learn to interact positively, you will be able to express your needs and feelings, which in turn will help you feel heard and valued.

   Act only after you have calmed down. Your emotions can interfere with how you react to a situation. Acting under the influence of emotions can lead to consequences that you may later regret. Try to calm down for a few minutes before reacting to a situation that caused a strong emotional reaction.

   • Ask yourself the “if...then” question. “If I do this now, what might happen later?” Consider as many consequences as possible, both positive and negative. Then compare these consequences with your reaction.
   • Let's say you just had a verbal altercation with your spouse. You are so angry and hurt that you have thoughts of asking for a divorce. Pause and ask yourself the “if...then” question. If you ask for a divorce, what might happen? Your spouse may feel insulted and unloved. He'll remember this later when you've both calmed down, taking it as a sign that he can't trust you when you're angry. In the heat of anger, he may agree to a divorce. Do you need such consequences?

   1. Treat yourself and others with compassion. You will discover the fact that due to over-sensitivity, you avoid stressful and unpleasant situations. You may feel that any mistake in a relationship can become a stumbling block, so you avoid relationships altogether or they are insignificant. Treat others (and yourself) with compassion. You need to see the best in people, especially those you know personally. If your feelings were hurt, don't assume it was intentional: express a compassionate understanding that everyone, including friends and loved ones, makes mistakes.

      Seek professional help if necessary. Sometimes, even if you try your best to cope with emotional sensitivity, you can still lose to it. The involvement of a licensed psychologist can help you explore your feelings and reactions to them in a safe and supportive environment. An experienced psychologist or therapist can help you uncover destructive thinking patterns and teach you new skills to help you cope with your feelings.

   2. High emotional sensitivity Maybe be associated with depression or another disorder. Some people are born very sensitive, which is noticeable from their early childhood. This is not a disorder, not a mental illness or some kind of illness - it is just a character trait of a person. However, if a person's sensitivity has increased from normal to excessive, he has become overly touchy, whiny or irritable, this may be a sign of problems being experienced.

      • Sometimes, high emotional sensitivity can be a result of depression, which makes a person unable to cope with emotions (both negative and positive).
      • High emotional sensitivity can be caused by chemical imbalances. For example, a pregnant woman may react very emotionally. The same applies to a young man going through puberty, or a person who has problems with the thyroid gland. Some medications or treatments may also cause emotional changes.
      • An experienced doctor should evaluate you for depression. You can also easily diagnose it yourself, but it is still better to seek help from a professional who can understand whether a person is depressed or whether their excessive sensitivity is caused by other factors.

   3. Be patient. Emotional growth is similar to physical growth. It takes time and is sometimes unpleasant. Experience will come through the mistakes you need to make. Failures and other challenges are necessary in the process of emotional growth.

      • Being overly sensitive as a teenager is much more difficult than as an adult. Over the years, you learn to cope with your feelings more effectively and also gain the ability to cope with life's difficulties.
      • Don't forget that you must know something very well before you take action. Otherwise, it will be like traveling to new places after briefly looking at a map without understanding anything. You don't know enough about the area to set out and you'll probably get lost here. Map your mind and you will have a better understanding of your sensitivity and how to deal with it.
   • Empathy for your shortcomings eliminates shame and increases empathy for others.
   • Don't feel like you always need to explain your anxiety to others to justify your actions or emotions. It's okay to keep them to yourself.
   • Cope with negative thoughts. Negative self-talk can cause serious harm. If overly self-critical thoughts pop into your head, think about the following: “How will he feel if I tell him this?”
   • Emotional triggers are different for each person. Even if you know someone with a similar trigger for a similar issue, the way it affects you may affect them completely differently. This principle is quite random and is not universal.

Increased skin sensitivity is not only inconvenient or uncomfortable, but also quite painful, not to mention irritable. In the medical field, skin soreness is usually defined by one term - allodynia. This condition implies such a high sensitivity that a person can feel pain even from a slight breath of wind.

What is the level of skin sensitivity?

To date, the following types of sensitivity have been established and studied:

• Mechanical or tactile "triggered" to touch;
• Static mechanical, when the skin responds with pain to minimal external pressure or touch;
• Dynamic mechanical. This pathology excludes the possibility of complete cleansing of the skin, not to mention the possibility of peeling the face or body;
• Thermal pain, in which pain results from the influence of heat or cold.

Abnormally increased sensitivity may well signal serious health problems, such as nutritional deficiencies, viruses or problems with the nervous system, for example.

Signs

The increased sensitivity of the whole body or its individual parts that a person has cannot go unnoticed. Local or all-encompassing pain appears immediately after the skin begins to be affected by an irritating factor.

To understand the scale of such a pathology, we can give the following example: a person whose skin gets a piece of cotton wool or a thread from a bandage, a drop of cold or hot water, begins to experience severe pain or an unbearable tingling sensation.

As mentioned above, the pain may not spread beyond the site of exposure to the irritant, but may affect the entire body.

Depending on your skin types, sensitivity may include burning, itching, tingling, or a sensation of something crawling on your body.

Why does the skin become overly sensitive?

Sensitive skin can be the result of a serious internal disease or a simple sunburn.

Most often, pathology appears due to the following reasons:

• Prolonged exposure to sunlight, which dries out the dermis and makes it responsive to the slightest touch;
• Neuropathy, that is, severe damage to nerve endings. The latter usually accompanies injury, diabetes or vitamin deficiency;
• Increased sensitivity of the skin to the slightest touch can be a concomitant symptom of migraine. If this is so, then during headache attacks a person cannot even comb his hair, not to mention wearing jewelry, makeup, etc.;
• Previous chickenpox or treatment for it. Such an infection provokes the occurrence of shingles, rashes, blisters and other skin formations that can withstand even minimal touch;
• Fibromyalgia is a separate disease that involves persistent fatigue, problems with normal sleep, chronic pain of the entire skin and, as a result, allodynia itself;
• Internal processes occurring with nerve cells. If their myelin sheath is damaged, then the person begins to feel unpleasant symptoms, and skin sensitivity and soreness in particular;
• Defects in brain function, when sensitivity to touch results from impairments in the ability to evaluate and sort stimuli.

Treatment Options

Treatment of such a pathology implies the complete eradication of the causes that provoked it.

Again, fibromyalgia and the destruction of the myelin cell sheath are not easily cured, while mild tingling sensations can be eliminated by regular intake of vitamin B.

Shingles can be removed with the help of general or local antiviral and anti-infective drugs in the form of tablets or ointments.

Nipple sensitivity

Along with the sensitivity and soreness of the entire skin, in medicine there is such a thing as increased sensitivity of the nipples. Most often it is applied to women, although it can also apply to representatives of the stronger half of humanity. Since nipples are rich in nerve endings, literally everything can irritate them, from the touch of a sexual partner to underwear, a towel, and even soap.

Provoking factors can be the following irritants:

• almost all body care cosmetics;
• dyes and chemicals used to treat fabrics;
• cleaning products, powders, gels and other household chemicals;
• creamy preparations and ointments used to treat cracks and other pathologies of the nipples; they may contain components that cause allergic reactions;
• approaching or ending menstruation;
• fibrocystic mastopathy;
• mastitis;
• candidiasis;
• psoriasis;
• eczema;
• herpes;
• impetigo;
• damage to nerve endings;
• pain in the chest muscles, reflected in the nipple;
• Paget's disease;

If we talk about men, then their painful nipple sensitivity can be the result of the following processes:

• puberty;
• nipple injuries;
• penetration of infection into them;
• gynecomastia;
• diabetes mellitus;
• abnormal functioning of the pituitary gland, testicles or adrenal glands;
• breast cancer;
• active use of anabolic steroids and steroids.

Tongue sensitivity

Increased sensitivity of the tongue is a rather rare diagnosis associated with chronic diseases of the intestines, stomach, hormonal imbalances and changes in the psycho-emotional sphere of a person’s life. Sometimes the pathology becomes a kind of allergy to dentures and filling materials.

Sensitivity as a personality quality is the ability to feel, express one’s emotions, hear one’s own voice of the soul, subtly capture the shades of the mood of others, understand and empathize with their feelings, and perceive with piercing acuity the beauty of the world, nature, and works of art.

Once the great Teacher Abu Ali Ibn Sina told his students about the need to be observant and vigilant in life. He said that human senses can be trained in the same way as thoughts and muscles. – For example, you enter a room, and your sensitivity immediately captures the most important details. At that moment, the Teacher was informed that they had come to him and asked him to leave. Ibn Sina said to his students: “Sit, I’ll be right back.” And he went out to the visitors. The students decided to test the sensitivity of their Teacher. Placing a blank sheet of paper under the mat on which he was sitting, they waited impatiently for his return: would he feel any change? When Ibn Sina returned and sat down in his place, he immediately read some kind of conspiracy in the slyly narrowed eyes of his students. Having carefully examined his students, he said: “Probably, either I have grown up, or the ceiling has become lower...

Sensitivity is increased vulnerability of the heart. In physiology, it is interpreted as the ability to perceive irritations from the external environment and from one’s own tissues. Human skin reacts to irritation caused by the activation of certain receptors. The main types of sensitivity: tactile, pain, temperature, muscle-articular, vibration. Depending on the sensations, the brain receives the necessary information about the world around us. There is such a joke. The doctor checks sensitivity. - Doctor, oh doctor! And why are you touching me all the time? “I’m checking to see if sensitivity is still there.” - Do I have something? - I do not have. We are not interested in physiological sensitivity, but in stable, clearly manifested personality traits associated with vividly experienced impressions, with the perception of one’s inner and outer world through the heart.

Sensitivity is the ability to know yourself. Women are six times more sensitive than men. Their mind is located in close proximity to the feelings, while in men it is close to the mind. This difference hides the secret of almost all the nuances of relationships between the sexes. This is where many of the characteristics of male and female behavior come from.

Men's nature is responsibility, patronage and care for women and children. Being in contact most of the day with the harsh realities of the outside world, proving every day that he owes him money, a man sometimes becomes an insensitive idol. The sensitive stronger sex sounds like nonsense, nonsense. But life does not like extremes. To perceive the world in its entire rich palette of colors, a man also needs a certain amount of sensitivity. Who can help him learn to hear the voice of his own heart, grasp the nuances of a woman’s mood, and express his feelings more emotionally? He himself cannot reproduce sensitivity in himself. Only a woman with her sensitive heart, softness, tenderness and flexibility is able to kindle a warming fire of sensitivity in it. Man and woman balance each other. A man protects a woman from excessive emotionality, and she protects him from coldness and lack of emotion. Women determine the mood of men with extraordinary ease. He is still climbing the stairs, and his experienced wife can already feel what mood he is in. Men, by and large, envy this ability. They realize that in order to solve many problems, they would benefit from a keen sense of the moods of their boss, partners, opponents or subordinates.

A man, if he has not learned to feel himself, risks becoming an object of manipulation, he is in danger of doing not what he wants himself, but what the manipulators expect from him. There is such a parable. - Today is a terrible day. “Everything seems to conspire to make me nervous, angry and irritated,” one person said to another. “Don’t tell me,” replied his familiar musician, “I have similar problems.” Today, as luck would have it, everyone touches my violin. This makes her upset and makes her impossible to play. - So why don’t you set it up properly and hide it in a case so that inept hands don’t upset it and make dissonant sounds that hurt your sensitive ears? Don't you think that you have only yourself to blame for this? Why do you allow anyone to play your instrument? And since you don’t like what they play, isn’t it better to hide it or play what you like yourself? - I see, dear friend, that you are well versed in music. So why don’t you apply this knowledge to your “instrument” yourself? Why don’t you properly tune your consciousness, take it into your own hands and start “playing” what you like, instead of allowing just anyone to “play” whatever they want on the sensitive strings of your soul? Why, instead of learning to play the song of love, patience and forgiveness, do you play the funeral march of resentment and the funeral march of anger? Don't you think that it's not the people who get on your nerves that are to blame for this, but you yourself? Know that you can choose whether to play yourself or let others play. The choice is yours!

Unlike sensuality, which sees and includes lust, sensitivity sees and simply feels with the heart. Sensitivity loves talking about experiences and emotions, showing sincere reactions to them. She doesn't need to practice eloquence. It’s enough to look at her face and it immediately becomes clear that this is a person who knows how to deeply feel and empathize with the state of another. A sensitive person is usually friendly, quiet, timid and touchy. He lacks energy, activity and initiative. Sensitive people rarely occupy leadership positions because they can be good performers, but when they have to make decisions under conditions of relative risk and bear responsibility for these decisions, they most often give up.

Karamzin wrote: “A sensitive heart is a rich source of ideas: if reason and taste help it, then success is not doubtful and a celebrity awaits the writer.” A striking example of a sensitive person was the great and unique landscape painter I.I. Levitan. Levitan's comrade, Mikhail Nesterov, in his book of memoirs "Old Days", recalled that young Levitan, having waited for the last round of the school by the soldier Zemlyankin, nicknamed "Evil Spirit", was left alone to while away the night in the warmth, there remained a long winter evening and a long night with the fact that so that in the morning, on an empty stomach, you can start the day with dreams of your dearly beloved nature. A special, tearful love for nature and nervous sensitivity to its conditions were inherent in the future landscape painter from the very beginning. Relatives recalled how from an early age he loved to wander through fields and forests, to contemplate some sunset or sunrise for a long time, and when spring came, “he was completely transformed and fussed, worried, he was drawn to the city, where he ran away every time he did.” was given at least half an hour.”

A.P. Chekhov wrote: “...No one has reached such amazing simplicity and clarity of motive that Levitan has recently reached, and I don’t know if anyone will reach it after.” The brilliant landscape painter died in 1900, at the time of the flowering of his favorite phlox. They were placed on his grave by young artists - those whom he taught to comprehend nature sensitively, deeply and soulfully, so as to hear the “vegetation of the grass.”

Petr Kovalev 2013