Health conditions

ChefKate

I'm putting some issues I've experienced in my past together with things happening now that I've had a couple cuddle sessions. I don't want to go into ther details yet on the public forum.

I'm wondering if anyone has seen a difference in any of their health conditions, mental or physical but more specifically physical, with cuddling, or conversely with a recent lack or decline in cuddling due to covid.

tl:dr have your physical or mental conditions been affected by cuddling and how?

CuddleDuncan

I posted this in a thread called how has cuddling benefitted you.
https://www.cuddlecomfort.com/forum/discussion/9662/how-has-cuddling-benefitted-you/p1

It's helped me enormously.

It has reduced the amount of pain I feel. Physical pain I mean. Reduced anxiety. Takes me away from the stress for an hour, and improves my mood for hours or even days afterwards. Has allowed me to me some truly wonderful people.

It's given me a great morale boost, because I always wanted it to exist and it was therefore a great delight to find that it did. (From the ages of about 14 till a couple of years ago I did not understand why this was not a thing. I still don't understand why it's not a thing for most people.) It is a discovery of something new in the world, and at my age that's a great treat.

It has helped my ability to communicate emotions a little. It gives me something to look forward to. It has got me through two lockdowns so far.

It has not changed my life in the sense that nothing is radically different. But it has changed life in the sense that everything is a little bit less grim.

BoomerSpooner

In the time of the pandemic I do not see much evidence of change for me but everyone is different. However, every chance that I have had that I deemed safe is like a mental touchstone that reminds me that touch never disappeared and it renews my faith in hope for better times. That and the election results in November.

Rocket_Man

Definitely something to consider if it is an issue for either person

WKplatonic

Cuddling is a healthy, calming, relaxing therapeutic activity. It releases a "feel-good hormone." oxytocin from our brain. Oxytocin is a warm, fuzzy hormone that promotes a feeling of peace and wellbeing. It lowers the level of the stress hormone "cortisol" and helps strengthen our immune systems.

pmvines

Honestly no I have not . Peolle like to talk about all of these health benefits etc from cuddling but it's not something I've ever noticed and it really sounds more placebo to me than anything. You will not get rid of your hypertension, diabetes , mental illness , gerd , arthritis, or coronary artery disease by cuddling. It is a nice thing to do.and might temporarily reduce certain signs and symptoms but it is by no means curative nor anything that can be construed as long term

@pmvines

And here I thought that by cuddling enough people with healthy pancreases my type-1 diabetes would go away. Dang it.

Guess it's back to ritual sacrifice.

pmvines

@DarkLordChungus I believe you are referring to the cure for scoliosis . Type 1 diabetes can def be cured through cuddling . Not ritual sacrifice. Trust me . I am in healthcare

@pmvines But... what am I gonna do with all these doves now?

valkyrievixen

Lol, ritual sacrifice is a solid go-to for many ailments. It’s even better than blood letting! @squeakytoy Perhaps you can train all those doves to send ritualistic positive energy and good vibes (at the correct frequency) to @DarkLordChungus to help cure his type 1 diabetes? 😆

Placebo is a pretty powerful drug. I have specialized in chronic pain in my healthcare practice. I work with a group of pain docs and a psychologist (all of whom are published). For the last 4 months, we have been trialing cuddling as part of treatment for specific patients that have failed other types of treatments and meet our research parameters. Although this is all currently anecdotal, we have seen some success with being able to decrease or discontinue patient anti-depressants, reduce dependency on opioids and gabapentin, and increase patients’ subjective quality of life. It is the very beginning of a 5 year study, so there’s still a long way to go. Many of the people on this site, however, cuddle simply because it feels good. And @pmvines is correct that cuddling is definitely not any long term curative solution, but hopefully it can be a gateway drug to improved overall health for a small population.

parkwayvisual

I want to live forever. So far, so good.

ChefKate

@pmvines there's actually several health conditions (I'm aware of mostly mental) that are well documented to be positively affected by the "side effects" of cuddling. I've seen out of control children who were most likely overstimulated be able to calm down with the help of active cuddling, usually by an adult they know. And then, of course, the well known issues that people have who were not cuddled as a baby. I've seen claims that cuddling "may lower/increase/etc" certain health factors like blood pressure, depression, anxiety, stress, and more.

With the skin being the largest organ on the body it makes sense that stimulating it could help systemically. And we know it releases oxytocin which is a happy hormone. So, it makes sense that depression and anxiety could be affected, not cured, with cuddling.

I am diabetic and my experience has taught me that stress increases my blood glucose level. Increased blood glucose puts more pressure on my eyes. Pressure on my eyes changes my vision drastically enough to need a contact in one eye until my number comes down. If cuddling reduces my stress, then it could be argued that cuddling can help me control my diabetes. Again, not cure, but be a positive force. However if it can reduce my need for short term insulin, that's a step towards better health.

I'm curious, especially with covid, if anyone had seen a negative affect happening to their medical conditions because of their lack of cuddling over the past year.

FYI, I did recently find out that you can cuddle cows for just $75 per hour. Not sure why, but apparently it's becoming a thing.

ChefKate

@CuddleDuncan thank you for your response! I'm so pleased it has helped you so much.

valkyrievixen

FYI, I did recently find out that you can cuddle cows for just $75 per hour. Not sure why, but apparently it's becoming a thing.

@ChefKate It's totally a thing!! (Although, I have raised my rates to $80 per hour now).

pmvines

To be clear, I do not wish to minimize or devalue what folks here take away from cuddling. If you feel it helps you to manage certain aspects of your health in a positive way that is great, and I am glad for you

@valkyrievixen Thank you for that. I wheezed.

quixotic_life

@valkyrievixen and @ChefKate ~ Yep! It's totally a thing!! Though apparently not here... 😒

See the Cuddle A Cow thread

.......... for just a moment, I had the wild idea of making a professional cuddler profile with nothing but a picture of a cow and a description filled with cow puns (yes, udderly filled with them), setting it up to only do virtual cuddles, then finding some sort of zoom filter of a cow with a pasture in the background in case any actual sessions were booked.

I do not think the mods would approve of this.

sunnysideup

Haven't cuddled consistently enough to note any long term benefits.

But, in the short term, it's offered me:
-generalized pain relief (mostly mental, but also a little bit physical)
-feeling of being accepted by society
-improved self-esteem
-reduced anxiety/racing thoughts
-better sleep
-more stable mood overall

Disclaimer: Others may experience something different, depending on what is lacking in their lives or what their state of mind is like. People also have different personalities. It's well documented that people learn in different ways. Based on this, it isn't a stretch to suggest that some people's brains are wired to seek physical touch more than others, so if one person on here doesn't want cuddles that frequently, it may not be true for you or the next person. Also, it seems that validation is an important part of cuddling for some people on here, which is more of a mental thing then a physical thing, even though the act of cuddling is quite physical. People not seeking validation are not likely to be plagued by the issues brought about by this state of mind, so are less likely receive those benefits. I could go on, but I think the general point I was trying to make has been made, that your mileage may vary for a variety of reasons, and it's not necessarily a bad thing or good thing, could be just a thing.

quixotic_life

@squeakytoy ~ Get a moove on and do it!!

BoomerSpooner

I do not think the mods would approve of this.

@squeakytoy For showing too much udder?

@FunCartel Or for trying to milk the system I guess I wouldn't blame them for having a cow about it.

quixotic_life

Lol ~ Cow tipping has a whole new meaning!

It would be a legend-dairy cuddle account.

ChefKate

🐄🐃🐂🐮

I went cow tipping in a marijuana field. The steaks were high.

ChefKate

Lol @Mmart

TheMidnightOwl

This thread is hilarious. 😂

I guess you would tip a cow for good service.

None of my cuddles have ever involved cows. I guess that makes them... de-calf?

Sideon

DYING @squeakytoy - BWAHAHAHAHA