@Dutchess_III is right, it also has to do with not having regular touching and skin to skin contact. Try running your nails lightly up and down the inside your arm its quite a good feeling for the same reason, the other side gets touched all the time so its not as sensive.
The act of scratching your skin (the way you would to relieve an itch- not like when you get hurt) produces a brain reaction that is pleasing for a couple of reasons. It reduces activities in the brain such as thinking of difficult or painful experiences while increasing activity in the brain linked to touch, pleasure and obsessive behaviors….
In the late 80’s I had a kid in my daycare who I think was autistic. I was really, really able to reach him by scratching his back. He started talking more, and acting a little less odd….
I’m not so much worried as to why it works, just that it feels awesome. Sometimes, I scratch my back on a doorframe just so I can feel like Baloo from The Jungle Book.
My old, old gramma used to do that @Schroedes13. She was from the old country and she would drink her “red medicine” (some sort of liquor) and rub her back on a door frame and sing songs in Dutch and her her support stockings sagged down around her ankles. Do you drink your red medicine and sing songs in Dutch when you’re rubbing on the door frame @Schroedes13? Heh! Pokin’ the new guy! Glad to see you still around!
I would guess it’s because it’s not so easy to do, like scratching your thigh or your shoulder. It is definitely one of the most awesome feelings in the world, though. I would guess that anyone willing to scratch my back is probably automatically placed in the “friend for life” category.
@roundsquare usually, I like to know a person pretty intimately for a few months before I give out back scratches. I wouldn’t want to be known as a back scratch floozy.
@ANef_is_Enuf Thanks! I bet your back scratches are better than @Schroedes13‘s anyway. Don’t worry, I’ll defend your reputation against anyone who calls you a BSF.
One reason might be that because the back is less immediately scratched, the itch has longer to build intensity, so when it finally does get scratched, the relief is more intense, and therefore more pleasurable
I got a better feeling, cleaning out your ears. Nowt like a good old poke around in there, you know when a dog kind of lets out a groan of pleasure when it scratches it’s ear? That’s me!