Subject: Breath Control-Edge Play / From: A former prodomme / Newsgroups: alt.sex.bondage / Message-ID: (suppressed) / Date: Sat, 6 Jan 1996 21:18:44 GMT Jay Wiseman cited some excellent scholarly references on an earlier thread as to why repeatedly strangling someone to unconsciousness is basically A Bad Idea. If you have an interest in breath control play, do read it. Thoroughly. My single beef with his statement is that he *seems* to be saying that there is no way to reduce the risks attendant in breath control play. While I agree that it is a risky activity, and I am not arguing with the scientifically accepted formula that unconsciousness from oxygen deprivation = ischemia = eventual brain damage, there are most definitely ways to play with breath control that are safer sex. 1. Don't strangle to unconsciousness! Stop well before then, if you must do strangulation at all. Don't, in general, allow anybody to fall unconscious from oxygen deprivation. 2. Don't do any kind of breath control play if your partner has a cold, has any kind of difficulty breathing, or is on any medication (prescription or recreational). Take a Home First Aid or CPR class before you DO breath control play, so you can recognize the trouble points and deal with them if they come up. BTW this is a Good Idea for all BDSM'rs. Jay, anytime you wanna give your CPR class at my place, the space is free. 3. Do sexy breath control play by putting your hand on your partner's mouth and watching their eyes. You don't actually have to cut off their breathing, or at least not for very long, if your partner is a good enough actor/reactor. 4. Do fun pretend breath control, where you tell your partner sie is locked in a glass box and the air is slowly running out. Sie has five minutes to convince you with pleading expressions to let hir out as sie slowly gets weaker from lack of oxygen. Credit to Akasha of alt.sex.femdom for thinking up this one. ;) There are some more advanced forms of breath control play that can still be done by skilled and knowledgeable players with an acceptably controlled level of risk, but I do NOT recommend them for novices and I think I'll refrain from giving folks any more evil ideas for right now. ;) Basically, the best way to do breath control is to (mostly) play it out as a fantasy or fetish, talk up the verbal aspects a lot, and go light on the actual doing of the deed. Even then, if you see any problems arising - hyperventilation, aspiration of saliva or foreign material (watch your gag safety!), choking, etc, STOP IMMEDIATELY and deal with it, preferably with the skills you've learned in Basic First Aid which you took before you started playing with this stuff. Which you did, right? I hope so! Any impediment you put in the way of someone's breathing should be able to be removed in a second or less. Use your hand, or a gag which is not locked or buckled and which you can tear off rapidly if vomiting occurs. Aspirating vomit is *seriously* dangerous, and someone can die that way. If necessary, cut a buckled or locked gag off quickly with a pair of heavy duty scissors you should keep in the dungeon for that purpose. Personally, I'd go for using the hand only, in five to ten second periods or less, of cutting off someone's air. That may sound wimpy, but believe me - when you're tied down to the point you can barely wiggle, talked to evilly about how you are going to be choked to death, and then your air gets cut off, the panic factor is tremendous. THEY don't know that I am not actually planning cut off their air longer than ten seconds or so. Shhh, don't tell any of my play partners this. ;) BTW I leave enough bondage leeway for me to flip someone over quickly in case they do vomit (nobody ever has from that little actual physical stimulus) and keep bondage shears literally in hand when I do this scene. The shears in hand also adds to the terror factor, BTW, unless a bottom is experienced enough to know what they are and why I would have them ready to use at a moment's notice in a case like this. Practically speaking, if you don't know how or are not willing to deal with a victim who is vomiting in a bad position and who may be aspirating vomit (and this often involves mouth-to-mouth suction, folks), don't do breath control play. Or locking gags, for that matter; medical accidents can and do happen. Bondage shears and basic first aid knowledge are your friend. In any position or scene, no matter how involved, you should be physically able to remove your submissive from bondage in a matter of seconds, by getting to the bondage shears (heavy duty scissors) and cutting them out if need be, in case an emergency arises. When you take someone's life, literally, into your hands, there is an attendant responsibility. Don't fuck it up. If you *must* play on the edge, educate yourself thoroughly about what you are doing, and be certifiably prepared to deal with any emergency that comes along. Regards, [snip]