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PHYSICAL ROPE SAFETY:
Now this is some common problems (but
not all the possible problems) that come along with rope bondage,
or bondage in general. I am not a doctor, or health expert,
so if you need more insight or info, please consult a health/medical
professional.
PHYSIOLOGY CHANGE
It is very common to have someone's body go through
changes while in bondage. The mind works differently, thus
the body starts working different also. Both the top and bottom
have to expect this.
CIRCULATION
CUT OFF (Numbness)
The most common problems with rope
bondage is blood circulation being cut off. This most likely
happens with the wrists, upper arms (you can feel a divot
in the muscles on the outer upper arm) and ankles. Rope can
easily cut off the blood supply to the limbs, hands and feet
by pinching the veins / arteries. At first, this will make
the finger or toes start to tingle and feel like tons of little
needle pricks. This tells the person that blood is being cut
off to the area. If not relieved, the area will go numb. Now
damage is not actually being done at this point, it is not
am emergency. It will take at least several hours for damage
to actually happen even as much as 8 or more, so do not freak
out when this happens. As long as a person can move their
fingers and toes freely they should be fine.
 If
there is a circulation problem - just fix what is causing
it, rearrange the rope or change the position of the limb.
Some rope victims even like having numb limbs while bound
so for them it is not a problem at all. Mostly what happens
when blood circulation is cut off, is less oxygen is being
given to the cells, and less waste (nitrogen) is being removed
from the cells. But when circulation is regained, things will
turn back to normal shortly. Note:In hospitals, the common
practice it to flip patients over every 4 hours, to make sure
if they do not have damage numb limbs or get bed sores.
NERVE
COMPRESSION (limpness)
Now nerve compression is a lot more serious issue
then blood circulation problems. Nerve compression can happen
faster than circulation problems, even instantly! It can leave
temporary, semi-permanently or even permanent damage! This
is caused by the rope crushing the nerves that are between
a bone and close to the surface of the skin. This happens
most commonly in the upper arms just below the shoulders in
the divot, wrists and ankles just like Circulation cut off
… but can happen anywhere and is totally different with
every individual!
The feeling from nerve compression will
vary from it feeling similar to going numb from circulation
problems BUT will NOT be able to move their fingers or toes,
too a serious drilling pain (and not a good pain)! Your victim
will know if they are feeling a nerve crushing pain, but if
they are going numb, the best thing to do is make sure they
can move the hands and feet on there own frequently. If they
can not do that, there is a problem and remove them from the
rope immediately!
(STATs: Jay
Wiseman says he could find almost no examples of permanent
injury resulting from circulation restriction. The rules about
testing hands for color or temperature are worthless. He says
the only real sign of rope being too tight is pain. You can
have numb hands for a long time with no problems resulting.
Most people don't like the feeling of numb hands and it can
bring a bottom out of headspace. So it's good to be able to
spot them. I also find that if the bottom is playing with
their fingers, that's typically a signal that they're going
numb. There are two ways to get a numb limb: compress a nerve
or compress an artery. It appears that cutting off the blood
supply to a *nerve* isn't harmful unless it is done repeatedly.
A very interesting article I stumbled upon (http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/dec96/850996021.Ns.r.html)
states that about 15 minutes after a nerve is compressed,
the skin begins to feel numb. Fifteen minutes later, temporary
paralysis can set in which will abate after about a minute
once the blood supply is restored to the nerve. It's only
40 minutes or more after the nerve has been compressed (25
minutes or more after the skin feels numb) that recovery time
can extend into hours, days, and weeks. These are, apparently,
called "Palsies." These, too, recover, but only
after extended healing times. I have suffered from "Handlebar
Palsy" which occurred after too many hours on a bike
(I could no longer do the Vulcan "Live long and prosper"
sign) and it took about a week to heal after I stopped riding.
So there's PLENTY of time to react to a numb limb if the cause
is a compressed nerve. And the consequences of dawdling simply
extend the healing time from a few minutes to a number of
days (not a good way to keep a sub around, by the way). If
the cause is a compressed *artery*, then things get a little
more serious if only because it takes more pressure to overcome
the 100 mm-Hg (100 Torr or 2 psi) blood pressure than it does
to compress the capillaries surrounding a nerve. I don't know
what damage ischemia (loss of blood supply) can do to muscles
and tissue over the period of 30 minutes, so I'll refrain
from commenting further. I am reminded by an MD friend of
mine that the damage cannot be TOO great: People have sewn
limbs back on and had them work.... I guess the upshot of
this long-winded (and very geeky) reply is that most of us
do not like numb limbs and they feel bad; but they're not
quite as dangerous as they seem. This doesn't obviate the
need for a good bondage top to recognize and correct the problem,
however. )
Other Instances to look out for while
standing in bondage…
Knee locking:
Do not let the victim knock their knees. This greatly changes
the flow of blood, and blood pressure, and can cause them
to pass out!
Pressure on sternum:
Watch out for putting excessive pressure on the sternum, this
can also make someone pass out
MEDICAL HISTORY and INJURIES:
You want to know about your bottom's
medical history and injuries. It is common for people to have
injuries, and have medication needs. For example if someone
is diabetic, you want to keep their insulin and / or juice
around to help control their sugar level. It also common for
people to have shoulder and knee injuries, so you have to
plan to keep pressure off those joints or any other injuries
the bottom may have. Also keep any medicine that may be needed
in hand, such as breathalyzers,
and medications.
ROPE
REMOVAL (End of the scene):
Rope Burn:
When removing rope (and putting on rope), you have to watch
out for rope burn. Rope burn is caused by friction of the
surface of the rope against the skin. The faster you pull
rope, the more chance rope burn will occur. This is not necessarily
a bad thing though; some rope victims love rope burn! But
if you don't want to cause rope burn, you just have to pull
the rope through slower. Also the different rope materials
cause rope burn faster than others. Remember taking rope off
can be as sensual as putting it on!
Joint Hardening:
If they are in a position for a long period of time, which
usually starts after 15 mins, the joints will stiffen. This
is because joints are meant to being free and moving, when
they don't move they freeze up. You will have to ease them
out of the position let them move slowly into a neutral position.
If they move the joints too fast, which they will try to do,
it will hurt a lot! You will have to help support their legs/arms
and then lower them slowly at their pace once they realize
what is going on.
Balance:
When taken you victim out of ropes, most likely they will
not be able to keep balance, especially if they were in sub
space, or exhausted and weak from the bondage.
Rope Marks:
When you remove rope from the skin, you will see rope marks.
Personally I consider this one of the more lovely and artistic
elements of rope bondage! There are 2 things you can do: Just
leave them alone, and let the blood naturally flow back to
the surface of the skin, Or you can do a light massage on
those areas to get the blood flowing back to the surface and
most likely the rope victim will consider it the best massage
they ever got! But both are fine, depending on your scene
and preference of your play partner.
Temperature,
Your victim will most likely get cold, from coming out of
subspace, and crashing from subspace or several other reasons.
So keep a blanket around to put on them to warm them up.
Water and food:
People lose a lot of liquids while in bondage, so it good
to keep water around for them to drink during and after the
scene. They will need it! Most likely your victim will also
need sugar or food to replenish their system once out!
Other Aftercare
Depending on your scene and victim, aftercare varies from
victim to victim. So communicate with your partners to see
what they need. It can be anything from totally leaving them
alone, to cuddling.
(see shevah's hand-out)
Emergency Removal:
Remember that rope is cheap, and easily replaceable, a good
Victim is not! So if there is a problem, and you don't think
you can safely remove the victim in time, DO NOT hesitate
to cut the rope off with EMT shears! You have to recycle your
victims, so you can use them over, and over and over! ==B)
1. First, you have to keep your cool!
A top that loses control and be more deadly then any situation!
2. Secondly, assess the situation. Sometimes
cutting a person out right away can put them in more danger
then leaving them in and taking them out slowly.
3. If others are going to help you remove,
keep control, and tell them what to do! Someone else doesn't
know your rope work, and can put your victim in danger by
cutting or removing the wrong rope at the wrong time! Having
a spotter is a good idea, but either way, keep control of
the scene!
4. Do not hesitate to call 9-1-1, its
better to be safe then sorry.
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