Let’s face it, there are risks involved in this art form. Be it floor play or suspension. As long as you are tying someone up, you are going to restrict blood flow. The only time you will have absolutely zero risk (of nerve damage) is when you are not tying a living thing. Though suspending a motorcycle up is another kind of risk profile altogether.
[I will be covering more on the blood flow issue here than nerve issue. It is simply too much to share on each topic.]
Everyone will have a different risk profile, and body profile. So let’s consider some stuffs on the body here. And yes, it is always good to err on the side of safety. You are always better off with an uninjured, healthy, living (and maybe slightly sad) bottom when you are unsure or when ‘something doesn’t feel right’; versus a severely injured, (hopefully not dead/dying) bottom. You will get to enjoy another session another day!
Not many of us have the chance to do ‘crazy’ suspension ties and push the boundaries of the bottom inside a Emergency Room. Anything wrong and medical attention is kinda instant.
Anyways, before I continue, I must say that I am not a medical personnel / student / expert. I have scoured the Internet, used my ‘limited’ Chinese Medicine background, asked sports coaches and scientists (I see them a lot in my field of work) and also ChatGPT, cross referenced stuffs. In short, I ‘did my diligence in my homework’. BUT if there is anything that I might have mentioned wrongly, misinterpreted, please do highlight to me and I will make the amendments.
With that, let’s start our ‘biology class’…
What is the difference between arteries, veins and capillaries?
Basically, arteries, veins and capillaries are 3 types of blood vessels that are responsible for carrying blood throughout the body. Arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart; veins carry deoxygenated blood back to the heart; capillaries does the exchange of molecules between the blood and the body tissues.
Arteries
Blood vessesl that carry oxygenated blood away from the heart to the rest of the body – from tissues to your organs. These vessels have thick, muscular walls that expands and contract to accommodate the changes in blood pressure that occur as blood is pumped from the heart.
Veins
This the ‘reverse function of arteries’. Veins carry deoxygenated blood back to the heart from the body’s tissues and organs. They have thinner walls and are less muscular. Veins contain one-way valves that help prevent back flow of blood as it travels to the heart.
Capillaries
Those tiny, thin-walled blood vessels that connects to both arteries and veins. Capillaries are responsible for the exchange of oxygen, nutrients and waste products between the blood and the body’s tissues. The thin walls of the capillaries allows the ease of molecules to do that exchange.
So, understand their differences and functionality, it brings us to the next question:
Are purple / decolourised limbs a concern?
Short (and probably useless) answer would be Yes and No.
First of all, we need to understand the difference between your blood vessels (arteries, veins and capillaries) and nerves. Blood vessels, well, carries blood throughout the body. Nerves, on the other hand, carries electrical impulses between your brain and the rest of the body. I will cover abit more on nerves in the later part of this (long) post. So, your colour / decolour on your limbs are mainly due to the blood vessels. NOT your nerves.
Hence when your bottom complains about the colour, it means blood flow is restricted. When your bottom complains about loss of sensation / strength or pins and needles, it means some nerves are been pinched. When your bottom complains about both at the same place, you know you are going to be fucked pretty soon if you do not do anything about it.
How does the redness and / or discolourisation comes about?
Ever tried to squeeze a hose with running water before? The flow of water will be reduced. If you squeeze it a lot harder, the flow of water will come to a naught or a pathetic continuous drip.
The same logic here. When you tie a person up, no matter your tension, the blood vessels definitely going to be squeezed. Taking account various body variatons, blood vessel efficiency and size variations, etc, the flow of blood pressure is going to be different. That is why with the ‘same tension’ I get 2 very different results on hand color from my bottoms.
When you tie a body, blood pumping into the limbs through arteries and blood pumping out of the limbs through veins, are both restricted. Which leads us to the following possibilities:
- Blood flowing in (arteries) and blood flowing out (veins) are slowed down in the same ratio.
- Blood flowing in faster than it is exiting.
- Blood flowing out faster than it is entering.
- Blood flow is completely restricted.
Each scenario here presents us with different primary and secondary risks. Let’s not discuss the extremities, as it is painfully obvious that it would be detrimental.
Scenario 1: Blood flow entering and exiting are the same albeit slower than normal.
Generally, if it isn’t the extreme slow, this should not be too much of a concern as it means oxygen and waste are still steadily introduced and removed. There will be a build up of pressure from high flow to low flow, but generally because the built up of pressure is more gradual and slower, your bottom can also last a lot longer. There might be a slight decolourisation of skin but it should not be too prominent. There will be times when physical movements will be slower because of build up of waste.
Scenario 2: Blood flow in > Blood flow out
This is where you will have the highest chances of seeing skin decolourisation. Deoxygenated blood starts to build up as it can not exit fast enough. Waste in the blood also starts to build up.
Have you ever gotten a cut on your body where u see bright red blood oozing out and sometimes dark red blood? Bright red just means you have cut an artery, and similiarly dark red for veins. Hence if you are having blood flow out restricted, there will be increased dark red blood and hence the starting of discolourisation of skin.
At this moment, all is still ok and nothing much to be concerned about. From experience, I keep to a 15-20 minutes window, while observing, when I do need to release pressure from the point through transition or untying. If the bottom is medically predisposed then you really need to be worried much if this issue pops up.
So if both top and bottom have pre-agreed to either push it further or does not seem too distress, what more could be happening?
As waste builds up, lympathic fluid will also build up correspondingly. This inevitably builds up pressure and various vessels in the body will expand to take the load. When this happens, secondary pressure occurs on muscles and nerves (compartment syndrome). Muscles will feel sluggish and hand / wrist motor function and sensation checks are critical to know ‘where the bottoms are’. Now at this point, if your bottom can not tell if they have radial nerve issues due to the entire arm numbing, it is a good call to bring your partner back to safety.
This is also probably the reason I do transitions every now and then to make the session last a bit longer. Transitions allow the pressure to move from one side of the body to another, hence managing the blood flow. However, do note whether the pressure points do change / move as you do the transitions – does it relief or more pressure added.
Scenario 3: Blood flow in < Blood flow out
This has a somewhat opposite effect of scenario 2. To keep it simple, this is also usually the case where the bottom will comment that they are cold or cold on that spot. The skin will also feel colder and paler than usual.
If there is no inflow of blood, there will ‘not be any build up at all’ because there is nothing to build up. Fluids from lymp nodes are still flushed out but now the waste will build up within the muscles and tissues itself.
What I feel is that this is a worse scenario than 2. At least in scenario 2, your tissues are still fed oxygen and blood. Now you are slowly suffocating the tissues and there is a risk of servere to permanent damage.
One of the ways how the body will react is through pins and needles sensations. It is a sensation that occurs when there is a reduction of blood flow to a certain area and / or nerve being pressured
If adjusting the ropes or transfering the pressure through transition does give relieve, quickly untie your partner. Again, it is always better to err on the side of caution. (You still want to tie your partner again, amongst other things)
Scenario 3: No blood flow in and out
This would be the best situation if you want to commit murder. Read again: This is potentially life threatening.
The skin will be completely pale / white, with zero sensation at all. If it reaches this state, your bottom might be in boundaries of either unconsciousness or extreme pain. To be able to stop blood flow altogher, your tie would need to be ridiculously tight, uncomfortable and painful. However, this could still be achieved ‘quite easily’ on slimmer built partners. I remember once I did a simple overhand knot on a wrist of a lady and I saw her fingers turn white almost instaneously. And it was just a light pull. We ended having a cup of teh nearby instead of tying. That is when she told me her arms will just go weak when carrying her handbag on her arm. -.-
End of the day, it really calls for what is your risk profile, and how much you feel comfortable looking at skin discolourisation when you are tying and being tied. Always do your sensation and motor checks with your partner, especially more so when you are doing suspensions. And oh ya, if you are photographing, some cameras do pick up reds a lot better than others. And that may also exaggerate the look.
To end off, just remember that when you are tying, you are unbalancing the blood pressure in the body. Knowing how to untie is another. Many a times, I would observe in a lot of suspensions sequences, the bottom will end up sitting / lying on the floor at the end of the whole sequence before untying. There is a simple logic to it other than being beautiful – during the untying process, as blood flow resumes, blood pressure will normalise at certain points and this sometimes will cause a fainting feel. Having your bottom sitting / lying would prevent them from falling over and injuring themselves. The bottom might still be spaced out as well, so add to this, having them sitting / lying down makes pretty much a safety sense too.
Plus giving aftercare is easier.
So, have fun. Play safe. Keep your everyone alive, well, healthy and continue tying.
Nawa Kenshin 