Food Play Safety Tips

Food Play Safety Tips

Irritants

1. Water soluble irritants have a safe word; they wash off. Oil based irritants have no safe word. If you put irritating oil on a tender bit of your anatomy, you may be stuck with the sensation for up to twenty minutes. Soap and water help some, and you may want to use a mild detergent and/or astringent such as witch hazel as well. Some irritant oils can cause real damage; use capsicum, cinnamon, clove and menthol with care and in small, diluted quantities to start with.

2. Hot water, close quarters and abrasion intensify irritants. Hot baths, tight clothing, plastic wrap bondage or broken skin means a much more intense effect if you use a skin irritant.

3. When first experimenting with an irritant, start with a diluted quantity and try it out in the following order, preferably on yourself first. Unbroken skin, sensitive or slightly abraded skin, outer mucous membrane (your mouth, externally on the genitals), inner mucous membrane (inside vagina or rectum).

Insertion Play

1. Inserting food into the body requires some careful thought; if in doubt, use a condom. Good items for insertion are cucumbers and Japanese eggplant. Bad items are rough or abrasive items, or any irritant or potential allergen. Check for potential allergic reaction before introducing any food to your partner orally or otherwise.

2. Rectal tissue is fragile and it can break, leading to nasty complications, so be sure that anything you insert does not have sharp edges or rough surfaces. If you're playing with ice, remember that ice can break with very sharp edges. Run your ice under warm water to round off edges before you insert it anywhere, and don't use fragile ice structures that may break inside sensitive body parts. Dry ice is not for prolonged contact with skin.

3. The vagina is cautious territory for food play. Sugar is off limits in the vagina. Even a little can encourage bad bacteria and yeast growth, and a lot does something nasty called "osmotic pull" that causes real damage in there. That includes sugary substances such as fruit, sweetened whipped cream, soda or sugary drinks and liqueurs. Don't blow air into the vagina, as this can lead to fatal embolism. It's rare, but not unheard of. That probably means no Perrier douches, as much fun as this concept may sound. Alcohol, especially hard alcohol, is also a bad idea up in here.

4. The idea of using a sausage or salami as a dildo may occur to you. Resist the temptation, or use a condom. The nitrites used commercially for preserving meats are not good for your inner workings.

5. Just because you have a hole in your dick doesn't mean it's a good idea to stick random objects down it. If you do choose to experiment with urethral play, use objects that are safe, preferably objects designed for that purpose such as medical sounds. Urethral infections are absolutely no fun and they are unfortunately easy to get if you scrape or cut yourself on the inside.

6. Non water soluble fats (Crisco, oil, butter, lard, margarine, mayonnaise, any product containing fat or oil) are not the best sexual lubricant, as they can trap bacteria very easily and are not compatible with latex. Keep the greasy stuff external and use safer water soluble lube in all of your lower orifices.

Airway Management

If you stop breathing, you die. Making sure that nothing will interfere with your partner's breathing is absolutely crucial.

1. Feeding somebody in very tight bondage can pose a safety hazard. Make sure you can get them loose instantly, or at least roll them over onto their side if they begin to choke. Aspiration (inhaling food or liquid into the lungs) can occur if you don't intervene within a very few seconds, and it's often fatal.

2. If there is any reason to suspect that the bound person may vomit, don't gag them, and be sure you can get the instantly into a position where the vomit can drain rather than be aspirated. Never leave someone alone in a gag, or put someone in a gag that you can't get off within a few seconds (by cutting if necessary) in a respiratory emergency.

3. Allergic reactions to various substances in the environment, ingested substances or to venom (bites or stings) can cause anaphylactic shock, which is a life threatening condition. Ask your partner about suspected allergies. A dose of epinephrine from a standard asthma inhaler may be given if you suspect anaphylactic shock stemming from an allergic reaction.

Enemas

1. You can put food up your ass, but you probably don't want to eat it when it comes out. Even your own fecal matter harbors bacteria that are fine in your lower intestinal tract, but that can cause serious problems if you ingest them. Drinking your own pee is a safer scene than eating something that has traces of shit on it, yours or anyone else's.

2. Hard alcohol in an enema will cause severe burning, pain and damage to your lower GI.

Bay Area BDSM Resources for professional medical advice

• Jay Wiseman, EMT, Red Cross First Aid/Safety Instructor - JayBob@crl.com

• Dr. Charles Moser - docx2@ix.netcom.com (warning: busy person, don't send him reams of email unless you really have a problem and posting it here didn't get anybody volunteering to solve it!)