Expert: Master Shadow - 8/14/2007

Question
Can I ask what blood chokes are its not something I have heard of.

Answer
A blood choke is basically nothing more than a sleeper hold. The blood supply is cut off of to the brain, resulting in an unconscious state. The usual time is approximately 5 to 8 seconds before consciousness is lost.

There are dangers inherent in this kind of play. There is always the possibility of sudden death, which can occure several hours after the choke is applied. A blood choke has a definate effect on the body, and brain. Below is a direct quote from Jay Wiseman, who is a noted BDSM Lifestyler, as well as an instructor in first aid, CPR, and various advanced emergency care techniques for over sixteen years. His students have included physicians, nurses, paramedics, police officers, fire fighters, wilderness emergency personnel, martial artists, and large numbers of ordinary citizens. He currently offer both basic and advanced first aid and CPR training to the SM community.

And I quote:

"Some people teach that choking can be safely done if pressure on the windpipe is avoided. Their belief is that pressing on the arteries leading to the brain while avoiding pressure on the windpipe can safely cause unconsciousness. The reality, unfortunately, is that pressing on the carotid arteries, _exactly_ as they recommend, presses on baroreceptors known as the carotid sinus bodies. These bodies then cause vasodilation in the brain, thus there is not enough blood to perfuse the brain and the recipient loses consciousness. However, that's not the whole story.

Unfortunately, a message is also sent to the main pacemaker of the heart, via the vagus nerve, to decrease the rate and force of the heartbeat. Most of the time, under strong vagal influence, the rate and force of the heartbeat decreases by one third. However, every now and then, the rate and force decreases to zero and the bottom "flatlines" into asystole -- another, and more difficult to treat, form of cardiac arrest. There is no way to tell whether or not this will happen in any particular instance, or how quickly. There are many documented cases of as little as five seconds of choking causing a vagal-outflow-induced cardiac arrest.

For the reason cited above, many police departments have now either entirely banned the use of choke holds or have reclassified them as a form of deadly force. Indeed, a local CHP officer recently had a $250,000 judgment brought against him after a nonviolent suspect died while being choked by him.

Finally, as a CPR instructor myself, I want to caution that knowing CPR does little to make the risk of death from breath control play significantly smaller. While CPR can and should be done, understand that the probability of success is likely to be less than 10%.

I'm not going to state that breath control is something that nobody should ever do under any circumstances. I have no problem with informed, freely consenting people taking any degree of risk they wish. I am going to state that there is a great deal of ignorance regarding what actually happens to a body when it's suffocated or strangled, and that the actual degree of risk associated with these practices is far greater than most people believe.

I have noticed that, when people are educated regarding the severity and unpredictability of the risks, fewer and fewer choose to play in this area, and those who do continue tend to play less often. I also notice that, because of its severe and unpredictable risks, more and more SM party-givers are banning any form of breath control play at their events.

If you'd like to look into this matter further, here are some references to get you started:

"Emergency Care in the Streets" by Caroline (I'd recommend starting here.)

"Medical Physiology" by Guyton

"The Pathologic Basis of Disease" by Robbins

"Textbook of Advanced Cardiac Life Support" by American Heart Association

"The Physiology Coloring Book" by Kapit, Macey, and Meisami

"Forensic Pathology" by DeMaio and Demaio

"Autoerotic Fatalities" by Hazelwood

"Melloni's Illustrated Medical Dictionary" by Dox, Melloni, and Eisner"

End quote.

So, as you can see, this is indeed edge play. There is ALWAYS the possibility that this kind of play could cost a sub/slave their life, ruin the lives of their family, and friends, and the Dominant could face wrongful death charges, or worse, and wind up facing a murder charge.

I hope this helps.


                                   SINcerely in Leather,
                                   Master Shadow.