Blood play, for me, was a natural follow-on from playpiercing. I love it when the blood flows out after playpiercing needles are removed, and was intrigued to see how blood welled up in the end of the needle if a playpiercing dislodged itself from its exit hole. One night after a few beers I decided it was time to give it a go. Note I was not drunk; I was completely with it, but I figured the beer would help the blood to flow!
At A Glance Author Titanium Angel Contact Titanium Angel@bme.anon IAM titanium_angel When It just happened Artist Me Studio Home I did this as a solitary activity. Obviously, there are certain common sense rules that would come into play if you were bloodletting with someone else, chiefly to beware of the risks: HIV and other blood borne diseases, and take due care and precautions. Blood play should be fun, not a death sentence.
So there I was, in my bedroom, with a thirst to see blood flowing. I locked the door, stripped off to my knickers, got out my playpiercing needles (22g x 1" in this case), sharps bin and camera. I had a glass of water to hand, because I figured that would be a sensible thing to have, but I pretty much got to work.
I decided to try and go down the non-exiting playpiercing route first of all, and plunged a few needles into my breasts, since that's where I had experienced blood flowing fortuitously before; but this time it was to no avail. What to do? I didn't want to give up now, so I took a deep breath and went for guaranteed blood.
There was one obvious place to go for: the vein on the inner surface of the elbow, where doctors always take blood tests. I lined up the needle with the vein in my left arm, and gently pushed. A little pain and resistance, and it was in. Shortly, the blood started welling up, forming a bulge at the end of the needle, then slowly dripping down onto my leg. I straightened my arm and blood trickled down my forearm. I moved it across and started to collect blood on my stomach, drawing swirls in it with my fingers, and rubbing blood across my chest. I rubbed the blood into my legs, partly for the fun of it, partly because it was starting to trickle down onto my duvet (perhaps putting some tissue down would have been a sensible idea...) I took photos on my (increasingly bloodied) camera, and after a short while removed the needle and placed it in the sharps bin. I decided to do a few playpiercings on by breasts and sternum while I was still on a roll, what a pretty sight it was.
I totally lost track of time, I guess the whole lot took about 30 minutes or maybe a bit more. And having taken out the playpiercing needles, I figured it was time to have a shower... at half past midnight! I was high on endorphins, pleased with myself for having tried bloodletting, and overall most chipper. Watching the water turn red as the blood washed off, and scrubbing off the clots, was also good fun... but that was it. I uploaded the photos onto my IAM page, and finally went to bed.
I wanted more, so the following evening, I decided to have another go. I'd been quite surprised during the first session, that it had been the left arm I'd had success with; that was the vein that when it came to blood donating (back in the pre-body mod days when the medical community still wanted my blood!) and blood tests, always proved difficult to find the vein and yield a significant quantity of blood. I decided to rest that vein for the second attempt, and go with the crook of the right arm instead.
It was more or less the same deal: set everything up, strip to the waist, and lay down, ready to pierce. I burnt some incense and made sure the room was generally nice and comfortable. Again I locked the door, just for the symbolic knowledge of absolute privacy. After a couple of attempts, I got the needle into the right place, and felt the vein 'give' slightly as the needle entered. I decided this time, though, to stockpile the blood I'd let in one place on my stomach, and then draw patterns with it. I collected what looked like one or two teaspoonfuls of blood, then removed the needle from the vein and placed it in the sharps bin. It has to be said, a little blood can go a long way. I started by pulling out the edges of the pool to form a six-pointed star. Then, dipping my fingers in the blood, I drew swirls and dots across my torso. The blood lived up to the term 'crimson grease', growing more slippery and sticky as it began to dry and clot. I swear I haven't enjoyed finger-painting so much in many years!
Using a tissue, I wiped down my torso, and was left with a light smear of blood, and the outlines of the shapes I'd drawn, where the clots had been more developed and more robust. I wandered around like that for a while, before eventually spraying the area down with germolene wound wash and wiping all traces of blood away.
This was definitely a positive introduction to blood play, and I am keen to do more in the future, though I think I shall devise some more imaginative things to do with the blood that flows out before I do it again. But when I have ideas, and I decree that my veins are suitably recovered, I will be sticking needles in my arms again.