written by Micah Brown

This topic was requested by the December “Pic of the Month” winner on our Discord. Want to suggest a content topic? Join us on Discord.

Remember that old saying that anything can become a sex toy if you imagine hard enough? Kinksters who enjoy taking part in sharps play take that a whole new level. Knives? Needles? Nails? Thorns? Curry Combs? Is it sharp and does it draw blood? Then we will find a way to make it fit into our kink. Does that mean that every fan of sharps and blood play will play with anything that draws blood? Not at all. We all have our preferences and the specific things we enjoy (though there are those who do enjoy many different instruments).

Let’s backtrack a little and just give a quick definition of what sharps play is.

Sharps play is the use of sharp objects or tools in kink with the intent of causing pain and/or drawing blood from the bottom. These scenes are carefully negotiated beforehand, including safety measures, health status, and limits of play. All play should be consensual and fall within the risk profiles of each individual taking part in the play.

All that being said, today we’re here to discuss and focus on Medical Stapling specifically.

Why Medical Staples?

For many who partake in sharps play it becomes as much about the art as it does the pain and pleasure of the sharps bottom who is being cut, stabbed, or otherwise made to bleed. Staples offer a unique opportunity for those who enjoy artistic endeavors to create something beautiful. Sure, you could just smack of line of staples down somebody’s leg or blast a couple into their nipples, but when you do that, you lose the intentionality of the act.

A combination of staples, ribbon, and thread can create intricate pieces of art on somebody’s skin. I’ve seen flowers, sunsets, and more created with carefully placed staples and even more carefully threaded ribbon and string, coupled with other decorative items such as beads that add a touch of gleam to the final piece – think about a flower with drops of dew hanging off its petals and you get the idea.

From the standpoint of the bottom, they may enjoy staples for a variety of reasons. As most (not all) who enjoy any kind of sharps play have masochistic leanings, there’s certainly the pain aspect that goes along with having a staple fired into your body, but there’s always more too it than just that shock of pain.

Unlike other forms of sharps play, medical staples are a little more predictable. What I mean is that unlike something like piercing needles or scalpel play, there is less risk of human error. The staple gun will always fire the staple at the same intensity so the bottom has a good sense of what each staple is going to feel like going into them.

Needles and scalpels (and other sharps) require a more hands-on approach and open the door to deeper pain, more blood, and a higher risk of error ending in serious injury (and for many, that risk is also part of the fun). While not impossible, it’s highly unlikely that a staple is going to rupture an artery and cause your bottom to bleed to death.

Using Staples for Emotional Release

Kink play of any kind can often be used as means of emotional release and regulation. Numerous studies have shown exactly how healthy those who practice kink are when it comes to their mental states. That’s often due to to how deeply in touch with our emotions we need to be in order to play as safely as possible (any type of sharps play or blood play carries inherent risk and cannot be considered safe – but we can make it safer with communication and the right tools).

Many of us live in societies where it is often difficult for our emotions to be displayed in a constructive manner. When we’re yelled at during our work day, wolf-whistled on our way home, screamed at by somebody on the bus, we often feel we can’t display feelings about those events because society would look down on us for showing any type of emotion in those instances. So, we bottle them up and put them on the shelf. All these little slights and stresses build up inside us and can start to cause issues around sleep, emotional regulation, and more. For those of the kinky persuasion, managing those emotions, feeling them, and coming to terms with them can happen during an intense play session.

When it comes to staples, each one can represent a small stressor that has impacted the bottom, and that jab of pain can be seen as permission to feel that emotion. You boss made you feel like crying? Well, that staple just brought the tears to your eyes that give you permission to feel that and permission to cry. Did somebody touch you on the bus in a way you didn’t like? The sting can help focus the directionless anger you feel about the situation and then let it go so you no longer have to dwell on it.

When your top is done with the staple gun and has woven their design into your flesh, you can then look upon the beautiful design that was made on you and from you and realize that all your stress and all your frustrations have created something beautiful that you can now see with your own eyes.

Those who enjoy doing the stapling, by and large, tend to lean into Sadistic tendencies when it comes to play. The act of stapling their bottom helps them to let go of their own frustrations. Each staple may represent the pain they felt when something went wrong. As the squeeze the handle to release the staple, they may feel the tension in their body building up until the staple is released and the bottom acknowledges the pain, at which point, the Top feels a release of their own stress into the air.

At the end, they have now taken their collection of negative emotions and created beauty of it on the body of their bottom. They can look at the intricate patters and see that each staple has lost its own meaning and become a part of the greater whole.

Some Important Points…

To reiterate an earlier point, sharps play of any kind is not safe. There are things we can do to make safer but it is not something that will ever be completely safe. To that end, when you’re discussing any kind of sharps play with a partner, be sure to talk about your risk profile when it comes to sharps and blood. Some common items to take into consideration are:

The Top should wash their hands before starting any sharps play
Use Medical Gloves to help protect both of you from blood-borne pathogens such as HIV or Hepetitus
Have a robust first aid kit immediately available complete with wound closure options and disinfectant
Clean any area you’re going to be cutting or stabbing well and disinfect it before breaking the skin
Talk your bottom through every step you’re taking and understand if they withdraw consent at any time – being made to bleed can be very frightening
That being said, be sure to have a safe word that you’ve agreed upon

Sharps play can absolutely be a highly emotional experience. Expect tears, anger, swearing, and any other possible emotion you can think of. Pay attention and if you’re concerned about how your bottom is any point, be sure to take a moment to check in on them and sure they’re okay to continue.

Be (as) safe (as you can be), have fun, and enjoy the experience.