Skin care – and a paddled ass!

So apparently I have become acquainted with paddle rash! Let me tell you now that it is not a nice feeling! I was not in trouble and we didn’t try anything new so this rash is simply an occurrence due to circumstance! Warm up and technique has not changed, but the weather certainly has.

Winter weather is here and my skin is very dry, apparently! Normally it is irritating but really doesn’t effect anything else that we are about. Well, now that we are playing a bit more and a bit more intense, some things have come to light that I was not aware of before. It’s not that the information is not out there, it’s just that the sites I was visiting before had not made it known as a common occurrence, common knowledge ‘tutorial’ if you will. Funny since so many of them claim to be practicing BDSM players etc…. but that’s another story.

So this is what I have learned:

• in order to keep the skin ready and able to accept a good spanking/paddling it is important to keep it healthy and hydrated (not really a big surprise but since it had never been an issue before I just hadn’t stopped to consider it)
• Vitamin E is a major part of keeping your skin healthy and hydrated and from what I have read so far should be used at least twice daily and more often if you wash or towel off (eg. after swimming or hot tub)
• if you get spanked a lot you may even consider exfoliating your back side (with a wash cloth or maybe even a soft brush for very thickened or over worked skin 😉 )
•  Arnica gel will actually aggravate the area if your skin is already dry and a rash has occurred, heal it first by keeping it clean; I have found a topical anti bacterial cream helpful in this case
• once you have healed the rash you can then start your skin care regime and hopefully not have to deal with paddle rash again!

I used the Arnica on the areas that didn’t seem to be effected by the rash and by morning every spot that had Arnica put on it was now also covered with rash, so do yourself a favour and don’t bother! Normally my bruises are more deep tissue bruises but I do like to keep the outside looking blemish free. Arnica works well for me when all else is going according to plan, but at this time it is only making the rash worse.

Fingers crossed that this works itself out quickly and that the skin care regime does the trick! I guess I’ll let you know how it works out …. 😛