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Vlad -> RE: branding....for real??!! (8/20/2004 6:46:48 AM)
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Hi All,
Been on the site for a while but haven't posted here yet. While I'm not an expert on the subject, I know first-hand that the results and the duration the results last is based on many factors: the instrument used, the temperature of the instrument, the duration of contact with the flesh and the pressure applied, as well as your body's own healing characteristics. Branding works on animals because the skin damage resulting from it prevents that hair from growing back normally, making the mark permanently visible. On people, you're depending on leaving some kind of scar that will remain visible.
Many years ago (about 30) I had a motorcycle accident. I was wearing shorts and ended up with the bike on my leg, hot exhaust pipe side down! As I was in a rual area with little chance to get help, I had to free myself. I could only lift the bike a little bit at a time, and the result was I got two more third-degree burns before getting my leg all the way out. Eventually the burns healed leaving large red blotchey ovals, which presisted for some 15 years. Today, they have faded completely, so there is no guarantee that a brand will be premanent.
In a scene setting I have both given and received brands that were intended to be temporary. Some hardcore types scoff at that, implying that if you don't want to give or receive a permanent mark, you shouldn't consider branding. To each his own. I personally find it an exciting element of BDSM play that's relatively safe, provides much of the pain and mental state of a permanent brand (you still have to wait for the marks to heal, you can't just wash it off!) for those of us who, for personal or professional reasons just can't spend the rest of our lives with a partners name emblazoned across our chests.
Temporary brands are created by limiting the amount of heat and duration of contact. The last one I received, my partner put her name on my upper arm using bent wire to form the letters. The wire was held in a butane lighter flame for a 3 count, and pressed onto the skin for a 3 count. The result started out light pink and turned a dark red in about 12 hours. The lines remained distinct with little spreading as is the case with deep-tissue permanent brands. Also, there is no problem making closed shapes with temporary brands, I presume because only the very surface of the skin is affected and the blood supply "inside" the closed characters remains unaffected. Likewise, there is little danger of infection. As I recall, the results laster about three weeks and now have faded entirely.
Hope some of this is useful.
Regards,
Vlad
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