Abrasion

What is abrasion?

Abrasion (also called abrasion play) is dragging rough materials such as sandpaper, a brush, or a studded glove across the skin to stimulate it or make it more sensitive. It is a form of sensation play. The point is for the skin to glow, not to break open.

How does abrasion work?

The skin has more nerve endings for touch than for pain, and rough materials stimulate that first group broadly and all at once. That produces a glowing, warm feeling that lingers after the scraping stops, and it makes the skin more sensitive to whatever comes next. That is why abrasion often goes at the start of a session, as a warm-up for something heavier.

The limit is physical and easy to see. By the classification medicine uses, a first-degree abrasion touches only the epidermis: it does not bleed and leaves no scar. Once the layer beneath it joins in, the skin starts to bleed, and then you have a wound instead of a sensation.

Why do people do abrasion?

The appeal is in how slow it is. Little happens, for a long time, and that is exactly what pulls the receiver’s attention entirely to one spot on the body.

For the one giving, the draw is how precisely you can meter it: one stroke further or one grit coarser changes everything. For the one receiving, the reward is that the build is something you feel coming rather than all at once. The effect is only clear afterward: a spot that glows pleasantly during play can feel raw the next morning. I like to use abrasion during a BDSM date as a quiet opening, precisely because you can meter it so exactly.

Sources

• Ik heb een schaafwond. Thuisarts.nl (Nederlands Huisartsen Genootschap, Federatie Medisch Specialisten en Patiëntenfederatie Nederland), revised 11 June 2024. The advice to rinse with lukewarm tap water without soap or disinfectant, and the signs of infection: yellow-white fluid from the wound, a wound that grows thicker, warm, and redder, and a fever from 38 degrees.
• Abrasion (medical). Wikipedia. The classification of grazes by depth: a first-degree abrasion touches only the epidermis, does not bleed, and leaves no scar.

Related terms

• Glossary. Abrasion is one of the lightest forms of pain play; the heavier ones come further down the same list.
• Figging. A stimulus that, like abrasion, comes from the surface, only chemical instead of mechanical.
• Needle play. Abrasion’s nearest neighbor, pricking through the skin instead of scraping across it.
• Peppermint oil. A stimulus without damage, and the reason never to put it on skin you have scraped.
• Pinwheel. Rolling instead of scraping, with the same limit: once the epidermis opens, it is something else.
• Shaving. Damaging the same layer of skin, but as a side effect rather than the goal.
• Sensation play. The umbrella that abrasion is the rough corner of.
• Wax play. The other play that leaves a mark on the skin without damaging it, through heat instead of friction.