Aftercare after BDSM: why it matters so much
Aftercare after BDSM is not an afterthought. Why it matters so much for women, and what to look for when you book a gigolo.
Glossary
Adrenaline
The hormone the scene names most often and has measured least.
What is adrenaline?
Adrenaline (known as epinephrine in medical literature) is the stress hormone your adrenal glands produce under tension, fear and pain. It raises your heart rate, your blood sugar and the amount of air you take in. In a BDSM session, adrenaline is part of the rush many people describe. What happens when it drains away is studied less than the scene assumes.
| Also known as | epinephrine in American medical literature. Two names, one substance. |
| Where it comes from | the chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla |
| What it does | heart rate up, blood sugar up, airways wider |
| Role in BDSM | part of the rush during tension, fear and pain; often named in one breath with endorphin |
| Main caveat | the popular account of the crash after a session has never been studied |
What does adrenaline do in your body?
Adrenaline is one of the catecholamines, the group of signaling molecules that puts your body into fight-or-flight mode. According to the chapter Physiology, Catecholamines in StatPearls, adrenaline is produced mainly in the chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla. It raises your heart rate, the amount of blood the heart pumps and your blood sugar, and it widens the airways so more oxygen comes in.
That happens whether a car startles you or you’re lying there tied up. Your body draws no line between a threat and tension you went looking for yourself; the difference is in your head, not in the hormone.
What has and hasn’t been measured
What happens measurably during a session has been studied once, for real. Sagarin and colleagues took saliva samples from 58 BDSM practitioners before and after a scene and published the results in Archives of Sexual Behavior. In the people who were tied up, took the stimulation and followed orders, cortisol rose during the scene. In those who were in charge, it did not. And in those who said afterward it had gone well, that stress level dropped again and the sense of connection went up.
The rest of the story is folklore, and you deserve to know that. Sprott and Randall write in the Journal of Positive Sexuality that no study exists that has tested the common account of adrenaline and endorphin after a scene. The explanation sounds logical and gets repeated everywhere, but nobody has measured it.
That doesn’t make the experience any less real. It only means that “your adrenaline drops” is a way of talking, not a finding. So you don’t have to explain away what you feel during a BDSM date; the rush is real, even if not every story around it holds up.
Sources
- Physiology, Catecholamines. Khalil, Rosani & Warrington, StatPearls (NCBI Bookshelf), updated 11 December 2024. Provides where adrenaline is made and what it does to heart rate, blood sugar and airways.
- Hormonal changes and couple bonding in consensual sadomasochistic activity. Sagarin, Cutler, Cutler, Lawler-Sagarin & Matuszewich, Archives of Sexual Behavior 38(2), 186–200, 2009. Saliva measurements in 58 BDSM practitioners; cortisol rose in the receiving role and dropped again afterward in those who felt the scene had gone well.
- Black and Blues: Sub Drop, Top Drop, Event Drop and Scene Drop. Sprott & Randall, Journal of Positive Sexuality 2, 2016. Establishes that no study exists that has tested the physiological explanation of the crash after a scene.
Related terms
- Aftercare. Adrenaline belongs to the story people tell about why aftercare is needed; that page lays out what does and doesn’t hold up.
- Endorphin. The second substance from that same story, with what has been measured of it during BDSM.
- Subdrop, subspace and breath control are adrenaline’s other close neighbors.
Frequently asked questions
What people still ask about adrenaline.
What does adrenaline do during a BDSM session?
Adrenaline raises your heart rate and your blood sugar and widens your airways, so tension, fear and pain together can create a rush. Your body draws no line between a real threat and tension you went looking for yourself; that difference is in your head.
Is it true that your adrenaline crashes after a session?
It has never been measured. Sprott and Randall state in the Journal of Positive Sexuality (2016) that no study exists that has tested the common account of adrenaline and endorphin after a scene. The experience of a dip is real; the physiological explanation attached to it is a way of talking.
Who can you turn to with questions about adrenaline and the rush after a session?
Victor, a gigolo with twenty-five years of experience in BDSM and a background as a psychotherapist. The question “why do I feel so strange two days later” is part of his work. You can ask him a question with no obligation through the contact form, or first chat for free.
Blog
Articles about the rush and what comes after
Adrenaline is one substance in a larger story. These articles are about what a session does to you and why the aftercare that follows is no side issue.
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Learn more
Still have questions about adrenaline?
I'm Victor. That you feel off a couple of days after an intense evening is something I hear often, and it's more normal than people think. Want to talk about it or just ask something? Send me a message. No obligation, and I'll text you back when it suits you.