ball gag safety question...

[snj]

Upon playing with a common, good quality ball gag recently, i found myself unable to swallow back a majority of the saliva in my mouth. I definitely found this toy sexy and got a huge thrill from having it locked in my mouth. I was curious though. after a little bit of time passed, i found that my throat was starting to dry up. I fortunately was close enough to my release method that i was able to free myself.

has anyone ever experienced / heard of a case where using a standard, common ball gag caused the throat to dry up / swell / close off your breathing passage? i could breathe through my nose and around the ball gag fine - that wasnt the issue. it seemed more to do with the lack of saliva. my throat was very dry and breathing seemed to become a little more strained. it also had to do with the adrenaline. i also noticed that my saliva was becoming dryer and more acidic, almost like i was on the way towards possibly vomitting, which i know is very dangerous with ball gags. am i right in thinking that if i was stuck in that position much longer, i couldve choked on my own vomit or my throat couldve swollen shut? or am i just overreacting? cant be too safe in SB!

[ruru67]

I've never heard of a dry throat causing any kind of breathing difficulties. After all, people who die of thirst die from being dehydrated, not from their throats closing up.

There's always a risk of choking on accumulated saliva. If small amounts are inhaled, it's just very uncomfortable; your cough reflex will expel most of the saliva, although the gag will restrict he outward airflow and if there's a lot, there's a risk that you get into an inhale/choke cycle that will go on for a while and cause difficulties. Better to make sure you don't get too much saliva building up.

Personally, I find that you can swallow saliva in a ball gag, but you need to let gravity do some of the work. It's not comfortable and takes a bit of consciously overriding your reflexes. Or you can just allow it to drool out. (Yuck!)

[Tenderfoot88]

Most people have the opposite problem, as mentioned by ruru - runaway salivation. (It really is impressive just how much water gets cycled through our mouths - I don't think ball gags or open mouths do anything to increase salivation, it's just not being swallowed on the subconscious level.)

That said, it could be due to cotton mouth (xerostomia for the technically inclined). If you're on any prescription medications, that might have an effect. Breathing through your mouth also causes it (particularly badly if you fall asleep laying back with your mouth open). It can also be spontaneous or psychogenic (fear responses often include one's mouth going dry). If you live in a home with very low humidity (first clue is normally the desert in your backyard and being able to walk around in over 40 (110 for the Americans) degree weather without suffering from heat stroke), it could just be that since the ball gag forces your mouth to stay open, the dry air cycling through your moist mouth through natural air currents is absorbing all that moisture even without mouth breathing.

Symptoms include thirst, dry lips and "angles of the mouth" (presumably where the lips meet), sore mouth, various and sundry ways of saying "everything is sticky", dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), lack of saliva pooling, oral dysesthesia (a burning or tingling sensation in the mouth), altered sense of taste and smell.

Long term effects that are worth mentioning are infections in the salivary gland (if you're not salivating at all, since the method is bacteria climbing up your saliva ducts into the glands), oral yeast infection, and accelerated tooth decay.

Odds are you're not actually turning off the saliva glands, you're just drying it up as fast as it's made, so the gland infections are probably clear. Yeast infections can develop overnight, but generally only occur when you leave stuff in your mouth - my asthma medication increases my risk of yeast infection substantially, so I just have a glass of water before bed and swish it around a bit, which is pretty much the medically appropriate countermeasure (technically, I should gargle it as well). And tooth decay takes years even with horrible dental hygiene, so just brush your teeth and all that if you're paranoid about it.

Having given myself cotton mouth a few times by falling asleep sprawled face-up on my bed and waking up 8 hours later, the sensation really is more or less what you describe. It doesn't actually close up the throat, but it really does feel that way. Breathing can get a bit laboured because there's tissue all the way down that basically produces a lubrication for the air (less fluid friction makes for less effort to breathe; less lubrication means more friction and thus harder breathing), but it won't actually do anything dangerous. It's just extremely unpleasant. When it's just the dry conditions, the cure is a simple glass of water, or waiting around a few minutes with your mouth closed.

So, drink a glass of water before, turn off the dehumidifier if you have one, gag yourself, and breathe through your nose. If it still happens, let us know (I don't have any suggestions, but others might.)

[CaptainJoe]

Hi,

there is no such thing as a 'common ballgag' - they come in various sizes, which is a good thing, because mouth-sizes differ.
If your ballgag is too big for you to swallow, use a smaller one.

Joe.

[Triplestar]

I too did not experience a dry mouth from wearing a (ball)gag yet. But I frequently experience Throat related issues when wearing them: After about 30 minutes or so, I ussually feel that there is a big accumulation of chewy slime. The type of slime thats allways there but ussually gets dissolved into the saliva or which ist just being choked down. However, when wearing a gag I am unable to easily get rid of that stuff, which ussually makes me worry. I dont think that it is a real danger, but it just feels really uncomfortable (the sensation allways reminds me of being at the dentist, where you have to keep your mouth open, which makes it hard to choke down the saliva in my throat)

[boundsissy]

I like this type of ball gag, it is very safe when alone, it allows you to swallow and with a partner it gives them access similar of a ring gag http://forum.boundanna.net/board/viewto ... f=4&t=5731

[darryl63]

Hello everyone and I hope you are all enjoying your weekend
I have never used a ball gag or any gag to be honest however I am interested in trying one, what is the appeal to using one? as new to this I just wondered what pleasure does it offer but I will try myself one day

Darryl

[bound_jenny]

Gags in general silence you to some degree (SouthBoundBelle's definition of a proper gag is one that effectively shuts you up ), or render communication very difficult (bit gag), or facilitate access to the mouth for doing evil things (ring gag).

Ball gags have the added fun of profuse drooling. You'd be amazed at the sizable puddle I can produce in a quarter hour with one of those.

Jenny.

[darryl63]

Gags in general silence you to some degree (SouthBoundBelle's definition of a proper gag is one that effectively shuts you up ), or render communication very difficult (bit gag), or facilitate access to the mouth for doing evil things (ring gag).

Ball gags have the added fun of profuse drooling. You'd be amazed at the sizable puddle I can produce in a quarter hour with one of those.

Jenny.

WOW getting very interested what advise can you offer me in regarding me using one in my solo sessions and does the fact you "Drool" turn you on? it sounds erotic to me the thought of me drooling down my body

Darryl

[lj]

I have a bit of a problem with gags and self-bondage. I know others don't, but that's their choice.

I have experienced gags that truly fill the mouth and prevent any air (or anything else) passing -inflatable butterfly gags for example. As my nose is not the most efficient air passage, this sort of gag is something I would never use solo, quite apart from unexpected breathing or digestive problems.

I would suggest only using gags that restrict speech but not breathing - for example, smaller ball-gags, the ball gags made from balls with holes in, bit gags, ring gags and ones I've not tried like the jennings surgical gags.

[darryl63]

I have a bit of a problem with gags and self-bondage. I know others don't, but that's their choice.

I have experienced gags that truly fill the mouth and prevent any air (or anything else) passing -inflatable butterfly gags for example. As my nose is not the most efficient air passage, this sort of gag is something I would never use solo, quite apart from unexpected breathing or digestive problems.

I would suggest only using gags that restrict speech but not breathing - for example, smaller ball-gags, the ball gags made from balls with holes in, bit gags, ring gags and ones I've not tried like the jennings surgical gags.

Thank you and yes if I try it I will only use small ones I like the idea of me drooling sounds quite erotic

[Natale]

And should you be hogtied or bound face-down, don't forget a saucer to collect the drool!

[darryl63]

And should you be hogtied or bound face-down, don't forget a saucer to collect the drool!

I like the ideal of my drool running down my chest the down towards my groin mmm must try this

[CaptainJoe]

I have experienced gags that truly fill the mouth and prevent any air (or anything else) passing -inflatable butterfly gags for example.

what I like about inflatable gags is, that you may inflate them to just the right size. You don't have to fumble around with ballgags in different sizes, one inflateable gag does the trick.

Joe.