CHRONIC PAIN AND IMPACT PLAY
People often tell me they have pain in certain areas of their body, are menstruating or having a headache. I want to be informed about these pains, but in my experience it never becomes an issue in impact play. In fact, they report having diminished pain after our session. Interestingly, a growing number of people with chronic pain report that BDSM - particularly impact play - can offer unexpected physical and emotional relief. But why and how does pain ease pain?
Exploring BDSM and Chronic Pain
In a recent study in 2025 published in Psychology & Sexuality, researchers Reni Forer and Bryce Westlake explored the experiences of 525 individuals living with chronic pain who also engage in BDSM. Many reported both short-term physical relief and significant emotional benefits from their participation. Over time, these effects became meaningful enough that some individuals continued engaging in BDSM, not just for pleasure, but also as a way to support their overall wellbeing living with pain.
Lady Labyrinth’s Painby L. Kravetska (2019)Pain as Paradox
Many participants who live with chronic pain reported engaging more frequently in higher-intensity forms of BDSM, such as edge play—scenes that involve strong physical sensations or psychological intensity (such as knife-play or fire-play). While this might seem counterintuitive, it reflects a broader pattern found in other pain-related treatments. Some non-pharmacological therapies—like acupuncture, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), or certain forms of exercise—also involve short bursts of discomfort that, paradoxically, lead to pain relief (among other effect mechanisms of course).
One reason behind this is the phenomenon known as “pain offset relief.” When a painful stimulus ends, the brain doesn’t simply return to its baseline state—it often enters a brief state of relief or even euphoria. This is driven by the brain’s reward system and involves the release of chemicals like dopamine, endorphins, and natural opioids. For people living with ongoing pain, this temporary relief can feel like a reset.
Another explanation comes from the Gate Control Theory of Pain. This theory, proposed by Melzack and Wall in 1965, suggests that the spinal cord contains a kind of “gate” that regulates how pain signals travel to the brain. Stimulating the body in certain ways can help “close” this gate, blocking or reducing the intensity of pain signals. Because this gating mechanism occurs at the level of the central nervous system, it can also trigger the release of the body’s natural opioids—not only in the area affected by impact play, but potentially also in the parts of the body where pain is experienced. This may help explain why some people report relief in unrelated pain areas following an impact play session.
Beyond physical effects, many participants described powerful psychological benefits. Consensually playing with pain helped them reconnect with their bodies, often in ways that felt empowering. Chronic pain can leave people feeling out of control and disconnected from their physical selves. In contrast, consensual practices allow them to manage its intensity, give them a sense of control.
This sense of agency can be deeply healing. It offers a way to rewrite one’s relationship with pain—transforming it from something passive and oppressive into something active, shared, and even pleasurable.
Figure taken from the Forer paper which reports on how people living with chronic pain use consensual pain for well-being. Notice how consensual pain becomes an active-coping agent towards non-consensual (chronic) pain via gaining agency and control. No Cure—But Something Valuable
To be clear, BDSM is not a treatment for chronic pain in the clinical sense. It cannot replace medical care or therapy. But for some, it offers meaningful support and relief - physically, emotionally, and relationally. For people living with chronic pain, impact play may provide not just moments of escape, but also new ways of feeling—pleasure, power, connection, and sometimes even relief.