Choking Technique

[Deleted Member]

I'd love to learn a little more about those who are into choking, specifically what do you like your partner to be doing when he/she is choking you? How do you let your partner know to either ease up or tighten their grip...and are there other ways other than your partners hands that you prefer?

[le****]

Always practice behind the next choking because you have good control over the artery without fear of crushing windpipes

[le****]

Neck*

[Deleted Member]

Its all technique. You arent constricting the air way, you are restricting the flow of blood.

[Norell]

There are two sides to choking: Blood-choking and breath play.
I've had partners who enjoyed both or only one of them, so it's a good idea to figure out, what aspects of choking your partner likes, and if you/they are still in the early stages, it may be worth trying out both.

Whichever you/your partner is into, it's important to be aware that these come with a risk. All cells need oxygen and the cells of the brain and heart have the highest demand for oxygen. Choking for too long may lead to brain damage or heart attacks among other things. Also there is a risk of causing direct damage to the blood vessels, trachea, bones/cartilage and other tissues of the neck.
Make sure you agree on a few different ways to signal "STOP". Safewords are not always an option during choking, so one option is to have the one being choked tap 2 or 3 times in succession on something or somewhere on the one doing the choking. I can also highly recommend getting to know the signals of your partner's body. For instance, I had a partner who started making a chewing motion which told me it was time to stop. Another one made a specific sound. You can also look for eyes rolling back or notice if their body starts going limb.

Among my partners, being into blood-choking has been the most common. It seems to be because there's the risk factor but without (or with less of) the felling of not being able to breathe. I would argue that it's the more dangerous of the two, but it feels gentler than breath play. First you feel the build-up of pressure in the veins making the face feel puffy/numb and then comes the lightheadedness. Personally, I've never felt what comes after, but the next step is a gradual loss of consciousness. If you haven't stopped by now, this is where I recommend you stop, as the next step is passing out. While passing out is not necessarily dangerous, it is the brain's panic button and a sign that you've gone into dangerous territory.
Since the aim of blood-choking is to restrict blood flow (and thereby oxygen supply) to the brain, you want to put pressure on the sides of the neck. I've found that the best ways of doing this is either with your hand(s) placed around the lower part of the neck or from behind with you arm/elbow around their throat.

Breath play is the more aggressive version of choking, but in my opinion it's slightly safer as partners don't fade slowly out, but will realise and signal when the discomfort on their throat and/or sensation of not being able to breathe becomes too uncomfortable.
To reduce the risk of damage to the trachea and other structures, I generally do this kind of choking at the angle between the throat and the chin. Here the trachea hasn't started yet, so you'll only need to compress soft tissues in order to block the flow of air. So you don't need the much force and you shouldn't be running the risk of damaging the trachea or thyroid cartilage.

I hope this helps. While there are some limitations set by health concerns, anatomy and physiology, there isn't one right way to do thing. Experiment, stay safe and find your own techniques.