safe cutting (prehaps more than people might want to know)

Former Member

yes, i know its bad and it shouldnt be done ect. ect.



ive just recently given in to self harm again, and i was woundering what the safe ways to do it were. ive had a quick look for prehaps an old thread, but i also have a question.

my question is does the angle of a blade affect the um... dangers?

and is there any key points i should avoid. eg. wrists and stuff.

im not particually wanting to get back into it, but i get the feeling that its something i may be doing again, and i spose i want to see if i can do it in a "safe" way. but that just feels like a realy odd thought. somthing i dont feel comfortable thinking... but anyway.

and yes, i know about using clean blades and keeping stuff clean.

anything else however, i may find helpfull. thanks.

Former Member

Mmm, I don't want to go into much detail here as it could be triggering.

But yeah I would stay away from wrists. I would say the angle of the blade does matter along with pressure and stuff.

Sorry it's not much help but I really don't want to make this triggering.

Former Member

replar wrote: »

I could never bring myself to using blades and knives and stuff. I used to scratch and stuff so it was painful and left a mark for a while but then they'd disappear eventually.
I'd use things like pins and just any jagged object I could find. Also, I punched things quite a lot. Not because I was angry, but because I felt like I needed the pain that came from it.
So if you can avoid it, don't use blades or actually cut yourself. There are other ways around it that are far less dangerous.
I am not egging you on to do it, but I know as well as you do how difficult it is to stop something like that.
I hope everything goes alright for you!
x Andy

Former Member

notanotherusername! wrote: »

Mmm, I don't want to go into much detail here as it could be triggering.

But yeah I would stay away from wrists. I would say the angle of the blade does matter along with pressure and stuff.

Sorry it's not much help but I really don't want to make this triggering.

ok. there was stuff i was going to put but didnt becuase it didnt qite feel right and it might be a bit graghic for most people...

and andy pandy, other stuff doesnt realy work for me, sh in general isnt verry effective, but i find cutting the most practical.

Former Member

I think you just need to find a balance. Like go a certain length of time without it, or doing it less when you do it?

Former Member

Clean, clean and clean. If you're going to do it, keep. It. Clean. If you're using a blade or sharp object of *any* kind, clean it first. Then clean it after and make sure you keep the wound clean. Burning (which is what I did) is generally cleaner because the heat sanitises the metal, but there is obviously more damaged skin to get infected.

As far as angle, you want to keep the damaged area as small as possible. So straight down is probably better because then you aren't pushing any possible infection under your skin.

Obviously I'm not condoning self-harm BUT I also know that saying "just don't do it" is fairly pointless. Invest in a good antibacterial cream like Savlon or Sudocrem and make sure you know how to stop bloodflow if you cut too deeply, and if it *does* get out of hand, do not feel embarrassed to call a hospital or go into A&E to get it seen to.

Former Member

Try this: http://www.selfharm.org/help/first-aid.html

It is quite detailed so be careful, but I hope it helps x

Former Member

The only form of "Safe Cutting" is no cutting.

Former Member

Faustus wrote: »

The only form of "Safe Cutting" is no cutting.

Technically not.

Former Member

Faustus wrote: »

The only form of "Safe Cutting" is no cutting.

While that may be true, avoidance is not always a real option, so the OP has done well to ask about the ways which pose least risk.

Former Member

re

Hi Replar,

Thanks for bringing up an issue which can be difficult to talk about but can also address some health and safety aspects of self harm safely especiallly if on impulse.

Self harm is often used to cope with situations which maybe stressful or used as a means of release. So maybe in addition to looking at methods of self harm it maybe useful to look at the triggers for you and how to counteract them, even if just a thought.

It sounds like your doing really well not self harming at the moment. so maybe one method when you feeling like you want to self harm would be to post a message and talk through whats on your mind at that time, this may help beat the urge.


keep posting :wave:

Former Member

as has been said, clean objects, preferably smooth surfaced objects and avoiding areas would be your wrists, also avoid cutting downwards!