oooh Arcane I think you deserve a jolly good spanking for giving away this secret! I rather enjoy the effects of numb bum!! ;-P hehe

I used to work with a professional who remarked on this phenomenon. She said that at first a spanking really stung, but after a while her bottom became kind of numb and it didn't hurt anywhere near as much.

Thanks for a very learned and enlightening article. Lots of helpful tips for the cruel!

Hitting in different places usually corrects the problem. If the bottom is getting numb switch to the thighs. You can spank one cheek for awhile and them change to the other. If you are striking in the middle go for higher or lower. Don't be a boring spanker; variety is the spice of life.

Well that's interesting, I relayed this useful information to hubby. Tut tut silly girl.

Hmmm... interesting. Never noticed it when applying my favorite implement - the cane. Usually the strokes don't fall on the same areas and the spankee feels each sequential stroke as increasingly painful, or so they say to me.

Great article! Though really? Do you HAVE to point this little known fact out to every top in the immediate vicinity? Do you realize you just dropped an atom bomb on a whole bunch of bottoms? Sigh….

I can rather whole-heartedly agree re: the cane. So far as I see, this phenomenon is entirely improbable with a cane. It is too much of a focused area! However, I do always hope for this effect with other implements (like a paddle). The cane is the worst! There is NO escaping what it gives you. There isn’t some trick, or way of breathing, or clenching or not. No matter what you do? You are going to be absolutely roasted! And trust me, every single stroke is going to be felt from your toes to the top of your head! I see stars every now and again. I mean that seriously! Stars I tell you!

I have experienced this numbing phenomenon a number of times and faked my way through it successfully almost as many times (by the way, if a red-headed lady happens to pass this way and asks where I have gone, could you please point the opposite direction? Thank you). Seriously though, I think she knows when she has gone too far, and it doesn’t matter to her. She still swats me until she is satisfied. Besides… Numb at the time of the spanking, doesn’t mean numb a bit later on as one tries (unsuccessfully) to sit upon a bottom that is hot, throbbing, and bruised beyond belief. Yep… Try sitting through a three-hour meeting on a freshly hairbrushed bottom and talk to me about being numb. I declared cigarette breaks on that one, every fifteen minutes and I am NOT a smoker. At least not since I was told I would no longer be smoking lol (long story).

Regards,
Christian

I think this calls for some scientific research. I suggest an intensive double-blind study involving a large cadre of female bottoms...for the sake of science.

It's always nice to read an informative article.

I've noticed this phenomenon on occasion, but sometimes it's also partially a result of entering 'sub-space,' since I don't receive truly punitive spankings.

Of course, employing cornertime during different parts of a disciplinary session can presumably work as well as pausing to lecture, plus with a touch more embarrassment and time for penitent contemplation, in order to keep the victim's derriere from 'numbing up' all that much.

Alternating the recipient's buttcheeks with the swats (as mentioned) will also help keep him/her 'hurtin' for certain' during an extended tanning, as will switching out different implements--starting out with the lighter ones, of course... --C.K.

Very informative and always good to know such things.

Hmmm................

Speaking from both sides of the subject, I might agree on the heavy paddle having a deep, bruising type of hurt which then deadens the nerves for a while, but it does also happen as the sub falls into sub-space which is caused by endorphins being released, not the nerve endings closing down.
One must be very careful when this happens not to assume that one must then hit harder and harder in order to get an effect as you could easily cause serious damage. I have known people when in sub-space who you could brand with a red-hot poker and they would only moan pleasurably....At the time!
Dom/Domme's duty to know about their sub and how they work!
I know a sub quite well who takes levels of "hardness" that would frighten most people and has been known to cause consternation amongst strangers in venues and varying the instruments and force in order to keep them out of sub-space is quite a challenge!
Sub-space or not, I think it is the initial shock that makes "cold" punishments hurt more and I speak from experience.
I always warm my spankee up, they've never been bad enough to warrant a cold punishment.

It need to be hard and painful discipline spanking so that we don’t forget when we sit down.