Sensory Deprivation Kink Guide + 10 Examples

The sensory deprivation kink involves blocking out or obscuring one or more of your senses – sight, smell, sound, touch, or taste. Why do this? To increase the intensity of your BDSM scenes or sex life. In this guide, you’ll first learn exactly what it is and how to explore it safely, but you can skip straight to the sensory deprivation kink ideas, examples and techniques if you like.

What is Sensory Deprivation?

We’re not talking about exploring sensations, sensual domination or sensory play kink. Instead, we mean blocking or depriving one or more of your senses. Using a blindfold is just one example of sensory deprivation kink. For example, you could use mittens to interfere with the sense of touch or earplugs to block out sound.

Side note: 23 freaky sex ideas to try in bed.

Sensory deprivation also occurs on a scale. At one end, you can completely block the senses, while at the other end, you would be letting your senses function normally. Toward the center, you’ll find things such as slightly impairing a sense or even changing how you sense things.

Using sight as an example, a blackout blindfold that blocks everything, but you could experiment with sheer materials and/or different light levels for less visual deprivation.

Then, you can also combine different forms of sensory deprivation for an altogether more intense sexual experience.

Why Some People Are Into Sensory Deprivation Play

There are many reasons why people are into sensory deprivation play…

1. Heightened Senses

The main one is that is heightens the senses that aren’t blocked. When you wear a blindfold and can’t see, you’ll often find yourself straining to hear what your partner is doing or will do. You may also pay more attention to the way their weight shifts the furniture, how their body makes air move, or the increase in temperature as they move close to you.

Sensory deprivation can be a great option to explore if you think you rely too much on one or some senses or if you want to strengthen or focus on a sense you might ignore.

Go deeper: 40 kinky sexual things to do with your partner.

2. Anticipation

Along with heightened senses, sensory deprivation can add to your anticipation, especially when using a blindfold. Blocking your sight makes it hard to tell what’s coming, whether it’s a sharp smack (erotic sexual spanking guide) or a soft kiss (how to kiss during sex). Blocking your ability to hear at the same time can really up the ante.

This anticipation can often be a delightful form of torture as you feel a combination of nerves and excitement. This is why some people can’t get enough of sensory deprivation for their partners. However, it can be too overwhelming for some people, so completely blocking a sense or depriving more than one at once may not work for everyone.

Related: 33 femdom ideas to dominate a man.

3. Power Exchange

As we mentioned, you like depriving your partner’s senses because it puts the power in your hands. Sensory deprivation works very well with power exchange, or D/s.

Related: How You Can Have a Functional (and Sexy) D/s Relationship

And if you’re a top or dom with a sadistic streak, you can definitely use sensory deprivation to your advantage.

4. Subspace

One specific aspect of power exchange you can explore with sensory deprivation is getting into subspace. You might know that subspace is a headspace that submissives can enter during a scene that is often sought after.

While subspace can happen for multiple reasons, and not everyone can predict or control it, some people experience subspace more consistently and can purposefully bring it on at will with a specific action. Depriving a sense can be that action for some people, so putting on a blindfold, for example, could help you enter subspace.

5. Reduce Stimulation

You might also enjoy sensory deprivation if you find yourself easily overstimulated, which is something sex can contribute to with all its sights, sounds, smells, and bodily fluids.

6. Self-consciousness

If you’re a dom or top who feels self-conscious or embarrassed as you work, depriving your partner of some senses can relieve that.

7. Bondage Extension

For some people, sensory deprivation is like an extension of bondage, which is a different type of restriction.

Get: Our complete bondage guide for beginners and try these ideas for light bondage.

Keep Sensory Deprivation Play Safe

You want to prioritize safety in sex and kink, and trying sensory deprivation is no exception. Sensory deprivation requires a lot of trust and vulnerability, and if you don’t have a partner with whom that’s possible, you might want to hold off-or stick to solo play for now!

To make sure you’re playing safely, you can follow one of the popular BDSM safety frameworks.

• SSC: Safe, sane and consensual
• RACK: Risk aware consensual kink
• PRICK: Personal responsibility, informed, consensual kink
• CCCC: Caring, communication, consent, caution

Learn more about these BDSM safety guidelines, which can help ensure you’re acting as ethically as possible.

1. Consent

As with all things sex and BDSM, consent is a must-have when exploring the sensory deprivation kink. You can have a more formal BDSM negotiation before you try it out, or you can more casually ask your partner if they’d be up to using a specific tool or doing a specific thing.

It can be as casual as “Can I put a blindfold on you?” but…

Often it needs to be a more in-depth and detailed conversation.

2. Safe Words

Using a safe word can be a good way to keep sensory deprivation play safe because it helps you to indicate when something is wrong or is going to be wrong. If you’re not in a consensual nonconsent scene, you usually don’t need a safe word, but it never hurts to have one prepared just in case.

Get: ideas for safe words.

3. Aftercare

BDSM aftercare includes any activity that helps you ease back into real life from your scene, come down from subspace, deal with sub drop, and care for any physical effects of your activity. This can include eating, drinking, bathing, relaxing, cuddling or talking to your partner.

With sensory deprivation, aftercare could involve slowly resetting some of your senses, if it might be too jarring to simply turn the lights back. For example, you might slowly increase the lights or avoid loud sounds until you’re more comfortable.

You might find this more helpful if you’ve done more extreme sensory deprivation or deprived your senses for longer periods of time.

Finally, you might even choose something nice to treat your senses once play is done. This could be your favorite food to smell and taste, a song or sound you love, or something beautiful to touch with your fingers.

Psst, if you like that, you might be into sensation play.

4. Pacing

Another comfort and safety aspect of sensory deprivation is to be careful with your pacing.

In short, ease into it.

This means not jumping to being completely blindfolded and deafened while in full-body bondage. Try new things one at a time as you’re getting used to them before combining them. Once you’re used to using blindfolds and earplugs separately, for example, you can try them together.

Pacing can help you control anticipation so it remains a positive factor.

Sensory Deprivation Examples

Below are some examples of sensory deprivation based on each sense.

1. Sight

We previously mentioned blindfolds, but they’re not the only way to block your sense of sight. You could start by turning away from your partner, using sheer materials, closing your eyes, or just turning down the lights. Even dark sunglasses can be used for this type of sensory deprivation.

Another option is to wear a sensory deprivation hood, which has the benefit of blocking your senses of hearing, smell, and taste, depending on the kind you use.

2. Hearing

Wearing earplugs is the easiest way to block hearing, although turning off hearing aids may be an option for some people. Noise-canceling headphones are now really common, too.

Consider reducing noise by using curtains, carpeting, or even wearing slippers. Move to a room where sound is easier to control if you can. Check local sex clubs or dungeons for padded rooms or recording studios for soundproof rooms.

You can use a white noise machine or play a white noise track directly into your partner’s ears to give the impression of “nothing.” A headband can keep earbuds that want to slip out of place where you want them.

Do not put anything into the ears that isn’t designed to be safely removed.

3. Touch

To bar the sense of touch, you can buy specialty items such as bondage mitts for the hands or vacuum beds, which inhibit the entire body. Gloves, especially thick ones, or even socks can impede this sense. Playing with wax from candles also makes it hard to touch things normally.

Note: You can quickly overheat in a vacuum table, so hydration is a must.

If you’re not ready for a vacuum bed, restrictive clothing, such as spandex, latex, or even a corset, can help.

You can also reduce touch by keeping a sheet between your bodies or even sliding your hands into a pillowcase.

Note: Numbing products can also reduce sensations, although they’re not designed to be used for sex or kink.

Bondage can also add to sensory deprivation if the material against your skin makes it hard to feel anything else or makes it impossible to use your hands and fingers. The more skin covered, the better.

4. Smell

Depriving your sense of smell can be a bit tricky because it’s hard to stop any scents from triggering it. You could use a nose plug, like for swimming, or even a mask to deprive yourself of smells.

However, you can also take the approach of confusing the nose by adding other scents, especially strong scents, to the room.

Avoid anything you cannot safely remove from the nose, including wadded-up tissues.

5. Taste

Like smell, taste can be hard to block. After all, you may still be able to taste the garlic on your breath from lunch, even if you’re not actively tasting anything.

Gags can somewhat block the sense of taste, but they also make it hard to talk, which not everyone wants. Because taste and smell are closely related, blocking your nose may also help to block taste-as long as you use a breathable gag!

Be careful not to restrict breathing when depriving the sense of smell and taste.

You can try to trick your sense of taste with specific flavors, too.

Possibly related and helpful: How to make semen taste better.

6. Combination

Combining various sensory deprivation techniques can be incredibly impactful, but it may be too intense for some folks.

To get the most sensory deprivation, consider earbuds playing white noise while wearing a gag under a hood with a vacuum suit. Top it off with mitts for your hands. Do not underestimate how intense this can be!

Start with more tame forms of sensory deprivation before moving onto more inense combinations.

10 Sensory Deprivation Ideas

Now that you understand the basics, here are some sensory deprivation tips to try. Give whatever sounds interesting a whirl and forget the best.

1. Spank your partner or use an impact play device (paddle, flogger, whip, etc) while blocking hearing.
2. Have sex in a pitch-black room.
3. Invite others to massage your partner at once. Sensual massage tips and techniques.
4. Change the direction from which you provide sensation while your partner’s sense of sight and sound are blocked.
5. Surprise your partner with a pleasurable toy, such as a vibrator or butt plug, while bound and blinded.
6. BDSM role play scenes involving sensory deprivation, such as being imprisoned, held hostage, or interrogation. (More: 42 sexual role play ideas)
7. Use a dildo to pretend a second person/someone else is in the room while your partner’s blindfolded.
8. Introduce sensation play directly before or after blocking the senses to contrast intensity with nothingness. This could include temperature play, such as using ice cubes or warm water, tickling, soft or rough sensations, different smells and sounds, just to name a few.
9. Deprive only some of a sense. Leave one eye or eye open or some skin bare.
10. Switch from a relaxing track, white noise, or soothing sounds to an intense one if you’re feeling sadistic.

Using Sensory Deprivation for Relaxation

While sensory deprivation is a sexual fetish for some, others enjoy sensory deprivation for relaxation.

Decreasing your sensory input and letting someone else be in charge can be incredibly relaxing and quiet some of the noise in your head.

You might try slowing your breathing or listening to a meditative track to make sensory deprivation for relaxation more effective. Combined with rythmic activities or actions, including rope bondage, or even erotic hypnosis.

Being submissive itself can be relaxing by letting someone else take control, even if you’re not into sensory deprivation during sex.

Now you know all about sensory deprivation kink, and you can incorporate it into your sex life or BDSM play if you want!