Medical play is a type of power exchange role-playing scenario where sexual partners take on the roles of medical professionals and their patients. Typically, medical play involves a dominant partner, who plays the role of a medical professional treating their submissive patient. Medical play may be an aspect of medical fetishism or simply a way for a couple to spice up their sex life with interesting role play. Medical play may also be referred to as a medical kink.
Although research around how common this kink/fetish is could not be found, we can infer its relative popularity based on its regular appearance in pop culture. As of 2022, there were more than 750 "sexy nurse" costumes available for sale on Amazon alone! Many BDSM dungeons also include examination tables and other tools designed for medical play, which suggests is a common interest among both BDSM practitioners and more vanilla players alike.
This type of play has a clear and obvious power exchange. In a medical setting, the medical professional is the one with the knowledge, tools and license to perform certain procedures. After all, when a doctor tells us we need a rectal exam, who are we to argue? This power structure works well for D/s play, where one partner (the patient) consents to be at the other's (the medical professional's) mercy.
People enjoy medical play for a number of reasons, but some of the key reasons include the fact that it can involve pain or intense sensations (both mental and physical,) it can include embarrassment and humiliation, and it has loads of creative opportunities for those who really relish getting into a role and play the mad scientist.
More About Medical Play
Medical play often involves an intimate examination, where the dominant partner performs quasi-medical procedures on the submissive patient. The patient may also be restrained, gagged, stripped naked, or dressed in a humiliating costume. Some key types of play that might be found in medical play include:
- Gynecological exams
- Rectal exams
- Enemas
- Injections
- Electrical play
- Bandaging
- Cutting/blood play
- Speculum play
- Cupping
Medical sex toys like Wartenberg wheels and speculums may enhance the examination. The examination may culminate with an enema or the masturbation of the submissive patient. In more extreme cases, medical play may involve the acting out of an anesthesia fetish, piercing, skin stapling, or the insertion of urethral sounds.
Medical play may appeal to submissive partners since it picks up on the vulnerability they feel when they're sick or hurt. During medical play, submissive partners might also endure tests that may be painful or humiliating, while trusting that their doctor knows best. Dominant partners also enjoy medical play because it puts them in control of their patient's pleasure, and in some cases, their pain.
While the patient/doctor scenario is one of the most common in medical play, it is not the only option. Sometimes medical play will also experiment with steamy relationships between doctors and nurses, or a naughty patient taking advantage of a naïve candy-striper.
Because medical play can be a more extreme form of play and can encompass edgeplay (although it doesn't have to,) the safety of participants must be of utmost concern. Safewords and signals should always be established prior to a scene. Because each type of medical play has its own safety concerns, it's important that participants do their research on the types of play they are interested in and ensure they they pursue it safely.
