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Impact & pain

Biting, scratching and marks: a beginner's guide

Teeth, nails and the marks they leave. For some people the mark the next day is the best part.

In the quiz

• Biting and scratching
• Leaving marks
• Marks that last a week
• Writing on your partner’s body
• A permanent mark that you’re theirs

How to start

1. Start with nibbles and light scratches, and build only if they ask.
2. Agree where marks are allowed: only under clothes, or anywhere.
3. Writing on the body with a marker is a pain-free way to mark someone.

How to keep it safe

• Don’t break the skin. Bites that do can get infected.
• Be careful near the neck and inner arms.
• Think about work, family and kids seeing marks.
• Permanent marks like tattoos can’t be undone. Give that one a long time.

What you need

• Starter: a body-safe skin marker.

Ideas to try

• A hidden mark only the two of you know about.
• A word written where they’ll see it in the mirror.

Is your partner into it too?

Take the quiz on your own phones. You'll only see biting, scratching and marks in your results if you both said some kind of yes.

Take the quiz

Sources

• Brown, Barker & Rahman (2020). A systematic scoping review of the prevalence, etiological, psychological, and interpersonal factors associated with BDSM. Journal of Sex Research.
• American Counseling Association (2020). Kink culture: What professional counselors need to know. Practice brief.

Related guides

• Rough sex

  Harder, more physical sex: grabbing, pushing, pinning, wrestling. It’s common, and plenty of people want it without wanting pain.

• Spanking

  From playful swats to a sting that lasts for days. Spanking is one of the most commonly tried kinks, and it’s easy to scale up or down.

• Hair pulling

  A firm handful of hair can feel possessive and intense without much pain, when it’s done right.

• Floggers and crops

  Floggers and crops spread or focus sensation in ways a hand can’t. Thuddy feels like a deep massage. Stingy feels sharp.

Educational, not medical or legal advice. Updated 2026-11-09.