Radial nerve
The nerve that runs down the back of the upper arm to the hand; in a 2023 case series of rope bondage nerve injuries it was the nerve most often affected, typically by wraps on the upper arm.
MedlinePlus, the US National Library of Medicine’s encyclopedia, describes the radial nerve as running from the armpit down the back of the arm to the hand. Damage to it can make it hard to straighten the elbow, bend the wrist backward or grip, and can change sensation on the back and thumb side of the hand; long-term pressure on the upper arm is one listed cause. In a 2023 Cureus case series, 9 of 10 people with rope-related nerve injuries had radial injuries, mostly where the nerve lies against the bone in the middle of the upper arm (the spiral groove), all after full-body suspension. The authors add that how often this happens across rope bondage remains unclear. Anatomie Studio notes that the nerve can be exposed in arm ties such as the takate kote. The typical result is wrist drop.
Sources
- Radial nerve dysfunction — MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (US National Library of Medicine)
- Acute radial compressive neuropathy: the most common injury induced by Japanese rope bondage — Cureus (Khodulev et al., 2023)
- Shibari terminology: a guide to rope bondage vocabulary — Anatomie Studio (Kink and Cuddles)