It's probably not a good idea to support this, but, similar to a heroine preparation video I saw, this is to make sure that if you do end up doing it, you're not threatening yourself. I don't follow the best practices, but I have been cutting for years at this point, so I can at least say that you won't get sick, nor die, following this.
Equipment:
- Razor or knife. What I used to do was take my shaving.. the thing I shave my facial hair with, and on the back, you can disconnect the head, and then individually disconnect the razors. There are other razors you can use, or like an earlier comment pointed out, use a knife because they can be duller. If you're trying to break skin, it's best to use something sharp for obvious reasons.
- Tissue, toilet paper, a towel, something to soak up or clean up the blood. Additionally, you may want a clean cloth to clean your blades with (washing them with soap is best in my opinion, but in a tight situation you can use hand-sanitizer).
- This is optional, but it helps: music, or a video that makes you quite sad, or (if you're into it) self-harm media that helps you feel inspired (?).
Method:
1. Clean your blades, and use your towel or toilet paper to cover where blood could possibly squirt.
2. You can use your toilet paper or towel to test the sharpest point of whichever blade you decided on.
3. Choose where you want to cut. Like you said, above the thighs is probably the best place. It depends on what parts of your body you expose, how often, if you have long clothing or not, heat tolerance, etcetera. Generally, though, thighs, backs, feet and ankles, the sides of your chest and your lower stomach are prime spots. It's best to do a bit of research to avoid possibly slicing arteries. Slicing veins aren't as bad - I've personally done it before, and it heals overtime.
4. Listen to whatever media you've picked, and.. slice, I suppose. If you want to feel pain, and a slow rush of "goodness", dig in with your blade and slice slowly. If you want a quick relief, or maximum damage, slice quick. Do note, that depending on the sharpness of your blade, slicing quick can do a lot of unintended damage. I hate to be graphic, but attached is a gore video showcasing this.
5. Once you're done, clean up everything, etcetera. There are probably multiple, sterile and better options on healing wounds, such as using bandaids and whatnot, but if you're in a pinch, what I do is I expose my injuries. I let my blood clog up, usually over a long period of time (I cut before I sleep, so that's plenty of time to stop bleeding). I shower afterwards, and am careful not to involve that appendage in too many activities as to avoid that cut from opening up again. Try refrain from picking your scabs. It could take a week, to two weeks for it to fully heal. Taking showers and baths can sting when they're still healing. Scars sometimes can get itchy, but I suspect it has to do with how they healed in the first place. If you do cut your arms, avoid slicing vertically, parellel to your veins, and instead slice horizontally. It depends on what you're going for, but generally multiple shallow cuts can have the same "reward" as one deep cut. I think that's it.
I don't think you should go ahead and start cutting. It's not my business to tell you what to do, but this can get really addictive, and as your scars pile up, certain opportunities will be barred from you, such as finding relationship partners, sex, swimming, potential jobs, even wearing clothes your comfortable with around the people you know.
Apologies for any spelling, or grammatical errors.
