Care, Comfort and Aid: Taking care of your bits, butt and stuff

first aid kit and care

While there are medic tents at Burning Man and your camp may or may not have a first aid kit, at the end of the day, you are the only person who can truly care for your body. You’re going to be asking a lot of it during the event, so, take care of it and take care of it well. Prepare. Provision according to your needs.

Oh, and make sure you pay extra attention to what you need for you bits, your butt and other potentially sensitive areas. With the weather, the alkaline dust, bike riding all week long on a bumpy surface and whatever other shenanigans you get into, the nether regions area of your body may be experiencing more activity than usual.

Bring something to keep your bowels moving healthfully

For my first year preparations, a long-time burner gave me this tip, and I’m passing it on: You’ve got to keep your bowels moving. Whatever your normal day and habits look like will probably not be happening at Burning Man. There’s the overall excitement of being at Burning Man, all the different food you’re eating (and probably all the fresh produce you’re not eating), plus what you could possibly experience as stress or discomfort about using the porto-potties.

Add this all up and you’re likely to be out of your daily-life rhythms of what you typically do for your health, body care and elimination. In other words, your regular bowel movements might be off schedule.

We may call the playa “home,” yet it’s our bodies where we live 24-7. The bottom line is you need a reliable solution to keep your bowels moving. You know what your normal is. Whatever that normal is for your elimination, aim to stay on track.

Prunes, pills? Pick something

Your solution could be as simple as a jar of prunes and eating a handful of them once or twice a day, or maybe you need something to support deeper peristaltic movement. Whatever it is, pick something and take care of this aspect of your body at the burn. You may need to start using this item/product/food/supplement as you begin your travels, which may be a couple/few days before you arrive on playa. Tune into your body. It loves you!

Bring the items you need for your bits!

Life, sex, fluids, lube, menses, comfort, safety, whatever you need …

For the ladies

An extra word of caution: it is possible, especially for women, to get a chemical burn on your sweet spots. (I know of a dear virgin who on her first day sat naked on the playa and got chemical burns and blisters in places that made the entire rest of her burn physically challenging and painful.) Be aware.

Playa dust can burn your skin, especially mucus membranes. Be very careful! Once burned, you can’t un-burn. You can only heal a burn. 

If you have any pressing medical concerns, you may want to tell one or two people in your camp what meds you’re on in case there is an emergency. In many camps, there will be a medical director or safety person who is the repository of any information you may wish to share in confidence. If your camp doesn’t have one, perhaps you’ll volunteer to be that person.

Photo by Samuel Zeller

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