Warning: Not for the Aichmophobia crowd!
But do Read on if you stuck safety pins in your fingers as a kid! :)
Play piercing is a practice whereby one or more sterile hypodermic needles are temporarily inserted underneath the skin and brought back out to exit the skin a short distance away. Mind you, this is going parallel through the first layers of skin, not vertically into one's flesh.
Generally, most play piercing occurs on arms, chests, backs, and thighs. One should be cautious of major arteries when choosing placement for needles. It's not advisable to do play piercings on one's face, inner thighs, armpits, neck, etc.
Practitioners are most commonly found in the BDSM community, where the focus is on the needle as a tool for giving and receiving erotic pleasure. This is also practiced by some within the Body Modification community, primarily to attempt to transcend oneself.
For many on the receiving end of a play piercing scene, the body responds to insertion of the needles by producing endorphins, leaving the recipient with a nice buzz. :) How the buzz is used is up to each individual.
Most people are inclined to think that if you put the needle in shallower, it would hurt less. Interestingly enough, a needle inserted into the first layers of skin (where the needle is still semi-transparent) hurts significantly more than if you were to go slightly deeper (where you can't see the shaft of the needle under the skin).
Needles can be placed in fun decorative patterns. Another neat trick is to tie one long string connecting each needle and then -- for easy removal of the needles, just pull them all out at once via the string. This is called a zipper. Let's just say...it's a unique feeling with an intensity rivaling that of an orgasm.
Safety is of utmost importance.
Some basic precautions:
- Always use sterile needles!
- Practice on a tomato and yourself before actually doing it on another person. If possible, learn from someone who is experienced.
- The person inserting the needles should wear gloves. If you prick yourself accidentally, change those gloves, baby! You reallly don't want to put yourself at risk for blood-borne diseases
- At the end of a scene, spray your bottom ! down with rubbing alcohol. It will sting, but that's part of the fun. :)
Kids, don't try this at home unless you've thoroughly educated yourself first. I recommend doing further research on the internet on such sites as sexuality.org and BME, and also with actual practitioners and professional piercers. Know the person you're playing with.