Penile Piercing Types, Jewelry, Healing and Complications

Ever wondered what penile piercing is? It is a form of body piercing where a portion of your genitalia is pierced to allow you to wear different types of jewelry. This procedure is carried on men in their male genitals.

Penile piercing has been a common practice among young men in many Western countries. Many men are undertaking the procedure for individualization and beautification motives. Sexologists also suggest that it enhances sexual pleasure to the female partners due to enhanced stimulation.

This piercing has been a traditional practice in South and East Asia for a long time. However, the practice has spread all over the world in recent decades.

Why or reasons

Motivated by the following factors:

• Aesthetic reasons– where people do it for fun, or because they admire others who have undertaken the procedure.
• Culture and lifestyle– This is common in South and East Asia where it is an integral part of their culture.
• Pleasure and sensation– It is known to increase sensation during sexual intercourse for both men and women
• Enhanced stimulation during sexual intercourse

Types

There are nine common types of penile piercing that are practiced in various parts of the world. They include:

• Dydoe – It runs vertically across the coronal ridge.
• Frenulum– where it runs horizontally through the base of the penis.
• Ampallang – where it runs horizontally across the head of the penis. This is the most common type.
• Hafada – where the piercing is done at any place in the scrotal sack.
• Apadravya – it is the opposite of the Ampallang piercing since it runs vertically across the head of the penis.
• Foreskin – where it cuts across the foreskin for the uncircumcised men.
• Lorum – where the procedure is carried out horizontally on the underside of the penis.
• Prince Albert – where piercing runs from the underside of the penis exiting through the urethra.
• Pubic where the piercing is located at the pubic region where the genitals and the body meet. However, this type is not popular though it is rapidly gaining recognition in recent years.

Penile piercing jewelry

Many piercing professionals use three types of jewelry during the procedure. These jewelry include:

• The Barbell- also called the banana bar. It is a straight bar with a ball attached one of its ends.
• Curved barbell- A curved bar fitted with some strings.
• Captive Ring- this is an open ring with a ball fixed between its two small dimples.

Complications

Despite the popularity, the procedure is known to have the following structural complications:

• Excessive bleeding– Which at times leads to death.
• Urethralcutaneous fistula of the glans- Where the fore part of the penis bursts
• Urethral rapture– When the urethra raptures, victims are likely to develop numerous urinary-related complications.
• Erectile dysfunction– Sometimes it interferes with the penile muscles and blood vessels, thus causing erectile dysfunction.
•  Penile fibrosis– Interfering with the original structure of the penis may enhance the growth of some tumors in the urethra.
• Urinary interruption– when the piercing touches the urethra, the normal flow of urine may be interfered with.

Besides structural complications, the victims are also likely to suffer from the following infectious complications:

• E. Coli infections
• Human Papilloma Virus infection
• Chlamydia trachomatis infection
• Pseudomonas spp infection
• Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection

In other instances, the following partner-related complications have been associated with piercing your penis:

• Condoms get damaged by the jewelry.
• The jewelry may be swallowed during oral sex
• It getting trapped in between teeth during oral sex.
• Loss of jewelry
• Post-coital bleeding

Safety

If you are considering having it, here are some of the factors that you should consider in ensuring the safety of the procedure:

• Make sure that your piercer of choice a trained and a registered medical practitioner/beautician.
• Ensure that the procedure is carried out in a clean environment.
• Check if all the instruments used during the procedure are sterilized.
• Ensure that the piercer observes overall personal hygiene before and during the procedure.

Healing after penile piercing

It may take a few days to a week for someone to fully recover after the procedure. However, the time taken to heal depends on the type undertaken. To facilitate fast and complete healing, patients are advised to observe the following aftercare precautions:

• Abstaining from sex
• Regularly change your underwear
• Sanitize your hands before touching your genitals
• Regularly clean it with salt water.
•  Always touch it gently.