Needle play may range from manipulation or stimulation of permanent piercings to insertion of play piercing needles in cool patterns to electronic stimulation of play piercing needles placed through folds of skin all over the body. Learn how to engage in needle play safely and about the various play piercing options you can explore here in our Guide to Needle Play. Safety First When engaging in needle play, safety should be your top priority. Before you and your partner begin, you should discuss any diseases either of you have, such as HIV or AIDS, which are bloodborne diseases that could be transmitted to a partner during needle play. You should prepare for needle play by gathering certain supplies to further ensure your safety, such as disinfectants, a Sharps container for collecting used needles, fine-gauge play piercing needles in sterile packaging, gloves to protect your hands from bodily fluids, and gauze for cleaning up excess blood. Make sure you choose skin disinfectants to which neither you nor your partner are allergic, such as alcohol pads or iodine swabs. Play Piercing Needle Information It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with your equipment before you engage in play piercing. You might consider attending a workshop or needle play class, or even asking your piercer for play piercing advice to learn about insertion techniques and the needle options available to you. There are 4 primary types of needles that can be used in needle play: fine-gauge hypodermic needles with hubs that you can use for leverage, acupuncture needles, traditional piercing needles, and dental needles, which have dual tips that make them ideal for use in needle play with electric stimulation. The first option is the absolute best suited for needle play in general, but any of the 4 types of needles may be used based on your comfort level with the different styles and what you have available to you. When using hypodermic needles, you can typically tell a needle's gauge simply by the color of its hub. For instance: 20g hypodermic needles usually have a yellow hub attached to them. 21g needles usually have a green hub. 22g needles typically have a black hub. 23g hypodermic needles normally have a blue hub. 24g needles mostly have purple hubs. 25g hypodermic needles often have an orange hub. 26g needles usually have brown hubs. 27g needles typically have gray hubs. 28g needles most often have blue-green hubs. Ideally, all of your play piercing needles should be packaged individually and pre-sterilized, typically with EO gas. Needles can be cleaned and autoclaved, but since they're fairly inexpensive, it makes the most sense safety-wise to use new, sterile needles during each play piercing session. Engaging in Piercing Play & Beginning Needle Play Playing with permanent piercings requires very little prep work. Simply make sure your hands and your partner's hands are clean, and have fun! You can gently pull on each other's permanent piercings, twist them, hang weights from secure piercings, apply an electrostimulation device to each other's piercings, or use the gentle buzzing of a vibrator against piercings (particularly genital and nipple piercings) to stimulate each other. When playing with permanent piercings, the key thing to avoid is playing with piercings around the eyes, like eyebrow piercings. Also, talk to your partner during piercing play to make sure that you aren't being too rough with each other. If things get uncomfortable at any point, speak up. If you're playing with someone you trust and who you have an open line of communication with, piercing play can be very enjoyable. Preparing for needle play, where you and your partner take turns inserting fine gauge (usually 20g-27g) play piercing needles in each other's skin, is a little more involved than permanent piercing play. It's important to don gloves to protect yourself, prep the skin to be pierced immediately before inserting needles, open needles immediately before inserting them, and dispose of needles properly in something like a Sharps container. Depending on your goals for your play piercing exercise, you may want to mark your partner's skin before you begin piercing him or her. You can use a surgical skin marker or toothpicks dipped in Gentian violet ink to lay the foundation for your play piercing needle designs. If you're inserting play piercing needles strictly for stimulation purposes, it isn't necessary to mark the skin before inserting needles. Inserting Play Piercing Needles Play piercing needles are typically very fine gauge--usually in the 20g to 27g range, with higher numbers equaling progressively finer needles, as described above. They can be placed below the surface of the skin with little to no discomfort, and they're fairly easy to insert. Hypodermic-hub syringe needles are even easier to insert than traditional piercing needles, because you can use the hubs on them for leverage/applying pressure to force needles through your partner's skin. Keep in mind that needles that are too fine can be harder to manipulate and may bend in an undesirable way when pressure is applied to them. When placing needles through the tougher skin of the back or breasts, you may want to use heavier fine-gauge needles (e.g. around 20g-22g). Don gloves before beginning needle play, and then disinfect the skin to be pierced. Remove play piercing needles from their packaging one-at-a-time, as you're ready to insert them into your partner's skin. Examine each needle for defects (ex. bent needles), and discard any imperfect needles in your Sharps container. When you're ready to insert the first needle, you may want to pinch up the skin somewhat to make it easier to insert the needle nearly horizontal to the body. Don't insert needles at an angle steeper than 15 degrees or so. Make sure the bevel of each needle tip is facing up as you insert it, so it will go through the skin as smoothly as possible. When doing deeper insertions, you may want to ask your partner to lay on a dental bib or other drop cloth to collect excess blood that you aren't able to catch with gauze pads. If you're concerned that you might accidentally pierce yourself as you push play piercing needles through your partner's skin, you can use a sewing thimble or a receiving cork to "catch" the needles as they pass through the skin. If at any point you puncture your gloves, remove them, clean/disinfect your hands, and put on a fresh pair of gloves. You should also put on new gloves before removing play piercing needles. Always dispose of play piercing needles in a proper receptacle as you remove them. Where to Place Play Piercing Needles The most popular areas of the body to insert play piercing needles are the buttocks, breasts, abdomen, back, thighs, and genitals. You can insert them nearly anywhere on the body (always keeping the area around the eyes off limits), but the aforementioned areas are the most erogenous zones. If you're creating a pattern with play piercing needles, like a spiral or a needle zipper, work from top to bottom through the area being pierced to ensure that you don't accidentally snag placed needles or poke yourself. If blood wells up as you work through any area, dab it gently with a clean gauze pad, and then dispose of the bloody gauze in an appropriate receptacle. Needles may be placed side-by-side nearly anywhere on the body, or you can create crisscross patterns like a "button", where you insert one needle below a needle that's already been placed. The sky's the limit when it comes to placements and the designs you can make with play piercing needles! Stimulation of Play Piercing Needles After placing play piercing needles, there are a few different ways to manipulate them to stimulate your partner. You can use your gloved hands to move the needles around, gently pushing, pulling, twisting, gently flogging, or even slapping them. (Note that if you want to slap inserted play piercing needles, you should cover the area with plastic wrap first to protect yourself and your partner.) Create a spine-tingling icy effect by running ice cubes over play piercing needles. You can apply a vibrator to the needles to make them vibrate gently, or even apply an electronic stimulation device that delivers a slight charge to the needles, moving along your needle patterns slowly to maximize stimulation. If you do utilize an electronic device of any kind during needle play, make sure the area is completely dry first (e.g. no residual rubbing alcohol or excess blood). Incorporating Accessories into Needle Play Needle play isn't limited to stimulation by direct touch. Instead of just using your hand to manipulate play piercing needles, you can incorporate fun accessories like the electronic stimulation devices mentioned above. Other tools include dental floss woven through and around needles that you pull on gently, and even wire used in place of lace through temporary corset piercings that will allow you to run an electronic charge through the entire crisscrossing pattern. You can purchase adult toys like weights (best for use with permanent piercings), floggers, vibrators, and many other accessories that will enhance your and your partner's play piercing experiences. Removing Play Piercing Needles Needle play isn't over until each play piercing needle has been removed from your and your partner's skin and disposed of properly. Since dried blood may make it uncomfortable to remove play piercing needles, you should put on a pair of clean gloves, soak gauze pads with alcohol, and lay them over needles you're removing to soften dried blood and keep the skin and puncture wounds clean. Press down on each alcohol-soaked gauze pad gently but firmly to make the skin taut before removing each needle. (The exception would be when you're doing a more advanced technique called a needle zipper, which is the one instance when needles aren't removed one-at-a-time.) It's important that you don't press too hard on any needle as you're removing it, because the beveled edge could cut into the skin on the way out otherwise. Withdraw needles parallel to the skin to further avoid cuts. After removing a needle, press down gently on the alcohol-soaked gauze pad to stop bleeding, reduce swelling, and minimize bruising. Immediately dispose of each removed needle by placing it in your Sharps container. Repeat until all play piercing needles have been removed and disposed of properly.
