Your epidermis covers your whole body, yet not all skin is created equal. Some areas of skin are thinner than others, and other areas have more nerve endings, more or less fatty tissue, and dryness changes things up too. Remember when you’re playing with currents;
- Thick and dry skin is sensitive (calf)
- Thin and dry skin is more sensitive. (inner thigh)
- Wet or sweaty skin is about 10% more sensitive.
- External mucosa are much more sensitive. (head of the cock)
- Internal mucosa are extremely more sensitive. (inside the arse)
- Skin injuries like cuts or scar tissue resist current around 90 times less than healthy tissue. Keep those out of electro play due to the risk of causing damage without realising it.
What happens when you shock…
Genitals
If the twitching muscles are the ones in the anogenital area, the effect can be rather interesting and pleasurable, since a series of pulses causes a strange deep massage with masturbating effects.
Major Muscles
The leg and arm muscles, but others too, generate remarkable power. Making them involuntarily contract can be hazardous, as the pulse turns into potentially violent kicks and punches. Holding them, for example with bondage, is even worse: the contraction happens anyway, and can cause sprains, pulled muscles or – in extreme cases – broken bones.
Cardiorespiratory System
The heart keeps beating, and keeps you alive, through electricity. It’s what keeps the muscle contracting and fulling the body with fresh oxygen-filled blood. If you interrupt, change, or stop that rhythm, you can cause serious harm – or death. There is an often quoted rule of never use electricity above the belt which can be good advice for first timers looking to keep things safe – however not always for experienced electro users. Also, it’s possible to cause heart problems when shocking other areas of the body if the shock is great enough. even long sessions of small pulses can “squeeze” the blood vessels interfering with normal circulation.
Head to your local kink and fetish store for advice on the right devices to buy, using pads and electrodes, and to pick up things like electro gel. Staff are experts in the gear they sell and will have great safety tips for safe and hot play.
If what contracts at the wrong time is the diaphragm, a respiratory crisis could occur. If it’s the heart, you are looking at a state of fibrillation that can easily result in infarction. This is the main cause of medical emergencies related to electrostimulation and should not be underestimated even in the case of perfectly healthy and fit subjects. This is even more true for people who have already experienced cardiac issues or who use a pacemaker.
The risks listed above are the reason for a frequently quoted rule in BDSM: “Never use electricity above the belt.” This is good advice, but also a very inaccurate simplification. On one hand, in fact, it doesn’t take into account that cardiac episodes can also be caused by other games, such as, for example, a prolonged series of small spasms in the legs that “squeeze” the blood vessels interfering with normal circulation; on the other hand, it excludes a whole set of activities that don’t involve the current passing through the heart or diaphragm, which we will see in a few pages.
WHAT IF SHIT GOES WRONG?