Nipple clamps?

[watercolors]

I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong area, but it seemed to be the closest one...

Anyways, I have a question about nipple clamps, particularly wooden clothespins. How easy is it to cause tissue or nerve damage with them? A couple of months ago I tried putting clothes pins on my breasts... I did this a few times. My nipples were often very sensitive afterwards, sometimes stinging a bit into the next day, but it was not bad and felt temporary. On maybe the third time I did it, the stinging from the other night (it had lasted throughout the day) had got gone away yet, but I put the clamp on again. Months later, my breast/nipple is still in pain. There is constantly a sharp or dull pain in my nipple and lower breast area, its severity comes and goes without any particular schedule, but these "cycles" (though I hesitate to call them that) last about 3-6 weeks, if I had to give an estimate. In addition to this constant pain, my nipple is also extremely sensitive (in a bad way) to touch. At its worst, even having the fabric of my shirt brush against it makes me cringe.

I don't think I was particularly unsafe, I would say I kept them on for no longer than 30 minutes, and even that was not the usual (seeing as how I only did it three times). No blood was ever drawn nor was there any obvious bruising. I honestly can't tell if there is any swelling, but if there is it's relatively small. If it matters, I have never been pregnant and I am fairly young (20s).

I know this is not a health forum, but I'm very worried and I can't seem to find any answers by googling things, or what to do in case of an injury like this. I can't even find anyone saying they have experienced any sort of injury like this. I already plan on talking to my doctor, but I would like to have some advice by those who might have some sort of experience or knowledge about things like this.

[bound_jenny]

Hi and welcome,

Sensitivity after removing nipple clamps, be they clover style or clothes pins, is normal. I can vouch for that - sometimes for a whole day or so my nipples are particularly sensitive, up to the point of feeling the texture of my bra, even if it's the smoothest fabric. It also may sting occasionally, especially in the first hours. What you did is not inherently dangerous and you proceeded correctly. Thirty minutes is a reasonable time, and I too have never heard of anyone being injured in such a manner by nipple clamps. To create an injury, the pressure has to be much greater.

If your nipples remain sore and sensitive for even weeks after the fact, that may indicate an underlying problem that the clamps might have brought to the foreground, and that should be checked out. Who knows what may be hiding underneath and might have gone unnoticed otherwise? See your doctor as soon as possible, and don't be shy about talking about your "alternative" sex life. To be sure, you may even get a second opinion - you're in charge of your health, and the doctor is there to apply what you decide.

Just to put things in perspective, appearance of health is not necessarily a guarantee of health. One can be quite healthy overall, be taking care of one's self very carefully, and still have a silent problem that can turn your life upside down. I had first hand experience of that last summer. I'll repeat it - see your doctor and get a thorough checkup. It might uncover a nasty surprise that could turn up five, ten, or twenty years down the road.

Jenny.

[lj]

Just so you have a second opinion, I agree with everything my fellow Moderator says, don't panic but go and see your Doctor.

Nipple clamps of almost any kind, and I have a fairly extensive experience used in the way you describe will not cause long-term harm and the effects will go within hours rather than days. Like Jenny, I have felt the after-effects the next day, but the severity necessary to cause this has usually been the result of clover clamps pulled off and replaced several times during a scene together with other abuse of the nipples (not that I am complaining, you understand!)

[Dark_Lizerd]

From one clothes pin wearer to the next...
(and this is from a male perspecitive, so....)
Welcome, I have worn them for years, but not for years...
I may play for 1 to 2 hours, or so, but the clamps are not on for the entire time...
I do alot of "put them on, take them off" type of thing...
They will be sensitive at first, but you can and will get acoustom to them over time...
Well, somewhat, but I find that the pins only hurt (well,mostly anyways) when you put them on
and take them off...

But like it has already been said... If you are woried, have someone fondle them...
Sorry, I mean, have a doctor check them out...

[Jadit]

I too have used clover clamps quite alot. Like 15-30 minutes on, some (painful) massage and session with clamps might continue again. I am male and i am aware that female have larger and more sensitive nipples, to make the treatment harsher for them than me. It is possible the pain comes up randomly up to 3 days or so on the hardest nipple abuse cases, but i would be worried aswell if it goes on over 2 weeks. Something that i have to deal with, is that without good massage or something, there can become dark skin on top of the nipples, where pressure was. It can be peeled off in a shower about 3 weeks later, to reveal the healed skin underneath... I don't really know of possible blood "bulps" that use of nipple clamps might send to internal body, theoretically maybe possible. There's just propably no evidence of such cases.

[watercolors]

Thank you all for your kind words. I feel less worried now.

[Sir Cumference]

Thank you all for your kind words. I feel less worried now.

how are you coming along? Still having problems or are you OK again?

[Natale]

There may be fewer aftereffects from clips if the jaws grip more flesh around the nipple- they don't hurt as much then. If they just grip the tips of the nipples then ooww! So adjust the timing accordingly. I've never used them longer than 15 minutes continuously, any longer than that and I will take a break.

[BigMan]

I'm just throwing this out there. Could you have gotten a small piece of debris pressed into or under the skin? Or.cracked the skin?

A small splinter (wood glass fiberglass) would give similar effects. As would a tiny fleck of grit or sand.

Probably none of the above but having experienced all the above (though thankfully no foreign matter in the nipple) these circumstances would give similar experience.

[tiemeupalso]

you didn't say if it was both nipples or just one.a splinter sounds like the most likely suspect.

[Brand X mk2]

Some cheaper clover clamps have very hard rubber tips which makes them too painful for most people. The more expensive ones have soft rubber tips which *squeeze* rather than dig-in which gives them the right level of "bite". I can't understand why they should cost twice the price though, they are exactly the same as the cheap brands except for the softer rubber used.

Regarding clothes pegs, I've mentioned this several times on different forums but I'm not sure if anyone ever pays much attention; wooden pegs are the gentlest but soft-grip plastic clothes pegs have a unique feel of their own. The gentlest ones afaik are the pegs designed especially for delicate fabrics; they are specifically designed to hold firmly but without gripping.

[Tenderfoot88]

I recall a release from one of Kink's many BDSM sites in which, during the pre-scene discussion, an actress pointed out that pain-based nipple play was a hard limit for her because she had once had nipple piercings. (She was ok with being fondled, but pinching of any kind, even finger tweaking, was not allowed.) I'm not entirely sure of the logic behind this, but I suppose the bit of scar tissue made it much more sensitive than normal. (Come to think of it, I have a couple of scars that seem to make the surrounding tissue more sensitive (and a slight lingering pain if I smash something against it too hard) than it should be, though none of them are on typically erotic areas.) Given the sensitivity of the nipple to start with, I'm guessing the extra sensitivity and lingering pain might be significantly greater.

So (weird question): Have you had any nipple injuries that may have resulted in scar tissue?

And Brand X mk2L
That would explain it. I'm able to handle tweezer and thumbscrew-adjusted clamps for upwards of half an hour, but the clover clamps I have always feel like it might as well be the metal on the nipples directly, and I can only handle them about a minute. (I know clover clamps are supposed to be far more intense than most models, but the disparity always seemed a little absurd, especially when there doesn't seem to be anything in between.)

[Jadit]

Speaking of clover clamps, i had 1 small issue with them few months ago; the parts detached The rivet is so small and the other half simply went through it after some kind of pressure or hit to it. Using some metal tools i managed to put it back in place, and then use a nail and hammer to try enlarge the cap of hollow rivet. Some rivets have big metal bulge on both ends, making anything inside them impossible to come off. Apparently the clamps manufacturer haven't heard about this "new technology"...

[Tenderfoot88]

The bigger the rivet is, the harder it is to get into place (read, more expensive). They can also be somewhat damaging to put into place if they're too heavy duty - a missed hammerblow would destroy a clover clamp, which is basically folded and cut sheet metal attached together in a diabolical fashion. The hollow-tip rivets (ones that have a regular screwhead dome on one side and a hollow tube on the other side instead of solid metal) are very common on tools that don't experience lateral forces. They're easy to pull through, since there's less metal holding it in place, so anything that generates a pull parallel to the rivet hole (even scissors) avoids it, but it's commonly used for tongs and other things that are only supposed to experience a perpendicular squeezing force. (Forceps probably use the better kind, since they're supposed to be used in surgery, where sudden tool failure is not exactly an option.)

[Jadit]

Clover clamp rivet do not have a screwhead dome-looking cap at all. It's basically just a hollow pipe that doesn't matter which way you put it in, just somehow smashed together slightly to "assume" it will hold. The hit from that smash machine must be making both ends a cap that is propably 1 nanometer wider than the pipe itself on both ends.

I was trying to find a picture, maybe this is close:

But it has relatively much bigger and more noticable cap on 1 end, so it's not quite the same.