Using Sounds and penis plugs - A cautionary tale..

[estimator]

I post this as my personal experience with the intention of creating safety awareness around 'Sounding rods', 'penis plugs' and anything else one may deem worthy of inserting into their urethra. Man, woman or any other gender identity included.
This is not intended to cause alarm. If you insert anything into your urethra I would read this and take on board what the urology consultant advised.
I had been using penis plugs made from surgical grade steel and assumed the I was sterilising them adequately using medical grade sterilising fluid after use and boiling in hot water again before use as well as using a pre injection swab to clean before using medical grade sterile lube before insertion.

(I was NOT using E-stim plugs, I am in no way insinuating that e-stim products had anything to do with my bladder infection).

I have not had a sexual partner since my last STI test about a year ago which was all negative.

I had been stimming with sounds1-2 days a week for about 6 months.

During swimming play I would often remove sounds to step up in size. During play this can be hard to keep the sounds from touching other surfaces etc.

A couple of weeks ago I started to pee more frequently but peed less and less... I didn't really pay much attention to this as I didn't drink a lot of water and pee that often anyways. I felt a bit of sensitivity in my urethra but I put this down to the size of the sounds I had been using, and compared with the intense sensations experienced when stimming, I assumed that the sensitivity could've been related to the stimming and stretching of the urethra.
Toward the end of a couple of weeks I felt like I had contracted a virus, the flu or something. By this time I was urinating more frequently but less pee and I continued to attribute this to the sounds and stimming. The strange thing was that I couldn't think clearly, my rational thinking seem distant, I had a temperature and spent a couple of nights in bed sweating and felt very weak prompting me to present myself to A&E. I told A&E that I had been using sounds and stimming. They didn't seem concerned about the the stimming but the mention of sounds were 'concerning' as a possible cause of urethral damage and a possible infection.

At A&E I was triaged and quickly (highly unusual for A&E) given blood and urine tests.
I had a very high temperature and urine tests showed an infection. A few hours later at 4am I was transferred across town from A&E St Mary's hospital London to the Urology unit at Charing Cross hospital also in London. I was put into a private room with a nurse sitting outside the door so I knew there was more to this that they were telling me. for 5 days I had constant tests and finally stabilised with antibiotics. The infection had caused major inflammation of the urethra and bladder and tubes that run to the kidneys.
I was told If I had waited longer before going to A&E I would have likely had the onset of a kidney infection and possible sepsis as the infection was already traveling toward the kidneys.

After 5 days I was discharged with a course of antibiotics and information on warning signs indicating I should return to A&E.

4 days later I was beginning to pee more freely and the sensitivity was lessening. I was called in for a flexible cystoscopy. (camera into the urethra and bladder). The bladder and urethra were normal. This information was given to me by the Consultant urologist after the flexible cystoscopy appointment.
The infection I had contracted had entered by via my urethra and the infection was not in line with the 'usual suspects' of bacteria that cause an infection to start from within the body.. So, in short this indicated an infection from outside in. The urology consultant advised that all of the steps I had taken to sterilise the sounds was in no way 'sterilising' the sounds at their point of use. In fact, I signed a consent form prior to the cystoscopy that I was aware that there was a 1 in 20 chance of infection from this medical procedure using medically sterilised equipment throughout. He advised me that even If I used a 'autoclave' machine this would still leave a chance of infection at the point of use because I would be taking the sterilised sound into a unsterile environment prior to insertion.

I thought I was pretty savvy about the steps I took to sterilise my sounds. How wrong I was.

I have now stopped sounding and insetting things into my urethra. Sure, a short course of antibiotic cleared this matter up, but there are many ways this could've gone.

Maybe this post will help others aware of the risks of infections from insetting foreign objects into ones urethra and in making informed decisions with a glimpse at what could be a 'possible outcome' from using sounds, however sterile you think they may be.

Play safe - Stay safe!

[verispalles]

Sounds like a truly unpleasant experience, I hope you continue to recover and that the antibiotics keep working well.

I would echo all of the consultant's advice on sterility and non-sterile environments. My background is in microbiology and stem cell work so I know how difficult it is to create sterile equipment. In laboratory environments, with autoclaving and frequent UV sterilization, contamination is still a risk simply because its humans handling the equipment. I think it would be very difficult to properly sterilize a sound and that's been my primary reason for avoiding any sort of sounding play in the past.

Thank you for sharing!

[donf]

I've been using urethra plugs for years and have had no problems at all. Before use, I sterilize them in boiling water for 30 minutes and take a shower before using them, washing the genital area with a surgical antibiotic cleanser. Finally, I drink cranberry juice with D-Mannose Powder added before and after a session, so for me, that above has worked without ever contracting an infection.

[VFRman]

Oh dear poor you, but thanks for this warning. Before my tale, elsewhere, (lost the link) another user posted an even more dire story similar to yours, A&E followed by complications resulting in complete kidney failure & now on Dialysis for life! Why do we do it?
A couple of years ago, after a session to include sounding, I noticed a change in frequency of peeing, to the point one day I had to go about every 10-15 minutes. In fact by the end of the day I had soiled about 3 pairs of trousers as not able to get to the toilet in time. Visit to my GP, urine test came back with bladder infection, UTI & had to take anti-biotics for 3 weeks. Now I too was boiling & using my heat only Autoclave, so assumed something along the way was incorrect. So do I sound. Yes but with reduced frequency & a state of anxiety. Not the best for a relaxed session. Might be best to stick with anal inserts which I enjoy.

[donf]

Thanks for the additional experience you had, but I think one of the reasons I haven't had any infections is the extreme lengths I go to before inserting a plug. As I said, I put my plugs into boiling water for 30 minutes, but before that, I thoroughly wash them with a disinfectant. I use a special borosilicate glass container to boil the water in a microwave. All my plugs are made of 316 Stainless steel, so they can easily withstand boiling water. I also include a pair of surgical tongs in the boiling water, and I never touch the plugs with my hands, only using the tongs for that. Also after taking a shower using a surgical cleaner which contains Chlorhexidine Gluconate, I also spray a wound cleaning agent on my penis, then wipe the area with alcohol, and finally apply Povidone-Iodine to the tip of my penis. I also use lots of lubricant for insertion, which is a single-use product called Surgilupe, a sterile lubricant containing a bacteriostatic agent called Chlorhexidine Gluconate. Finally using the tongs, I remove the plug from the cooled boiled water in the glass container and insert the plug. Once the plug is inserted, I do not have to take any more precautions. By the way, most of my plugs, except the ones used for urethral dilation, are for e-stim use, so I have had to drill 2mm holes into them to attach the power box leads. So, as you can see, I do not take inserting penis plugs lightly, but using the above technique I have never had a urinary infection as a result of using them. Also, as I previously indicated before and after using the plugs, I drink the cranberry juice cocktail containing D-Mannose powder with a concentrated powdered cranberry juice extract added too. If you follow the above procedure, it might be helpful to prevent infections when using these plugs.

[VFRman]

Hello again,
Your pre sounding procedure is most impressive and I would imagine exceeds hospital catheter preparation. To be honest, this to me would be more hassle than its worth. Yes, I boil my stainless steel sound for about 15 minutes, then 30 minutes in the Autoclave. I wear medical sterile gloves & wipe the sound & urethral area with an antimicrobial wipe. For insertion use a small sachet of sterile Optilube jelly. Sort of similar, but not as intensive as you. Question is, what is the pleasure to hassle, worry ratio?
My main Sound is the excellent urethral stretching sound from Tether Products. This is unique in providing very tiny steps to slowly stretch your hole. From about 6mm a few years ago, I managed to reach 10.66mm. This journey was fun, however, any further can cause pain & slight bleeding. Peeing afterwards also stings for a couple of times. So putting this altogether I wonder what is the point of continuing.
I will take your lead, for general health benefits (perceived) to take a little Cranberry Juice.

[donf]

Hi Again, It sounds like you take a lot of precautions too, and yes, I believe the cranberry juice cocktail helps too, but I believe only if you add the extra ingredients, such as D-Mannose and the cranberry extra I use called Ellura which is a concentrated medical grade PAC (proanthocyanidins) product, quite expensive but probably worth using in the cocktail. I don't use sterile gloves since I do not touch the urethral plugs with my hands, only with the sterilized tongs. As for the tether products, I have a few of those including the graduate dialator, but only the larger of the two because the smaller one is no longer available. Using other dilators, I've increased my insertable size from 6mm to 9mm, which I think is large enough for most of my 8mm plugs, and again, I use my plugs for e-stim only, so their length is relatively short, at approximately 50mm in length with an insertable length of around 37mm and have the 2mm holes drilled into them for attaching to 2mm e-stim wire lead plugs. I have a longer insertable called the Big Jim from P.E.S that is about 150mm in length, but for insertion, I cannot be immersed in boiling water and must be disinfected with a chemical disinfectant, which after using this solution, I then immerse this silicone sound into sterile water before inserting it. I've used this insertable several times without any infections, but again I always drink my cranberry cocktail before and after a session using urethral insertable plugs and sounds.

Is it worth all this effort, I would say yes, because for my e-stim sessions, coming out of my power box, I have on channel A, one lead going inside to the urethral plug and then on the outside, the other lead connecting to a 22mm diameter glans electrode just opposite the urethral location that is held in place by a transparent elastic band. Then on channel B, I use a bi-polar anal plug. So, the combination produces a terrific e-stim session that usually ends with a hands-free organism. So, it really is worth all of the time and effort involved.