Using Sounds and penis plugs - A cautionary tale..
Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 11:41 am
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!
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!