Growing up, my father worked as an electrician/electrical engineer, and later on in my own life I became a lighting tech for theaters and special event companies. I’ve always felt a kinship with electricity, both in the sense that there is an “electrical” connection between certain people, and in the manipulation of it physically. Today, E is for E-Stim which stands for “electrical stimulation”.
To start out, here are the top two things you MUST remember when thinking about playing with electricity:
- Safety!
- No, really, SAFETY, so do your research or die – maybe literally.
“…So I want you to be totally honest with me on the way the machine makes you feel. This being our first try, I’ll use the lowest setting.”
Now that we’ve got those two rules down, there are a great many ways you can play with electrical stimulation and have a really fun time. This is especially true these days because there are plethora of delightful, intelligent, kinky, amazingly perverted toymakers and inventors out there who have created toys specifically with electrical play safety in mind. I recommend starting out on your journey by trying those products on for size and learning as much as you can about how the beast works before getting too creative.
What are some of these safer toys and devices you speak of? Since we’ve established that electricity will kill you as soon as look at you, and to MAKE SURE WHAT YOU ARE USING IS MEANT FOR USE ON A LIVING BODY AND BEING USED SAFELY, lets run over some toys that are meant to be used on people:
- The Violet Wand (their safety information page)
- TENS Units and the like (stands for “Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation”: their FAQ page)
- Stun Guns (good information page including mention of which states they are illegal in)
- and there are other toys and tools you can use too, so search around, read up, and always read your instructions first!
What else? There are forums like www.smartstim.com, along with groups and resources on Fetlife and other kink communities that are created to help people understand how e-stim works and what is safe, unsafe and possible in electrical play. I recommend checking out group forums like these at the very least for research information and general advice, and at best for great ideas, conversations, and to clear up misconceptions you might have about how people do what they seem to be doing. Having an account on Fetlife or Kink Academy or some other social or educational website can help you move from cautious novice, to well practicing intermediate, leading of course to highly prized kink wizard!
My thigh the day after Violet Wand Torture
My Experiences: Have been very slim as of yet, though what I’ve felt I’ve liked and hated in the best combination possible. Electricity is one of the only things that’s “broken” me (grinning as I say it), but more on that particular scene in my interrogation entry… Specifically, when it comes to electricity I’ve played with the Violet Wand, so I can speak to that one quite well. It has a lot of different attachments, some beautiful, some more intense than others, some feel like massage, some more bizarre. What I like most is the attachment you can stick in your belt to electrify your hand which basically makes YOU the electrical toy, and your touch torturous. I will admit one of the things I REALLY like about that is that the sadistic partner you have is also feeling what you’re feeling – serves them right.
Through extensive use of the Violet Wand I have gotten a light “sunburn” over the more sensitive area that was repeatedly shocked (inner thighs), but that cleared up completely within a day or so. All in all really fun stuff, that Violet Wand.
Why E-Stim, what’s going on there? Electrical stimulation works in two different ways depending on the type of tool you’re using: either by a static shock, or by deeper stimulation of the muscles. Toys like the Violet Wand operate more superficially building up and creating a static shock on top of the skin. Toys like TENS units and Stun Guns directly target deeper muscles by overloading the electrical current that naturally occur in the muscles thereby seizing the muscle up and temporarily paralyzing it by making it contract.
Thoughts to Think About: There are general guidelines to keep in mind when playing with any type of electricity, and more specific things to think about depending on the type of e-stim toy you’re using. ALWAYS READ THE WARNINGS AND PROPER USE DOCUMENTS THAT COME WITH YOUR EQUIPMENT. Know what kind of questions to bring up in negotiation with your partner: does your partner have epilepsy or a pacemaker? Does your partner have any heart issues, bad circulation, or a history of blood clotting? This is a non-exhaustive list, so know specifically what your equipment warns about on top of these concerns.
Communicate Communicate Communicate… Need I say more? Try your toys out on yourself first so you know what type of sensation you’re doling out. Check in with your partner about what the sensations are like for them as you play – is this too much, can you take more (?)… Decompress about what happened in a scene afterward, was it good, bad, ugly, pleasurable, scary, fun. If you want to do it again figure out what you’d like to try next time and what you should stay away from repeating. Don’t break the toys – your machines or your human ones!
Have fun and remember that no matter how consensually evil you might be being to one another, you’re on the same team and in this together.
To Breath and Being,
~ Karin
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