Domination & submission _ the BDSM relationship handbook ( PDFDrive )

Piercing, Scarification & Branding
Any BDSM activity involving needles, pins, nails or hooks which pierce the skin
requires meticulous care to prevent serious infections or the spread of
communicable diseases. Even so, as long as it is done by a trained, experienced
person who observes proper sanitation protocols, it doesn’t have to be
dangerous.
Needles
BDSM needle play can take many forms, most of which it involve piercing the
skin with hypodermic or acupuncture needles. Strictly speaking, needles aren’t
inherently painful by themselves, but the obvious and often palpable
psychological effects of needle play can make it interesting indeed. Some people
have reported endorphin highs and even orgasms from needle play, but how
much of that is physical, versus psychological, is debatable.
The most common forms of needle play usually consist of placing acupuncture
needles into various fleshy parts of the body to induce or reduce fear, create
aesthetically pleasing patterns or designs, stimulate the nervous system, cause or
reduce pain, and for other therapeutic reasons. Acupuncture needles may be
inserted into the flesh perpendicular to the skin or at a secant, where the needle
is pushed through a fold of skin in such a way that the tip emerges again, leaving
only the center part of the needle shaft below the skin. This aesthetic mode of
needle play has recently become quite popular as a way to anchor decorative
corset lacing to a person’s back or chest.
Hypodermic needles are also used in BDSM needle play, though less often than
acupuncture needles, for fairly obvious reasons. Hypodermic needles are
hollow, and designed to inject or sample fluids from the body; that means the
needle has to be thicker and will usually produce a slightly more painful poke.
Some studies have shown that roughly 10% of the population suffers from
trypanophobia, which is the fear of hypodermic needles. Whether that statistic
holds up in the kink population is anyone’s guess, but the most common form of
fetish-related hypodermic needle play occurs in BDSM medical role-play
scenes.
Both acupuncture and hypodermic needles can be purchased from any local or
online medical supply retailer. Hypodermic needles are typically sold separately