Male genitalia offer a plethora of pierceable areas. The location of these piercings depend upon personal anatomy and the purpose of the piercing.

The majority of men and women get their genitals pierced to increase sexual pleasure. While female genital piercings are usually meant to increase their personal pleasure, many male genital piercings are meant to increase the pleasure of their partner. However, there are a few male genital piercings designed for aesthetic purposes or to improve the sexual experience of the piercee.

While nerve damage in a botched male genital piercing is rare (according to genital piercing specialist Elayne Angel, the penis has a more spread out distribution of nerve endings, making desensitivity or hypersensitivity uncommon), you can still suffer from unnecessary pain, scar tissue, and other complications, so you want to be sure that the piercing is done correctly.

Before you set your heart on a male genital piercing, here’s everything you need to know.

How Much Do Male Genital Piercings Hurt?

The term “male genital piercing” covers a wide variety of piercings, from the pubic region to the scrotum, so the answer to this question largely depends upon the specific genital piercing that you choose. For example, piercings that go through the urethra, like the Prince Albert piercing, are known to cause quite a bit of pain, but it’s quick. However, some piercings, like the frenum, only go through pinchable skin, staying away from sensitive areas, leading to less pain.

After you get pierced, as it’s healing, you might feel some throbbing and discomfort, and the jewelry might feel like it tugs a little when you get an erection. This will go away after the piercing has fully healed and you’ve gotten used to the jewelry in a sensitive area. 

Male Genital Piercing Healing Process

Healing times vary from person to person, and it will depend upon your body, but according to the Association of Piercing Professionals, you can expect to spend around 3 - 4 months or longer on healing.

Male Genital Piercing Aftercare

General aftercare practices for male genital piercings don’t differ from any other piercing. You should conduct a sea salt soak or compress 2 - 3 times daily by soaking the piercing in a sea salt mixture for 3 - 5 minutes. This will clean the new piercing and clear it of any harmful microbes.

Beyond keeping it clean, here are some healing tips.

Be careful with sex during healing. Sex is dirty (and we don’t just mean the fun kind of dirty). You and your partner will trade tons of bacteria through your body fluids, which isn’t always great for a healing piercing. It’s a good idea to refrain from sex during healing, but at the very least, make sure to immediately clean your healing piercing after intercourse to avoid infection.

Wear clean cotton underwear. To avoid snagging, you might want to switch to tight underwear during the course of healing. This also helps to keep the piercing still as you move around, avoiding issues like piercing rejection. Always make sure that your underwear is clean to avoid infection, and it’s never a good idea to go commando. Your jewelry can easily get snagged on your clothing, which you really want to avoid.

Don’t use products that aren’t safe for piercings. This includes lubricants and other pleasurable additions to the bedroom. These products can have chemicals that will irritate your healing piercing, leading to discomfort and prolonged healing times.

Male Genital Piercing Jewelry Styles

The type of jewelry that you can wear will depend upon the gential piercing that you choose. Your piercer will tell you which jewelry styles you can pick once your piercing has fully healed. 

The majority of male genital piercings accept either curved barbells, hoops, or both. Your choice in jewelry will depend upon aesthetics as well as sexual pleasure.

For example, the pubic piercing—placed where the belly and the penis shaft meet—can accept barbells or hoops. However, many choose to go with a captive bead ring because, in heterosexual partners, the bead in the CBR can make the experience more pleasurable for the woman. 

In genital piercings, it’s common to choose jewelry will ball ends, since they tend to stimulate the genitalia. You can stick with standard 14k gold ball ends, or you can decorate them with opals, faux turquoise, or other colorful options. It’s probably best to stick with smoother options; a gemstone bead end might not be very comfortable.

Since the jewelry is placed in such a sensitive area, you want to make sure that it’s made of high-quality materials, is nickel-free, and features internal threading.

Why Shouldn’t I Get A Male Genital Piercing?

The male genital piercing that you get will largely depend upon your anatomy. While it’s rare that there’s a genital region that can’t be pierced (there’s a piercing out there for everyone), you might not be able to get the piercing that you want. (If you have your heart set on a foreskin piercing, but you’ve been circumcised, you’re out of luck.)

How Much Will It Cost?

While male genital piercings are increasing in popularity, they’re still a fairly rare procedure. It’s possible that your regular piercing studio has either never done one before or has only done the procedure once or twice. You really want to have someone who is experienced in genital piercings. A misplaced piercing can cause scarring or can hinder the sexual experience for both you and your partner. You want to budget at least $100 for the procedure alone in order to find a genital piercing specialist.

If this means that you have to travel, do it. Your sexual health is nothing to play around with, and while piercing complications in an eyebrow piercing is frustrating enough, piercing complications in the genital region can become a true nightmare.

Male Genital Piercing Types

There are so many ways that you can pierce male genitalia. Since its nerve endings are spread out, there are few piercing placements that are unattainable. However, a few male genital piercings stand out above the rest.

The Prince Albert piercing is highly regarded as the most popular male genital piercing. It pierces the bottom tip of the penis and goes through the urethra. You can get a variation of this that goes through the top of the penis as well. This piercing is largely designed to increase the woman’s pleasure in heterosexual couples, since the bead in a CBR or barbell will rub against the g-spot during intercourse, increasing her sensation. However, it has been known to increase the sexual pleasure in same sex couples as well.

The frenum piercing pierces the skin on the underside of the penis. It can be placed almost anywhere on the shaft, and you can even pierce the shaft multiple times to create a ladder. A variation of the frenum piercing, the lorem piercing, pierces the skin between the base of the shaft and the scrotum.

The scrotum piercing is placed anywhere on the scrotum where the skin can be pinched.

The pubic piercing pierces the skin where the penis shaft meets the pubic region. 

The guiche piercing horizontally pierces the area between the scrotum and anus. It’s designed to increase the pleasure of the piercee.