Electro-play review

[sweh]

( see also Tori's view )
Review of Ms Cynthia talk about "Electric Sex", Tuesday Nov 7th 2006

This has only been my third or fourth TES meeting (despite being a member for 3 years) and this is my first meeting write up.

Names elided, for privacy. (Excuses excuses... really I'm bad at remembering names, so I forgot most of them!)

Before-hand, Michelle (TES Membership Chair) had asked for volunteers. I forwarded my name and was asked to turn up early. I'd never volunteered to be a "crash test dummy" before, so I was a little wibblish; I was hoping she'd find me acceptable. My Lady, Tori, also volunteered since she switches and wanted to learn about this form of play. I own a TENS unit and a "Prof's Black Box", so have experimented on myself a fair few times.

As it turns out, Ms Cynthia had already sorted out a male stunt pervert (someone she's known for a long time) and a female victim had been arranged, so we weren't needed. A bit of a shame; I'd been working my courage up all day and had been unable to concentrate at work, just in case she did need me, and so felt a bit of a let down. As it turns out, I wouldn't have been suitable, anyway, because of a minor temporary medical issue. Never mind; I'm sure there may be something else in the future that I can volunteer. If I have the courage!

After the standard opening announcements (introductions, what else is happening these next two weeks - wow, Ms Cynthia is busy! - and so on) the presentation started. Ms Cynthia began by describing her safety rules. Most of these are standard (keep insertables clean; clean before and after use) but some were electro-play specific. In particular, not across the heart or with people with a history of heart conditions or pacemakers.

[ Personal aside: electrical flow through the body isn't quite as simple as Ms Cynthia implied, but those basic guidelines are a good basis ]

Some people say "not above the waist" but Ms Cynthia described at least two (and demo'd one) method of above the waist; eg on either side of a nipple (*NOT* from nipple to nipple) or on an arm (*NOT* across arms). Basically the electricity travels from one contact to the other; make sure that path is not through the heart. In her years of play she hasn't heard of any deaths from a TENS unit, but she doesn't want to be first.

[ Personal aside: the medical TENS unit I own has zero mention about any risks of above-the-waist positioning of electrodes; as Ms Cynthia said, she doesn't want to go into history as the first person to cause death through TENS so I don't do "across the heart" either. ]

Toy maintenance (as always) is crucial; don't play with bare wires or poor connectors. This can cause voltage to flow where you don't want it or cause the top to be shocked by accident.

As electricity flows between two contacts this means that the toys need to have two contacts. Some toys are a single contact and so need to be used with a second one (eg a cock ring and a butt plug, so the circuit is completed through the body... straight through the prostate!) and others have both contacts (sometimes called "bipolar") on the device and so can be used on their own. Of course a bipolar device can normally be used with just a single electrode attached, and with a second toy placed elsewhere.

Different toys need different size connectors; medical TENS units tend to come with thin connectors which are fine for electrode pads, but larger toys may need a larger "banana" connector, so adapters can be bought (eg from Radio Shack) to convert between them.

Ms Cynthia then went on to describe various toys; a bi-polar butt plug (a very large "medium"!) that she also uses for vaginal insertion; various sized cock rings, single-pole urethral sounds, a urethral sparkler, electro bands (essentialy a single-pole contact on an elastic strap), a TENS unit (with two channels), spare batteries (beware; changing a depleted batter with a new one will cause bigger shocks, so turn the power down before changing them!), lube (which can also increase the conductivity) and cleaning equipment.

The first demonstration was on how the current causes muscles to contract. A male volunteer held his amrs out, palms up, with electrodes connected between wrist and mid-arm. As the voltage was turned up (start low, slowly increase) we could see the hands and fingers twitching and despite being ordered to keep still he was unable to prevent the electrical impulses from affecting his muscles (a demonstration of how to use electro-play with a domination theme; "I control your body, not you").

A challenge was given to see if anyone thought they could stop their hands moving while hooked up. Having done this to myself I knew the machine would always win, so didn't volunteer. Another man did and the demo was repeated. Despite his efforts there were still tremors caused by the TENS unit.

[ Personal aside: from personal experience the effect here is actually dependent on the frequency of the pulses. At a low rate of, say, 4 to 8 hz then the effect is as shown. At higher frequencies (say 150hz) then the muscles can end up contracting, forcing the hand to curl in on itself. If left too long like that it's possible to cause cramps. ]

The next demonstration was on female genitalia; the volunteer took off her pants and lay on a table, facing the audience. A pad was placed either side of the clit, and current pulsed through. The reported effects ranged from pleasant to sharp/stingy as the frequency and intensity was changed.

[ Personal aside: More reporting from Ms Cynthia on what changes she was making would have been beneficial; we saw the effects, but not what she had done to cause those effects. ]

The (cleaned, lubricated) bipolar plug was inserted and hooked up to the second channel. As the voltage was increased through the plug this caused the muscles to contract and release; the end result was that the plug moved in and out, effectively fucking the volunteer. As the voltage increased the strength of the movement increased ("Too hard!" "Do you want it to stop?" "...No"). Various combinations of intensities of the plug and the pads were played with. The volunteer's partner was given the controls and both people seemed to be enjoying themselves immensly.

After cleanup the demonstration moved onto the male subject. An electro-band was tightened around the scrotal sack (tight! The balls apparently have a habit of trying to retreat when electricity is applied) and a cock ring placed around the penis head. As voltage was applied we could see the cock bouncing as muscles contracted. Again stimulation changed as voltage changed.

[ Personal aside: this is another area where frequency changes things a lot. At a very high frequency and voltage it causes me to have a very hard erection and can almost be enough to make me want to ejaculate through that feeling alone, but if too high can be painful... the change between the two points is very subtle! ]

Next (after removing these) a sparkler was introduced into the urethra (and held in place; apparently it's common for these to jump out when voltage is applied) and a probe introduced to the rectum. Again the effects of the play changed from pleasant to painful as the controls were changed. Another volunteer was given the TENS controls and we saw how moving the anal probe affected the victim. In particular the probe came out, causing a painful "ouch!". Electro-toys can "bite" when inserted/removed, so it's normally a good idea to reduce the power before doing this.

After this demonstration the meeting broke up for a while before reforming as the TES circle. We had to leave at this point in order to get the train home.

[ Personal aside: at home I demonstrated to Tori some of the effects of the TENS unit; she quite liked to low frequency pulsing across the clit. I also demonstrated to her the difference between low and high frequency signals ("it tickles... ouch!!"). After having witness the fun that the female volunteer had, she is now pondering the purchase of a similar insertable and wondering if her Hitachi Magic Wand is going to lose it's place as favourite toy ]