Desensitization

It has been suggested that some piercings can result in desensitization. That is, over time, if you get a genital piercing, you could experience less physical sensation, rather than more. This is largely urban myth but it can happen due to three main reasons:

1. It's not happening

because sensation is usually greatly increased, at least temporarily during the healing period, some people may feel they are experiencing desensitization as their body normalizes and adapts, because they've become acclimated to the enhanced sensations of the fresh piercing.

2. Nerve damage

in very rare cases (such as with male penile shaft piercings) it is possible to damage the nerves which transmit all those good feelings to your brain. If this happens, the piercing should be removed, but it is very rare even in extreme piercings. It could happen in other genital piercings, but, even in clitoral piercings, it's almost unheard of.

3. Callousing

the clitoris and the glans of the uncircumcised male have extremely thin skin. Coupled with the nerve density, this makes them extremely sensitive! However, abuse of this skin will cause it to thicken and callous (just like the glans of a circumcised man is far more callous, thick-skinned, and less sensitive). Some people have suggested that body piercings rubbing on the clitoris could do this, but incidents of people actually reporting it are exceptionally rare, and in any case, simple removal of the piercing if it happened should correct the problem.

All in all, desensitization is not a major risk for any procedures (although some would argue that oversensitization is in some cases).

Entries related to this risk

• Clitoral Piercing
• Hood Piercing
• Shaft Piercing
• Hood Splitting
• Circumcision