What is Nipple Play?

The nipples, for many people, not just cisgender women, are a highly sensitive spot on the body. When touched in just the right way, the result is pleasure and excitement. In kink and bondage, nipple play becomes something beyond the usual tweak and suck you might be used to, though.

While nipple play isn’t inherently kinky, but it definitely has a place in the world of BDSM, bondage, and power exchange. What is it, and how do you do it? Here’s what you need to know.

Sensation Play

Simply put, nipple play is a form of sensation play. You do it by touching and stimulating your or your partner’s nipples to a desired effect. This can be sensual pleasure or torturous pain. All of it involves specific sensations that you create with hands, mouth, or sex toys.

Some people reject kinky play because they assume it requires pain. While pain is one type of sensation, it’s not the only way to play with a partner’s nipples. Light, teasing touches as well as erotic kisses and sucking can evoke powerful pleasure for a person. At the same time, sensations can easily be intensified with the right pressure, force, or sex toy.

It’s important to talk to your partner as you play and give feedback about what feels good. If you don’t want to experience pain, find the line between that and pleasure and stick to what you enjoy.

Nipple Torture

A kinky form of nipple play is often called “nipple torture.” This usually involves some level of sadism and masochism with one partner wanting to give pain while the other wants to experience it. Nipple torture can also be part of dominance and submission as a way to play with control and power. Nipple torture fits into BDSM play in multiple ways.

If the idea of “torture” conjures up visions of extreme pain, you’re not completely wrong. It doesn’t have to be excruciatingly painful, though. Nipple torture may take a sensation that feels good in small doses and continue that sensation until it’s unbearable.

For people who enjoy nipple torture, it may be the sensation they crave or it may be the power (whether they have it or give it up to a partner). As with all pleasure, pain, and kinky fun, it’s important to discuss and respect boundaries and limits. Ongoing consent is important, and if your partner wants you to stop, you must stop.

Nipplegasms

Nipplegasms, or nipple orgasms, are exactly what they sound like. Playing with your or a partner’s nipples until you or they get off. There is no specific sensation required to bring someone to orgasm. One person may love soft, sensual caresses. Another might want to have their nipples pinched until they scream in pain and pleasure.

Trying to get off through nipple stimulation requires time and patience. If a person can orgasm through their nipples, they may need 10 to 20 minutes (or longer!) of continuous play. You can vary what you do to the nipples, as long as it’s enjoyable, but this isn’t something you can rush. Take your time and enjoy the experience.

Not everyone will orgasm through nipple play. Don’t stress out if it’s not happening for you. The entire point is pleasure, so as long as it feels good, an orgasm should be secondary.

What to Use in Nipple Play

Nipple play happens in so many ways. You’re only limited by what feels good and what you have on hand (no pun intended).

• Use your fingers and hands to pinch, stroke, tweak, and caress the nipples.
• Take the nipple into your mouth and use tongue or teeth to create sensations, especially to add an element of pain.
• Finger vibrators, bullet vibes, and other sex toys add direct stimulation to the nipple that a mouth or hand can’t create.
• Nipple pumps increase the size and sensitivity of the nipples. They’ll be bigger and better able to feel whatever you do to them.
• Nipple clamps create a sharp pinch that you feel going on and while you wear them. But the biggest sensation comes from taking them off.
• Use ticklers and dusters for soft sensations and floggers, crops, or paddles for more intense stimulation.

Conclusion

Anyone can engage in nipple play as long as they enjoy it. You don’t have to like pain or want extreme stimulation. Remember, it’s all about the pleasure and enjoyment you get from the experience, no matter how you like to play, and no matter how kinky (or not) you are.