I’m a late-20s straight man in a BDSM relationship with a dominant woman. She enjoys depriving me of orgasms for long periods of time, and she likes to keep me in a male chastity belt, a rather high-tech custom-fitted thing made of stainless steel and lined in silicone. It makes it impossible for me to masturbate or even get an erection. While it has taken some time to adjust to wearing it full-time, I can now go about my daily business quite well with it on. Judging by the Internet, there’s quite a burgeoning fetish subculture for male chastity belts. My only concern is the long-term medical effects. My penis unsuccessfully tries to get erect dozens of times a day, only to strain against an unyielding steel tube. I worry that months (years?) of this may damage my penis or make it difficult to get an erection when I finally do have the chance. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find a professional medical opinion on the Internet, and I’m too embarrassed to ask my own doctor. Can you consult one of your guest medical experts on this matter? –Cold Hard Armor Squashes the Erections
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“The only thing I can think of that might be a problem for CHASTE is the development of Peyronie’s disease,” says Christian P. Pavlovich, assistant professor of urology at Johns Hopkins. “As you know, Peyronie’s disease is a curvature of the penis of unknown etiology that is associated with a plaque of scar tissue at the tunica albuginea of the corpora cavernosa of the penis.”
Dr. Pavlovich was quick to add that no studies have been done on the short- or long-term effects of locking your cock up in an unyielding steel tube, which explains why you found so little about it on the Web. Nevertheless, he felt you and your girlfriend/dom should proceed with caution. “At the very least,” says Dr. Pavlovich, “CHASTE should let his penis ‘breathe’ once in a while.”
Moving on: no, I don’t believe that Harpo responded in a way that’s appropriate. Just as George W. Bush feels we should “err on the side of life”–at least where Terri Schiavo is concerned–I’ve always felt it’s best to err on the side of avoiding incestuous hand jobs. If Harpo felt her father was truly desperate for release, AR, then she should have hired a professional to come in and do the job–but only after getting his consent.
