Male Genital Piercings: Prince Albert, Dolphin and Frenum

22.12.2010 | By: Elayne Angel

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Editor's remark: In case you missed it, Elayne Angel already wrote about the male genital piercings and introduced the Prince Albert piercing.

Prince Albert Piercing: Healing and Troubleshooting

The amount of post-PA bleeding that frequently occurs can be alarming even if you think you are prepared for it. It is cruel and unprofessional for a piercer to perform your Prince Albert without educating you about what to expect during the aftermath. Rest assured, intermittent blood flow for several days is absolutely normal. After that, it can continue to bleed off and on for a few more days. Keep bandaged up for a while longer than you think you need to, even if it seems that your bleeding has stopped. Healing of Prince Albert piercings is usually quick and trouble-free, unless you are overzealous with sexual activity before healing is complete.

Prince Albert Piercing: Urination

Many men are apprehensive about being able to urinate standing up after getting this piercing. A few easy maneuvers can help you to normalize the act once you have healed. When a ring sits in the middle of your urethra it can split the flow and cause a splashy mess. Also, many Prince Albert piercings stretch on their own, leaving extra room around the jewelry, which results in leakage from the piercing hole. A simple solution is to manually plug the hole on the bottom when you urinate. Place a finger on the underside of your penis just at the front of the jewelry. If you wear a ring, put your fingertip within the ring. This draws the jewelry to the lower edge of your urinary meatus so it doesn’t interrupt the flow. Or, rotate your penis so that the ring faces the ceiling. This helps to merge urine leaking from the piercing hole back into the main stream.

Prince Albert piercing (Photo by Elayne Angel)

Prince Albert Piercing: Changing Jewelry and Stretching

It is usually easy to change your own Prince Albert jewelry, especially if you insert it from the outside, rather than trying to feed it inside your urethra. Sometimes the PA stretches so readily that you may be able to skip several sizes. However, once it is expanded, the tissue may not shrink back much if you remove your jewelry later. This is the most popular body piercing for jumbo expansion; jewelry of 0 to 00 gauge (8 or 9 mm) is not unusual. Many men and their partners enjoy the sensations of a Prince Albert piercing with big, heavy jewelry in it. Sizable rings do not prohibit urination, because when thicker jewelry is added, the urethra stretches, too. Caution: hefty rings or bars can be dangerous to your partner’s teeth during oral sex.

Prince Albert Piercing: Retiring

Unlike most piercings, once the Prince Albert is healed, it is usually there to stay. Even if you abandon it, you can probably reinsert jewelry later. Depending on how large the piercing was stretched, the hole could remain open enough to leak after you remove the jewelry. Simply covering the hole with your finger during urination is an acceptable resolution for most men. If not, consult an understanding urologist or surgeon to learn about the pros and cons of a procedure to excise and stitch up your unwanted aperture.

Prince Albert Piercing: Alternate Placement—Deep Prince Albert

When the piercing is made further down the shaft, this is called a deep Prince Albert. This is sometimes performed as a result of mild hypospadias; other times it is just a personal preference, especially for those who want to wear large jewelry. The tissue is just as thin and pierceable as in the traditional location, but the tube needs to be inserted further into the urethra for the procedure. These tend to heal quickly, and other aspects are the same as a traditionally placed PA.

placing of Prince Albert - Dolphin piercing Elayne Angel

Dolphin piercing - an alternate placing of Prince Albert (Photo by Elayne Angel)

Prince Albert Piercing: Alternate Placement—Dolphin Piercing

When a deep PA piercing is made (farther down the shaft) and jewelry is threaded between it and a traditionally placed PA, this is called a dolphin piercing. I usually start these with Tygon passed out the tip of the urethra for comfort and ease of healing. Men who have a large difference in size between flaccid and erect states may never find metal jewelry comfortable in a dolphin piercing.

The Frenum Piercing

• Healing time: 3 to 4 months or longer

• Initial jewelry style: Straight barbell

• Initial jewelry gauge: 12 or 10 gauge

• Initial jewelry size: Anatomically dependent; commonly 5/8 inch, though sometimes 9/16 to 3/4 inch or more

The frenum is a versatile genital piercing that is second in popularity only to the Prince Albert. The name is derived from shortening the anatomical terms frenulum or fraenum (a fibrous cord of connecting tissue, in this case on the underside of the penis), in which the piercing is placed. It joins the glans to the foreskin, and the bulk of it is commonly removed during circumcision. The remaining tissue is what is pierced on those who have been circumcised.

Frenum piercings - frenum ladder (Photo by Elayne Angel)

Frenum Placement

A traditional frenum piercing is placed horizontally on the underside of the penis about 1/2 inch down the shaft from the usual location of a Prince Albert. Poorly trained piercers frequently place the frenum too close to the head of the penis, so there is not enough room for the PA. The classic frenum is situated on the bottom of the penis, opposite the groove where the corona joins the shaft on the top. After healing, if you wear a large ring through the piercing and around the shaft, the hoop rests level on the penis. A ring wide enough to encompass the optimal width of tissue for this piercing is too large and cumbersome for healing. The barbell is superior initial jewelry for safety and comfort.

The frenum piercing does not penetrate into the shaft or the urethra; it simply goes through the fine, pliable tissue. If the skin can be pinched up, it can be pierced. The term “frenum” initially referred only to the traditional spot on the underside, but it is now used to describe any piercing along the surface of the shaft, including the top, sides, and in between. Success rates vary for frenum piercings placed in nontraditional spots. Some men can heal anywhere along the shaft, but others find that alternative placements are more apt to migrate or reject.

Multiple frenums are common, and when placed in a row they are referred to as a frenum ladder. You can wear a ladder on the underside, on the top, and the sides of the shaft. The piercings, however, need to be an adequate distance apart to avoid pinching. Depending on how many you ultimately desire, one option is to put several evenly spaced piercings wide apart and add more between them over time. Each piercer has his own policy regarding how many he will perform in one session; I seldom do more than four. The more piercings you get at once, the longer they may all take to heal. When your body is taxed beyond its ability to repair, rejection is sometimes a consequence, so patience and planning are required for ladders.