Whether you’ve seen them in porn or have been tantalized by their ultra-cheap price point in a world of expensive kink gear, you might be curious about BDSM nipple clamps.
Let’s talk about what BDSM nipple clamps are, why people like it, if they hurt, the different types there are, and how to use them.
Why Use BDSM Nipple Clamps?
Nipple Clamps are an interesting sensory item. They end up cutting off the blood flow to the nipple which makes the nipples amazingly sensitive. When the nipples are so sensitive, even the slightest movement can cause a mixture of pleasure and pain to the wearer. Along with this, many people take a bit of submissive pleasure in the act of wearing nipple clamps. After all, most nipple clamps are made from metal which can make them seem “kinky”.
After nipple clamps are removed, many people enjoy the sensation of having their nipples played with because the skin is so sensitive. Others enjoy the pain that can come along with using nipple clamps. Because some nipple clamps are adjustable in strength, this sensory sex toy ends up being good for those who just want no pain to those who want to feel all of the pain. The type of nipple clamps you choose will make a large difference in the sensations you feel.
Do Nipple Clamps Hurt?
Sorry, but yes.
That’s partially the point.
BDSM Nipple clamps “work” by restricting blood flow – sorta like how your foot falls asleep if you sit on the toilet too long.
Once you get “used” to the feeling of your foot being asleep while it’s still in that same position, it’s probably pain-free and completely ignorable. It’s somewhat similar with nipple clamps (depending on whether you pick a nipple clamp option that also includes sharp, bitey teeth or not).
But when you move that foot (or unclamp that nipple clamp!), all the blood comes rushing back in, creating that ultra-intense sensation you know but probably don’t love.
However, that rushing of blood also makes the skin extra sensitive. You probably don’t go petting your toilet-slept foot to experience the extra sensation, but with your nipples, you probably want to. This added sensitivity is one of the big reasons that people fall in love with nipple clamps.
BDSM Nipple Clamps Safety
Nipple clamps work by clamping down on your skin, effectively cutting off circulation. That’s the whole point; they “stay” on the nipples by clamping down hard enough to avoid simply popping off.
As you can imagine, cutting circulation off of any part of your body comes with risks. Turns out, your body likes to utilize its own blood.
You can mitigate almost all of these risks by simply keeping your nipple clamp duration down to a minimum. If you’re brand new to nipple clamps, only wear them for 5-10 minutes. As you figure out the sensations of different blood circulation stages, you might be able to push your nipple clamp wearing for 15-25 minutes at a time.
Your “wear time” will also depend on how tight your nipple clamps are. If they’re really cutting off circulation (like magnetic clamps, we’ll discuss below), you might only wear them for a few torturous minutes at a time. If they’re loose enough that a breeze could pop them off, you might be able to go for longer.
Remove the nipple clamps instantly if you see the nipple clamps turning purple or the wearer has lost all sensation in the nipples.
If anything feels “off”, remove the nipple clamps right away. While very rare, nerve damage can occur from nipple clamps. There are nerve branches that run through the nipple (that’s why they feel so good!), and you could potentially have impinged them when putting on a clamp. Try repositioning the clamps ASAP to see if the sensations feel better. If not, call it quits for the day.
Most often, though, your biggest risk during nipple play is bruising and discomfort. Especially if the nipple clamps had teeth or you did a lot of torsion and tugging on the clamps, you might find the chest is sore – or bruised – the next day.
Consider the application and removal of your nipple clamps as well. The first application and the final removal will have the most painful sensations. After the initial application, your skin starts to get used to the loss of circulation (like that leg falling asleep!) until the blood flow is restarted again.
Play strategically to make those sensations work best for you. For example, if someone really dislikes pain, removing the nipple clamps right before orgasm may entirely knock them away from orgasm. However, if that person loves pain, that same timing might be the catalyst for orgasm.
Massaging the nipples and the skin around them after removing the clamp can also be very, very intense – bordering on painful – until blood flow has come back into the nipple. Keep this in mind for planning your kinky scenes; if you’re going to be causing pain, you want it to be because you wanted to cause pain, not because you were unaware.
If you like the look of nipple clamps but aren’t comfortable with the risk profile (serious props to you for knowing yourself!), I’d recommend using nipple jewelry or pasties to get a lot of the fun decoration and beauty of nipple clamps without any of the circulation risks.
Nipple clamps may still be an option if you’re pregnant, but you should go slowly.
Types of BDSM Nipple Clamps
Each type of BDSM nipple clamp comes with its own benefits and “shit you’ll have to tolerate”. Really, most nipple clamps live along a spectrum of “too loose” and “too tight”.
If a nipple clamp is too loose, it’ll frustratingly slide off. If a nipple clamp is too tight, it’ll feel too painful to potentially enjoy.
Everything about the different types of BDSM nipple clamps aims to offer different levels of tightness, adjustability, weight, and size to allow you to find the clamps that work best for what your nipples look like. Are your nipples innies? Outies? Large? Small? How much pain do you want to tolerate? It all plays a part in finding nipple clamps for your body.
This means that most kinksters end up trying multiple types of nipple clamps to find the style that works best for them. Luckily, unlike most kink gear, nipple clamps are surprisingly cheap, and picking up a few different pairs will likely run you way less than a single pair of wrist cuffs.
So, let’s talk about the different types of BDSM nipple clamps so you know what to look for:
Clothespins as Nipple Clamps
The first type of nipple clamp is the Clothespin. You can purchase these at any mass merchandiser store with the laundry items. Clothespins work as a very general, very beginning nipple clamp, and they’re extremely cheap. You can usually get these for a couple dollars for hundreds of them. One of the best things about clothespins as nipple clamps is that they are disposable. Because of the cheap price, you can easily buy a clothespin, use it on one partner, then throw it away if it gets any bodily fluids on it or anything, so there really is no reason to share clothespin nipple clamps with multiple people due to their cheap price.
However, Clothespins are also very tight. Some people do modifications on the clothespins they buy, but the springing mechanism that makes it close can make it pretty unforgiving to people who dislike pain. Avoid purchasing any of the clothespins that have the grooved texture on the inside as those can hurt even more. Keep in mind that the bigger the clothespin means that the less painful it will be since the sensation will be spread out. Some people also like to paint or decorate their clothespins with choice words in order to set the scene even farther.
One of the biggest things kinksters use clothespins for is a zipper. A zipper is when each clothespin is attached to another clothespin by a long piece of string. All the clothespins are attached to a person, and for removal, the person just pulls at the string, and all of the clothespins come off at once. This is very painful (which is the point behind it), so make sure that you have your partner’s permission as well as think that this is something you’d be interested in before trying it.
Mini Hair Clips as Nipple Clamps
Depending on the size of your nipples, your local mass merchandiser may have hit the jackpot when it comes to the hair styling aisle. Mini Hair Clips can be purchased there. In fact, you can purchase them in multiple colors as well as multiple little designs, so you can have a lot of fun with it. These are more expensive than clothespins, but they are also very cheap compared to regular nipple clamps as well. Because of the cheap price, these also can be purchased and disposed of in case of blood or bodily fluids getting on the clips. However, almost all of these little clips have the little finger-holds protruding from the clamp (to keep it stuck in your hair), so these little clamps can be very, very painful, so do be careful if pain isn’t something you’re into.
Tweezer Nipple Clamps
One of the easiest types of nipple clamps to start off with is the Tweezer Clamp. The Tweezer clamp is basically two long metal arms that come together. Much like tongs from your kitchen, there’s a little round circle that connects the two metal arms, and depending on whether you pull the circle up or towards the bottom, the Tweezer Clamps will become tighter or looser. Most Tweezer clamps also come with little rubber tips to avoid squeezing or pinching the skin during use, but some of the rubber tips are removable. To use these clamps, you just situate the nipple in between the two arms, and you slide up the rounded ring up the two arms up until where your partner enjoys the tightness. It’s very easy to loosen by just pulling down the ring some.
This type of nipple clamp can be painful, but for the most part, it’s usually very mild. Since you can easily adjust how tight these clamps go, they make a good choice for beginners since they are very straight-forward in use.
However, it can be difficult to adjust the round-ring if your hands are covered in lubricant/bodily fluids, and this type of clamp also doesn’t grip too tightly, so it probably can’t carry much weight on it either, so that’s something to consider. The width of how open these clamps sit naturally is how large of a nipple it can handle. From my experience, unless you have very large nipples, most nipples should fit in these types of clamps. These clamps sometimes have a chain connecting the toy of them, but some of these clamps do not have a connecting chain. A lot of them are decorative Tweezer Nipple Clamps with decorative gems at the ends. There are tons of Tweezer Clamps to search out.
Alligator Nipple Clamps
So what’s the next big nipple clamp of the day? Bull Nose Nipple Clamps. These types of clamps are sometimes also called “Adjustable Nipple Clamps”. These clamps have a little adjustable pin in them. Basically, this pin allows you to screw it tighter or looser so the clamp won’t actually close any tighter than the clamp is screwed. So if you screw it all the way open, the screw holds the two sides of the clip open, and it’s impossible to shut them because the clip is in the way. This allows you to screw to the size you need beforehand, and it will stay at that size any time you pick up the clamp which means that these don’t require nearly as much adjustment in-the-scene as the Tweezer clamps do.
Bull Nose Nipple clamps are very beginner-friendly. Since you can easily adjust how tight or how loose these clamps are, they work well for beginners. They also “age” with you well because you can slowly tighten the clamps as you become more experienced and want more pain. This type of clamp, just like the Tweezer kind, is also made in decorative versions that have decorations hanging off of it. It also comes in chained-together in unchained varieties. This and the Tweezer Nipple Clamps are the two clamps that I’d recommend most for beginners. A popular nipple clamp of this type is the Bull Nose Nipple Clamps
Alligator nipple clamps may also be known as “Bull Nose Nipple Clamps”, but that BDSM nipple clamps term is used a lot less often than it used to be.
Clover Nipple Clamps
One of the least-beginner-friendly clamps out there are the Clover Clamps. Otherwise, these are sometimes known as Butterfly Clamps as well. These clamps are basically small, metal clamps that have a little pulling system devised to open up the clamps when the clamps are squeezed. These little clamps usually have rubber pads that are sometimes textured on the gripping pad that touches the nipple. They also have no way to adjust them – when it opens, it opens, and when it closes, it closes as tightly as possible. If you aren’t into pain, this could be a problem as there’s no way to adjust these clamps, so they do not work well as beginner-friendly toys.
However, these are also the types of clamps that most advanced kinksters use. These clamps are used so widely because they do hold so tightly. This makes them pretty difficult to remove, and for that reason, these are the types of clamps you can tug on without them falling off. Some kinksters also add some weight to the clamp as well in order to increase sensation. These clamps do not fall off easily, and for that reason, if you want something that can withstand a lot of tugging and roughness, these nipple clamps are the perfect ones. A popular type of this type of nipple clamp is the Clover Nipple Clamps (pictured).
Magnetic Nipple Clamps
One of the “newest” type of BDSM nipple clamps on the market, you also have magnetic nipple clamps.
Instead of using a physical fastener or clasp, magnetic nipple clamps use magnets. You slide your nipple between two magnets, and the magnet’s polarization causes the nipple clamp to fasten around your nipples.
Let me tell you: they are secure.
However, if you stop to think about it, there’s no real way to “adjust” the sensitivity of magnetism. The two ends pull together with as much intensity as possible trying to touch their mate. Adding insult to injury, the closer the magnets are to one another, the more magnetism they have, pulling even harder. (This means that magnetic nipple clamps can hurt smaller nipples more than larger ones.)
This means that magnetic nipple clamps hurt. Out of all of the nipple clamps, they squeeze the most with no way to adjust how tightly they fit.
This, however, also means they’re very “secure”. They grip, hard, and don’t slide off as easily as many other nipple clamp types.
You also want to be wary of the initial “clamp” when putting on magnetic nipple clamps. If you’ve ever watched a magnet swipe across a table with superhuman speed to snap onto its pair, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You might not want your nipple in the middle of that momentum. If that’s of concern, gently lower both magnetic ends of the nipple clamp until they gently meet in the middle. Or don’t – if your sadistic side is showing.
Collar with Nipple Clamps
If you enjoy “conjoining” your BDSM gear, you might like a collar with built-in nipple clamps.
When the collar is wrapped around the neck, nipple clamps will “drape” from the front of the collar, ready to attach to the nipples (or any other skin they can reach).
While they can just look plain hot, they also have the benefit of supporting the weight of the nipple clamps. If your nipple-owner finds the nipple clamps painfully heavy or you’re finding that the nipple clamps slide off often due to weight, this can provide a helping hand in keeping your nipple clamps exactly where you want them.
To get the most “bang for your buck”, look for a collar that features detachable nipple clamps. That way, you can use the collar and nipple clamps separately when the urge arises.
(Pictured above: Liebe Seele Rose Gold Memory Collar with Nipple Clamps.)
Unique BDSM Clamps
There are some other BDSM nipple clamps types out there as well. While those are the basic adult sex toys types, there are other types that are out there once in awhile. If possible, try to try the nipple clamps on the skin between your pointer and thumb finger before purchasing a set. If not, try to read reviews over the clamps you’re looking at. To find something lighter, look for something with “adjustable” in its name and avoid anything with “endurance” or “rough”. Clamps come with different varieties as well as different types too. There are some nipple clamps that vibrate and there are even some that can be attached directly to weights. Others come attached to a genital item such as a clit clamp or a cock ring. Whatever floats your boat, there are a ton of different types of nipple clamps out there for you to see.
How To Use Nipple Clamps
Nipple clamps are extremely easy to use. You and your partner should first discuss the sensation you are hoping to get from nipple clamps. Some people really enjoy really numb sensations and lots of pain while others just enjoy the decorative aspect of the BDSM nipple clamps. You wouldn’t want to purchase the wrong type of nipple clamp and end up finding that the sensation is not at all what you expected. As a beginner, I’d recommend adjustable clamps or tweezer clamps. Both are very easy to adjust and make them stay on without getting too painful.
The nipple clamps can easily be attached to the nipple. Depending on the nipple, you can either just open the clamp and grip it on, or you’ll need to grip the nipple to give your clamp a good area to grab onto. (Female versus male nipples cause this issue. Weight is also an issue.) You can grip the clamp onto the nipple. Expect the first minute or so to be intense for the nipple clamp wearer. Be sure to periodically check-in with your partner while they wear the clamp. Make it clear that they are supposed to let you know if things get too painful; it’s a sign of too much circulation loss. If the area starts turning blue, it’s beyond time to take off the clamp. Again, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
While your partner is wearing the clamp, the body will adjust to the sensation quickly. It will probably become a background annoyance. In order to bring it back to the surface, you can do something with the clamp. For example, some people enjoy flicking the clamp to make it move. Others will add weight if there is a chain going between the clamps. Some others will turn on the vibrating feature or let a vibrator gently rest against the clamp to transfer the vibrations. Doing something else to your partner (flogging, caning, oral sex, intercourse) to your partner will add to the sensations that the nipple clamps are providing.
When removing the nipple clamp, do remember to warn your partner about the impending painful sensation. Taking the clamps off quickly is best. In order for the nipple clamp wearer to process the pain better, I do recommend having the partner take a deep breath when the clamp is removed. If the clamps irritated or chaffed the nipple, body lotion can be applied to soften the skin again. If clamps are new to your sexual agenda, make sure to leave time after your playtime to discuss the clamps. Talk about your partner about how the clamps felt, if they were too tight, if they enjoyed the sensation, and what could be done in the future to make your nipple clamps experience more pleasurable.
Read Other BDSM Advice Articles
- BDSM Advice Series: How to Use Bondage Tape
- BDSM Advice Series: Everything You Need to Know about BDSM Gags
- BDSM Advice Series: Riding Crop for BDSM
- All Femdom Advice
- All BDSM Advice
If you have questions, please feel free to send me an e-mail at the.mistress.kay@gmail.com . I’m always happy to help or recommend toys. :)
Originally Published: April 11, 2011.
Updated: September 2023.
