Safe use of Van Buren sounds

I apologize in advance for the length of this post!

This past Saturday afternoon was eye-opening to say the least. I planned a sounding session, as that is the best way I've been able to achieve orgasm since starting on a SSRI (different subject and I bet I need to change prescriptions). I've worked up to warming up with a 25 French Pratt sound and topping out at 27 French of the same variety. It had been awhile since I'd used a Van Buren sound so I had several of those lined up (20, 22, 24 and 26 French). I started lower than my normal easy diameter insert due to not having entered my bladder with a sound in the past couple of weeks.

I could feel a mild urge to urinate before I started to play, as I always do. I started with a sterilized 20 French Van Buren sound and started to insert it into the Surgilube prepped urethra of my clean penis. I get very easy aroused from the sensations of urethral insertion, so I started to get erect quickly. I'd learned previously that I either need to pause or back off when that occurs, as opposed to when using Pratts or rosebuds. After several stops and starts, the sound naturally advanced to where I could feel it where my shaft becomes my balls. I noticed that it was rotating counterclockwise and stopped moving deeper on it's own, so I pulled it up a bit and rotated it back to center. I started to push as if starting to urinate and held the sound oriented as I had adjusted it. There was a slight amount on weight from my hand on the handle.

I started to feel liquid drip down the corona of my penis and onto my shaft. It wasn't combined with the feelings of precum leaking that I regularly feel during sounding and I doubted it was urine, since I was laying on my back and my bladder wasn't that full. I opened my eyes to understand what was occurring and was horrified to see it was blood. I slowly removed the sound from my penis, which wasn't fully erect at that point. A spurt of blood followed and I instinctively held my shaft, exclaiming "Holy shit, oh fuck, holy shit.". Touching my penis just made more blood come out so I juststood hoping that all the things I was fearing in those moments wouldn't come true. The bleeding was reduced to steady drips (time that took completely lost to me at this point) before I determined I needed to clean my hands, feet and crotch of the blood.

I got in the shower and cleaned myself with just warm water until I was clean and there was a drip of blood every five seconds or so. After I dried off, I put some folded sheets of paper towel down my pants in front of my penis. That's when I spent the next 12 or so hours laying on my back or side, bending little and changing the paper towels several times. They were never fully saturated, but there was always evidence that fresh blood had seeped out. I urinated once during that time which included a lengthy clot hanging out of my penis and starkly red tinted urine. The more frequent bleeding started again after that, so I showered and cleaned up until it again slowed significantly.

After that 12 or so hours, I woke up the next day and urinated without any blood. I never felt any pain over the course of any of this. I've been continuing to urinate without issue and have not felt any pain other than slight burning at the beginning or end of urinating in the past few days. That has dropped off completely now.

I'm trying to figure out what the heck I did. From what I've read, I'm thinking I ruptured a vein in the bundle around my prostate. I'm hoping I didn't damaged my bladder opening, though I would have expected more issues since then if that was the case. I have not masturbated since the incident partially because I was too freaked out and partially because I was afraid I had somehow damaged an ejaculatory duct. However, with no further blood or clots, and no pain ever over the course of this, I'm baffled.

I will absolutely visit a urologist if any complications occur, but I am hoping for some insight into what I did to myself and, more importantly, clear instructions about Van Buren sounds. My other varieties never gave me any such trouble, unless my stretching with Pratts made a blood vessel/vein rupture more possible. Also, I expect that I won't be sounding until at least two weeks from this past Saturday, when this incident occurred. Obviously, being careful with a Pratt, is that reasonable?

My opinion is that you poked something hard enough to damage the urethra. Perhaps you pushed at an angle inconsistent with your own anatomy. The bends in the Pratt may not be your own bend. I've probed myself hundreds of times,using various crochet hooks, knitting needles, curved chopsticks and a antique 20 Fr stainless steel catheter, and had blood a few times, not dripping like yours. I thought I was careful not to hurt the urethra, but apparently I did. I drank a lot of water to flush out the urethra. Nothing happened.

Urologists stick big things in the urethra, get a lot of bleeding and seem to get away with it I'd stop worrying. After a couple weeks go back the old VanBurens. If no trouble try the Pratts. If more blood, I'd throw them away. I wouldn't use something that injured my urethra.

With all due respect to the advice from experienced users - you will not get a reliable answer here in the forum to what exactly caused your bleeding. If you want certainty, see a doctor. And the next time such an accident happens, go to a clinic ASAP. In the ER they will have seen more than we all together can possibly imagine, so you needn't worry that anyone there will be shocked. And at the end of the day, what's a doc's raised eyebrow against your health. No need to dramatise, but why play a lottery with your body? If in doubt, get professional medical help.

I would add that you used something too large and tore the epithelial lining of the urethra.

If you keep doing that, you will develop scar tissue which can cause more severe problems.

The massive amount of bleeding you described probably comes from a vessel and is more serious than an epithelial tear.

A punctured urethra is a serious issue.

I would add that you used something too large and tore the epithelial lining of the urethra.

After Susie's reply I noticed a critical error in my original post. I wrote mm, not Frenches as the unit of measurement!!! Holy cow, no matter what amount of stretching sessions, I'd be using a bag for the rest of my life if the sizes were as I originally wrote.

Anyways, a 25 French Pratt goes in easy without resistance in or out. A 27 French Pratt causes resistance during removal, which I have experienced as noted in another thread. Never any bleeding from those insertions. That being said, I'm led to believe it wasn't the lining that was damaged in this case, rather something further down my urethra. Any additional insight appreciated!

We noticed your calling them mm sizes too, but we know the sounds come in French sizes so it was ignored.

You're still calling the sizes in mm in your recent post.

You have no idea and neither do we about where your bleed originates because you need a cystoscopy to determine that.

In the mean time, COOL IT with the sounds until it heals for a few weeks at least.

Sound yourself again??? You must be crazy!

In the mean time, COOL IT with the sounds until it heals for a few weeks at least.

That has definitely been my plan, in addition to seeing a urologist in case complications occur. I'm still baffled by the lack of pain and that there were no further clots. The few previous instances when there was very light blood, there was pain for a day or two afterwards when urinating.