Mind the gap

[cycling2work]

I got a new contender and am loving it. During the day i hardly feel it and don't want to remove it but at night it wakes me every hour. I will get up and pee and sleep for another hour.

I think it is the gap (3/8). I told Mark that I have low hanging balls which I do generally have but when erect the balls are pulled up to the body. It seems that they get sucked up in the gap and hurt enormously.

Anyone have some similar experience? I tried now for 3 nights but it does not get better so am currently only wearing the contender in the day and there i love it. It is much better than the holy trainer and also better while riding the bike.

[nebman]

Night erections are always a challenge. It is possible that if your balls are pulling up into the gap, almost to the point of popping through, they my be getting pinched pretty hard as they start to go through. That pinch is the most painful thing I've every experienced with a device. If the gap is simply too big, my balls would slip through almost without any feeling. But, there seems to b a perfect point where your pliable balls will squeeze down enough to sneak through, and that is some serious ball torture. Reducing the gap eliminated the problem for me.

[cycling2work]

thanks nebman, you are right the pain is extreme and i am very thankful for your answer as i thougth i need a BIGGER gap. Still not sure what it is. Perhaps it is not the gap but the base ring that might be too small. funny thing is during the day i almost don't notice the device. had it on again tonight and the longest uninterrupted sleep was 1 hour and 20 minutes. will try again for a few days to see if the body gets used to the pain....

[TwistedMister]

Perhaps it is...the base ring that might be too small. funny thing is during the day i almost don't notice the device.

I have noticed that the smaller the ring, the more discomfort there is during extreme arousal, even if the testicles are not pulled up tight. I lack sufficient knowledge of anatomy to make a definitive determination of how and why this occurs.

I have noticed, however, that when one is awake, the arousal tends to remain below the threshold of extreme discomfort, if one is not engaged in or subject to any activity that increases arousal in spite of the discomfort...but when sleeping, that threshold is passed *before* one awakens- waking is caused by that threshold having been already exceeded.

My thought is that, when awake, the conscious mind exerts an influence over the body and its reactions. That influence is absent when asleep so that the sub-conscious has free reign over the mind to (hopefully) work out unresolved issues while in the 'dream-state' of REM sleep. For some (many?) people, the conscious mind imposes too many restrictions and inhibitions that impede free-thought and problem-solving, suppressing and repressing the ability to entertain novel ideas and solutions and the release of this control is necessary to maintain sanity and balance.

Stress imposed by the conscious mind can manifest in reduced libido and/or impotence, indicating that the conscious mind has considerable influence over the body. When that influence is removed during REM sleep the control is gone and arousal is free to proceed beyond the point of ignoring the discomfort, and then it's too late- you wake up with some level of unpleasantness. If the ring is small enough, that may include feeling like you've been kicked in the nuts and some degree of back-ache.

[pokekey]

Perhaps it is...the base ring that might be too small. funny thing is during the day i almost don't notice the device.

I have noticed that the smaller the ring, the more discomfort there is during extreme arousal, even if the testicles are not pulled up tight. I lack sufficient knowledge of anatomy to make a definitive determination of how and why this occurs.

I've noticed the same thing. Here's what I think is going on. When I'm flaccid there is enough space in the base ring. When I'm erect the erectile tissue of my penis fills the base ring, squeezing the other tissue causing pain.

When ordering my Contender I mentioned this to Mark and he suggested going up one size. He said better to be a little loose and comfortable than tight. . I could wear a 1 3/4" base ring comfortable except when erect. I ordered a 1 7/8" base ring and it works great.

When I first got the Contender I had a similar pain after wearing it for an hour or so. I decided this was due to not enough gap between the base ring and the cage. Mark fixed this by slightly increasing the angle of the base ring. This added a small amount of extra space for my scrotum. No where near enough for my balls to slip through but enough for all the tissue in my scrotum to be comfortable.

Note that the gap can be tweaked in small increments by adjusting the angle between the base ring and the cage. I call that the "air gap" to distinguish it from the "post gap". "air gap" is the distace between the base ring and cage, measured at the bottom. Increase the angle and this gap will get larger. "post gap" is the distance between cage and base ring measured along the post. Post gap is harder to change and does not matter as much as the air gap. Air gap should be just large enough that all your tissue fits in comfortably all the time. For me, at least, that is quite a bit smaller than my balls so no chance of getting them out.

There is one more significant cause of pain: an erection pulling on the scrotum. During the day my body seems to know not to become so erect as to cause pain. At night it does not. At night I'll get very firm erections. These push the base ring down my shaft until it has stretched my scrotum to the limit and there is a burning sensation where the base ring is pulling on my scrotum. A little lube along there reduces the pain but does not eliminate it. Getting up to pee makes the erection subside and lets me get back to sleep. I don't think there is anything for this. Gap size won't matter - except that too large will let your ball almost slide through the gap and get super pinched. If I sleep on my stomach and tuck my penis toward my feed that prevents the super firm erections. But I never stay on my stomach.

[cycling2work]

twisted, your analisis is as always much apreciated and very good.
thanks also for your input pokekey, i have ordered a larger base ring today - hoping nights will be comfortable now