Figging — or gingering — is about inserting a piece of fresh, peeled ginger root into the human anus, which causes a very potent burning sensation.
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In the past, figging was actually a method of punishment for humans, often combined with flogging or caning, but it was also used for animals, such as horses, to make them look livelier and younger or to stimulate them if they felt sick or weak.
In the case of gingering of animals, other products apart from ginger were also used, such as onion, pepper, or tobacco. Of course, it’s a form of animal abuse, but rest assured that it’s illegal or strictly banned nowadays by breed associations in many places and actively prosecuted.
Anyway, in BDSM Play, the freshly peeled ginger is commonly carved into the shape of a butt plug, and after inserting it into the anus the ginger will gradually cause an intense burning sensation, which can last up to thirty minutes.
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A substantial increase of the burning sensation can happen when the “figged” person deliberately tightens their anal muscles, or — by contrast — tightens involuntarily because of the body’s reflex of wanting to get rid of the ginger, or as an involuntarily reaction to spanking or caning by the dominant party.
Some people find the effect of figging a delightful and pleasant feeling (probably hard to imagine for most of us), but for others it’s indeed a sadomasochistic “punishment” applied by a dominant and undergone by a submissive. Please keep in mind that figging as a practice in BDSM activities is a consensual practice, meaning both parties agree to the “procedure.”
Apart from inserting ginger into the anus, some people also engage in insertion it into the vagina, or rubbing it around the clitoris or glans penis (i.e. the head of the penis), which, like anal insertions, produce similar sensations.
