Figging is the practice of inserting a piece of skinned ginger root into the human anus in order to generate an acute burning sensation. Historically this was a method of punishment, but it has since been adopted as a practice of BDSM. The term "figging" comes from the 19th-century word "feaguing."^{[1][better source needed]}

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A similar method of physical punishment was first used as a form of discipline on slaves in Ancient Greece termed rhaphanidosis. The detainee was restrained to varying degrees in order to restrict mobility while the sensation grew from uncomfortable to extreme.^[2][3]

The ginger, which is skinned and often carved into the shape of a butt plug, causes an intense burning sensation.^[4] It takes time for the effect to begin, after which it builds steadily and lasts for approximately twenty minutes before diminishing rapidly.^[5] The ginger, after use, can be further skinned and used to extend the experience, or fresh ginger may be used; each application of ginger root refreshes the duration of the sensations in the subject.^{[citation needed]}

If the person being figged tightens the muscles of the anus, the sensation becomes more intense.^[2] For this reason it is sometimes used in caning to penalize clenching of the buttocks. The subject must choose between bracing for the strike, at the consequence of increased burning sensation, or relaxing the buttocks and taking the full force of the blow.^[5]

• Gingering, in horses
• Glossary of BDSM
• Rhaphanidosis
• Soring

• Lady Green (1998). Kinkycrafts: 99 Do-It-Yourself S/M Toys for the Kinky Handyperson. 206 pages