Somehow manage to mildly injure myself every time I jelq - what am I doing wrong?

I recently started jelqing again a few months ago, but every time I do it now I’m forced to stop due to a sharp pain. These pains are typically (but not always) where my penis and lower abdomen meet, and the pain can occasionally be ‘aggravated’ when I masturbate or even massage the area but is otherwise unnoticeable. After a few days to a week the pain subsides, sometimes I take an additional week off of P.E just to be safe but I continue to get this issue.

My jelqing routine starts in the shower every morning; I warm up while washing myself, and use conditioner as lubricant. I’ve varied the pressure but if I go anything more than a “firm grip” (think holding a baseball bat) I get this sharp pain again and need to stop.

What am I doing wrong here?

If jelqing is causing any pain like this the first thing to do is to stop. Second thing to do is to ask a doctor, they will ask you all sorts of questions to better understand the onset, the pattern, and the characteristics of the pain. Then they’ll do a physical examination to try to understand the cause. None of these you can do over a forum on the internet and if you’re consistently experiencing this pain it’s a point of concern that can’t be pinpointed without doing all the things your physician will do.

My unwarranted, unqualified hunch is that you may have pulled a tendon, especially if it’s on the dorsal side. If it is a pulled (or even broken) tendon, not allowing it to heal could slow any further gains.