I would like to tell the story of my second hood piercing experience. To understand why I ended up getting my hood pierced vertically twice, I suppose you need a bit of background on my first piercing.
At A Glance Author andrea Contact andrea@bme.anon IAM andrea Artist Mike Shea Studio Skinsations Location Arkansas City, KS My first vertical hood piercing was a nightmare. It didn't start out as such; in fact, it started out very pleasantly. It was the first day of Winter Break at my university, and I was going to be apart from my boyfriend for a month—the perfect time to get pierced, I thought.
I stopped by 23rd Street in Oklahoma City on my way to my parents'. I walked in, informed them that I wanted my hood pierced vertically, filled out the requisite forms, and waited to be taken to one of the back rooms.
I remember one of the people working the counter asking me if I preferred a male or female piercer, and I said I didn't care one way or the other-- I was used to a male piercer back in KS. They assigned me a female—I'm not sure what her name was; she was never introduced to me in any way. Now I'm not sure whether this was good or bad-- on one hand, I don't care enough about her to want to know her name, on the other, I can't warn others about her.
She took me to her room, propped me up on the table, put my feed in the stirrups, and, to make a long story short, pierced my naughty bits. She slid in a ten-gauge barbell, and then started to screw on the bottom ball. Or, tried to screw it on, anyway. She was having a difficult time getting it onto the barbell... She kept shoving my hood up to get the thing twisted on.
After about five minutes of work, she finished screwing the ball on. She made sure I'd read my aftercare sheet, and sent me on my way.
I was very happy and excited to be pierced—until about two days later. My hood had grown over the bottom ball. The bottom of the barbell was completely encased within my body. This led to my partial hood split! ... But that's another story.
A few months later, after I'd healed, I decided I wanted to give having a vertical hood piercing another go. Instead of going to the famous 23rd street, I drove three hours to see my old piercer, Mike Shea at Skinsations.
I'd been going to see Mike for years, and I trust him. He's pierced me about twenty times, so I figured he knew my body pretty well, too.
I walked in, greeted everyone in the shop, looked at the new pictures in Mike's portfolio, then filled out the consent form. After peeing and chatting a few minutes with one of the tattooists, Mike took me to the back room.
He sat me down on a medical table, told me to lean back and relax. I asked if he wanted my feet up, but Mike said it didn't matter to him one way or the other. He cleaned me up, marked my hood, eyeballed it for length, then took out a barbell and needle.
Mike had me breathe in and out three times, and on the third out, he pushed the needle through. "Goddamnit!" I yelled. "You okay there?" he asked.
"Yes," I replied, "that just hurt."
Mike laughed, switched the needle for the barbell, and screwed on the end—and he had no problem doing it, either.
I walked out of the back room feeling like a new woman again... I felt calm and empowered. I talked to Mike for a bit about aftercare, paid him, and drove a half an hour down to my parents' house.
I told my mom about my new metal, and she seemed more intrigued than anything else... My friends were also happy to see me back in the world of happy piercing experiences. I decided to celebrate my new piercing that night, and partied with my best friend over cocktails, cigars, and movies...
Unfortunately, my hood didn't appreciate that in the morning.
I had to wear a pad for the next few days, but that was a small price to pay for my metal. I took baths in Epsom salt for the first couple of weeks, soaking my piercing once a day. I upped my vitamin and mineral intake as well.
It was a rough start—I was constantly checking on my hood to make sure it wasn't swallowing the barbell again—but everything turned out roses with this piercing. It has enhanced my sex life, my spiritual life, and my looks... It has given me more power over my body.
It's now been about two months since Mike pierced me. He did a marvelous job—it looks and feels amazing. And, as a bonus, he actually used the correct size jewelry on my body...