Okay, lets start off with a little bit about me. I got my first "real" piercing (as in with a needle) when I was 16. This was a left cartilage piercing to go with the 4 lobe/almost cartilage piercings I had below. It was supposed to be my only cartilage piercing, but I got carried away over the next couple years and ended up with 10 earrings! I thought I was done with piercings after that, especially since my mom told me I couldn't get anymore!
At A Glance Author Colette Contact Colette@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Tiffany Studio Skin Factory Location Las Vegas But boy was I wrong! I had been considering getting a genital piercing for some time, but could never quite muster up enough guts. But after hanging out with two of my friends for a couple hours and telling them what I wanted, they gave me the strength to finally go and get it done. Or they actually drove me there and "forced" me in the door. Tiffany at Skin Factory has always been my piercer, even before she started at Skin Factory. I am a loyal follower! So, when I walked into Skin Factory with that awkward smile on my face, she knew I wanted something!
At first, I wouldn't tell her what, because there were a bunch of guys around, so she had me fill out the paperwork and put down what I was getting. When I put down "horizontal hood", she smiled and went to go set up. After waiting for a few minutes and getting extremely nervous, Tiffany comes out to get me. I have my friend Rhiannon go in with me for "support". First,, Tiff makes sure I know the difference between horizontal and vertical, because she won't pierce me until I know what I'm getting into. I tell her that the horizontal goes across the hood. And then she asks me why I want it that way. I just said I thought it wasn't as popular, but after doing research after the fact, I don't think this is true.
Either way, she asks me to strip from the waist down and I do so. This is one moment I am thankful my piercer is a girl (and a good friend). She makes sure the piercing will work with my anatomy and when she determines it will work just fine, it's time to pick out some jewelry. She informs me that she herself just has a curved barbell in her horizontal hood and that hoops in this piercing can become uncomfortable, so I agreed to a 16 gauge curved barbell.
Tiffany gets everything ready. She cleans me up. (haha, no one's wiped me down there in, hmm, 17 years?) Then she gets the jewelry and needle ready. Tiffany has me holding out my lips, so she can get to the hood better. She tells me she always like the piercings where I have to "participate" with her. After making sure I am calm and breathing, she puts the needle in. It didn't hurt at first. Then the pain started to settle in. It wasn't horrible like I expected it to be since it is in an extremely sensitive location, but it still hurt. She then informs me she still has to go through the other side! I brace myself, thinking this is going to really hurt this time, but it didn't. It was just like the first initial poke. She then follows the needle in with the curved barbell. This had a weird sensation with it, but not too painful. She screws the ball onto the end of the barbell, cleans up the piercing, and she's done!
Rhiannon (what a good friend she is) holds the mirror for me, so I can see 'myself'. The piercing looks awesome!! I thank Tiffany and start to get dressed. I am being gingerly about it, but I shouldn't have worried, I still wasn't in much pain. Tiffany tells me to just wash it in the shower, preferably with oil of olay, fragrance free soap. And that's it! She said sea salt soaks might cause it to bleed, so just keep it clean in the shower and whatnot!
It has now been a month since I've had it done. It healed within 2 weeks, at which time I got a vertical hood (another experience on this later). The only time the piercing hurt was when I was sitting and I would try to cross my legs. I guess this would cause the barbell to shift and it didn't feel too good! After getting the vertical, what I thought was swelling caused the horizontal to go a little crooked. I asked Tiffany if horizontal hoods could migrate, but she said they couldn't. There is still some sensitivity from my vertical hood, so I'm waiting until that is fully healed to see what happens with my horizontal. But if you are thinking of getting this done, I would suggest getting it pierced with a 14 gauge, at least, to lessen the chances of it moving in the future! And Good Luck with your future piercings!