I got my HCH actually two weeks ago, and I couldn't be happier.
At A Glance Author Christine Contact Christine@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Scott Studio Iron Age Studio Location St. Louis, Missouri I've wanted it ever since I was 16; my boyfriend at the time, however, thought the idea was "repulsive" and adamantly refused to "ever go down on [me] again" if I ever did it. Whatever...I was 16 at the time so I couldn't get it done anyway, and I currently don't have any boyfriend to keep happy, so I went for it!
One's first year of college of course being the prime time to reinvent oneself (I had already gotten my nose pierced and chopped off my lifelong waist-length hair to just under my chin), I wanted to alter my looks yet again. Getting that urge to shove a needle in my skin and not quite ready to make the jump to a tattoo, I decided to go for another piercing. I didn't want any more facial piercings (my future career – a nurse – wouldn't allow for it anyway), so I decided to revert to my previous whimsical notion of a piercing *down there*. I loved the idea of that "naughty little secret" that no one can see (similar to my belly button piercing when I first got it at a young age), and I thought it would aesthetically enhance what I feel is an unattractive body part. And I felt now was the perfect time to do it.
I was going back and forth between a HCH and a triangle. The triangle scared me a little bit because it's such a complex piercing, and I didn't really like where it was placed (I thought it was too far down) but the idea of it being *under* the nerve bundle intrigued me. I then found out about a so-called "Deep hood" piercing from bmezine's own wikipedia article, which seemed to be the same thing as the triangle, but further up, and that was exactly what I wanted.
Three of my friends who heard about my plan insisted they come with me, so when everyone's schedules permitted, we all made the trip down to the University City Loop to pay a visit to Iron Age. We waltzed through the neon lighted doorway, and I marched straight up to the register, where several pierced, tattooed, and otherwise modified workers stood. "Who can I trust...to shove a needle in my genitalia?" I asked seriously. "Uhh, well..." answered the taken aback employee. "Depends on what you want." "A deep hood piercing?" I replied, uncertain. I had never heard of it anywhere else except that one article. "I'm not sure what that is, but it sounds like you want to see Scott, who isn't here today." She gave me his card with the days of the week he's at work and I left unadorned and disappointed.
I came back on a Thursday night with my entourage and approached the counter. "I remember you," said a female worker I didn't recognize. She must have been standing with the group at the counter a couple nights ago. "No need for you to repeat that phrasing you used. I'll get you set up with Scott." I filled out all the paperwork and soon I was behind a curtain, getting told to "take off your jeans and panties and lay down in the chair."
"Wow," I said. "We haven't even gone on a date and you're already getting me out of my clothes." I was sure he'd heard that one a million times, but I couldn't help myself.
"I'll take you out to dinner after this." The generic response.
I sat down on the chair and we began discussing what I wanted, and he apparently had never heard of the "deep hood" piercing either. "It's apparently the same thing as a triangle but further up the shaft." He gave me a confused look and shook his head no. I figured if he had never heard of it or done it before, he shouldn't go through with it. So I told him to do the triangle since it's pretty much the same thing.
So I laid there with my bare legs all spread, reminiscent of my last gyno visit, while Scott poked and prodded down there for a good 25 minutes. He worked in silence while I stared at a strange magazine clipping of a half-eaten hot dog on the ceiling. After awhile he asked me why I wanted this piercing. I told him my thrill of the "naughty secret" and he said, "But why do you want this piercing as opposed to other genital piercings?" "Oh, I don't know," I said, a little embarrassed. "I guess I just like the way it looks, and the fact that it lays under the nerve bundle intrigues me..." I really meant, "I'm intrigued by the sexual pleasure factor," but I was too shy to word it that way. Plus he probably thought I looked young enough to be his daughter and I didn't want to create an awkward situation. He did that himself, though. After a few more minutes of him with his face and latex gloved hands all up in my goodies, Scott's phone went off. "Well, that's awkward," he mumbled. I don't think it would have been awkward if he hadn't pointed it out, but I got over it.
I apparently had the anatomy for the piercing, but after all this time rooting around my genitals, he told me that I was too petite for him to get the forceps and the needle in there. He said he could try without the forceps, but it would be crooked. I told him not to do that. He tried a little longer before giving up. "Go ahead with a horizontal hood, then." He picked up the forceps, pinched my hood between the metal, and told me he was ready. If I was getting a HCH from the beginning, I would have been pierced and back in my dorm by now. At this point, I started to cough. Perfect timing for a dry throat. I tried to suppress it, but couldn't, and Scott goes, "Uh, you okay?" "Yeah, hold on a second," I said in a raspy voice. I let out a few unattractive hacking coughs, and said, "Okay, go for it!"
Owwww. It hurt, but only for a second. It didn't hurt any worse than my other piercings, which includes navel, nose, and cartilage. He inserted a silver captive bead ring and I didn't feel a thing. I decided my vagina was numb from shock. I bled a little bit, he cleaned me up, and spun me around to look at it in the full-length mirror.
Gorgeous! The shining silver ring dangled daintily and I beamed at my new accessory. An enhancement indeed.
I put my clothes back on and thanked him, and he admitted he was disappointed he didn't get to do the triangle. I apologized. I then remembered: "You owe me dinner!" "You owe me dessert," he said back with a grin.
I stepped out of the curtained cubicle, surprisingly not in too much pain, although I did waddle *ever* so slightly. My friends let out a collective gasp, all came rushing toward me, and looked at me with expectant eyes. No words were needed. I just let out a huge smile and they all clapped and laughed.
I paid ($70) and Scott presented me with an after-care pamphlet. On the way back to the car, my friends insisted on hearing every last detail of the experience and I cheerfully obliged. We took a playful photograph of me excitedly pointed at my crotch. It was all around a pretty good time.
I noticed right away that there was little to no pain involved with the piercing. I was able to immediately wear tight jeans and cross my legs without discomfort. Two weeks later and it's healing beautifully. I'm pleased at how quickly it's doing so. I take a shower and gently clean it once a day and saline soak it once a day ever few days or so when I remember to. I don't have a problem with the nasty crusties unless I go without a shower that day, and if I do go without the shower and therefore without cleaning the piercing, it will start to sting a little. But overall it seems to be doing great. I can already move the piercing around and everything. This may be a little too much information, but while I haven't had sex, I have masturbated, and while I was a little more gentle than usual, the piercing didn't bother me at all. It's healing very well. According to my pamphlet, it will only take one month for it to be fully healed.
The particular piercing I went with, unlike the original deep hood/triangle, doesn't have any practical purpose, but it definitely is cute. Unlike my first boyfriend, I'm hoping the next guy I'm with enjoys the piercing as much as I do!