The first time I heard someone mention genital piercings, I instinctively covered my girly bits in pain. "Why would anyone want to do that to themselves?" I wondered. As I became more interested and ultimately involved in body modification, I became more curious about genital piercings. I learned that a very good friend of mine wanted a VCH, and at the time I was still kind of...afraid of them. We'd look at photos of them and she'd talk about how much she wanted one. I began looking at the photos on my own and wondering if it was something I was interested in.
At A Glance Author Amanda Contact Amanda@bme.anon IAM Amkale24 When A week ago Artist Wendi Studio Lucky Monkey Location Ann Arbor, Michigan She got her VCH piercing and told me all about it, what it felt like, the healing ups and downs, and all kinds of other things about it that you don't usually hear about. After she'd had it a while, it never came up in conversation anymore. Why would it? That was about a year, year and a half ago, and it had kind of been in the back of my mind since as something I might want to do. I hear most people get it for the stimulation, not the aesthetics, and that makes sense. I like how it looks, but who doesn't appreciate a little more stimulation "down there"?
When I decided to get the piercing done, I was uber excited. It was like a big secret that I couldn't share! I liked that, though. I had been to Lucky Monkey in Ann Arbor, Michigan for my half sleeve, and had heard wonderful things about Wendi, one of the piercers there. I'd met her while getting tattoo work done, and contacted her via IAM to ask about pricing and setting up an appointment. The same friend mentioned above had a piercing appointment, so Wendi penciled me in right after her.
The day came, and I was nervous as hell and excited and scared and all kinds of things at once. Since my friend and I were there together, Wendi showed us the sterile room and explained things to both of us before either of us got pierced. She is very very informed and good at explaining. She spoke well, asked if we had questions, didn't rush through, and made sure we understood everything. I really appreciated that. While Wendi was piercing my friend, I asked TONS of questions about what she was doing and why, and she answered me without missing a beat. She really knows her stuff, and it shows. And she didn't seem to get irritated by my questions, which was nice. I was just so interested and wanted to know what was going on, and she didn't mind at all.
When my turn rolled around, Wendi left the room so that I could take my pants and underwear off, and then came in to measure my hood. She had me lay down on the table, which was first cleaned and then covered in that papery stuff that doctors use. I couldn't spread my legs as wide as she needed, so she whipped out the stirrups. Which made it SO much easier for me! Apparently I have a pretty symmetrical hood. Yay me! After a bit of measuring, she had me get dressed again so we could get my jewelry all set.
12g is her standard for VCH piercings, and she chooses to pierce with straight barbells. They only use titanium at Lucky Monkey, which I like because it can be anodized fun colors! I chose green first, and she went to anodize it. I followed and asked tons of questions about anodizing, which she had no trouble answering. It was very cool to watch. I ended up not liking the green and decided on pink. She anodized the jewlery and put it and all the equipment she'd be using in the statIM. When everything was ready, she showed me the test strip that showed that the statIM had done its job, and off my pants came.
I laid down on the table like before, with my feet in the stirrups. Wendi cleaned me twice with Techni-Care and packed me up with gauze. That was really uncomfortable because of how dry it made me feel. And the Techni-Care tingled, but not in a good way. I didn't like it. She explained the entire procedure before she did it and again while she was doing it. She explained that she chooses jewelry of a length so that the ball is resting on the clitoris rather than the shaft. So when the piercing was done, I'd only see the top ball. She performs this piercing freehand, so to start she inserted a sheath under my hood and put the needle in it. She pierces from the bottom up. She lined it up and asked me if I was ready. I said yes, but I'm sure I wasn't very convincing. I was nervous as hell. I could feel the tip of the needle touching me and it was making my legs reflexively shake like mad. She instructed me to take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. As I breathed out, she pushed the needle through. I remember thinking that it felt like the needle was going through forever, and afterwards found out it was a pretty long needle, at 3 inches. I stopped breathing and let out a loud scream-grunt that was heard throughout the shop. I was using the stirrups to brace myself and push against, and I'm thankful to have had them. She let the needle sit for a second so that I could compose myself, and I looked down to see the business end of a 12g needle sticking up from my naughty parts. She asked if I was ready for the jewelry, and I again gave an unconvincing "yes".
Jewelry insertion has always seemed the most painful part of the procedure to me, and now I know why. Until this piercing, I had been pierced with externally threaded jewelry (yikes!). I was expecting the pain of the threads passing through the new hole. When Wendi inserted my jewelry, I honestly didn't feel a thing except relief. When the needle came out and the jewelry was all set, it felt like a release of pressure and pain. And that was it. I didn't throb, and I really didn't feel much pain. The actual passing of the needle through my tissue hurt, but I haven't felt pain since. She handed me a mirror so that I could see the finished piercing, and then I got dressed. I was afraid to walk normally, and I could definitely feel the weight of the jewelry in my pants.
Wendi explained things so thoroughly before, during, and after the procedure that there's no way anyone getting work done by her should walk away with questions. She's so easy to talk to! She takes as long as necessary to do what she needs to do, which is nice. No one should want to be rushed through a piercing and aftercare instructions, and I appreciate that she doesn't LET you leave without telling you everything you need to know (and then some!).
24 hours after the piercing, I saw some bruising on my hood. I expected it, and other than wiping when I went to the bathroom, I didn't really felt it at all. I'm FLOORED at how little it hurts afterwards. I worked an 8 hour day the next day and didn't really think about it at all other than during bathroom time. Now to get through the "no touch" period and have some fun with it!