My inner labia... hmm. The thought of more genital piercings had been on my mind since I had my vertical hood done. I'd meant to do it at Christmas when I was home from Uni and near my favourite piercing studio, but I decided getting my other nipple done was a priority. And there may have been a degree of chickening out involved....
At A Glance Author Sarah Contact Sarah@bme.anon IAM Ruby When Three months ago Artist Julie Studio Cold Steel Location London So, fast forward to Easter, and I'm back at home with a girly shopping trip to Camden planned. My friend Laura, having lost her piercing virginity on our last trip at Christmas was dying for another hole. So at least I'd have someone to hold my hand. I phoned Cold Steel to make our appointments for the next day.. they went through the usual stuff on the phone, checking our ages, that we knew where the studio was, making sure that we'd avoid drugs and alcohol for 24 hours beforehand and arranging for us to come in at least an hour beforehand to pay the deposit on our appointments.
Having got to Camden the next day, we stopped in to put down £5 each to keep our appointments. Julie checked we were still ok with time we'd booked, which we were, so we headed off for more shopping and to grab some lunch before we got pierced. After having toured most of the shops in Camden, we headed back up to Cold Steel.
I filled in my consent form at the counter, and was asked whether I was going for one piercing or two... I said two, so that was noted on the form. I paid, less the £5 deposit and the 10% returning customer discount, I don't actually remember how much it cost me! The counter staff bagged up the jewellery Julie would be using, and I sat down with Laura to wait for our turns.
Julie called us upstairs fairly quickly, and I decided to let Laura go first, since I figured my piercings would be more time consuming. Her helix piercing went fine, after which she jumped off the chair and Julie cleaned everything down ready for my piercings.
When everything was ready, I assumed the position I remember from having my hood pierced... sat up on the chair, soles of my feet together, knees apart. I'd actually remembered to wear a skirt this time, so I rolled that up rather than taking it off, sparing Laura's embarrassment a bit, although obviously skirts have to be rolled fairly high up so they're not obscuring the piercer's view!
I explained to Julie my thoughts about where I wanted the piercings. My left inner labia is a little bit bigger than my right, so my preference was for a row of two piercings there. She examined my anatomy and told me that the placement I wanted would be no problem at all, although I could also have a pair, but that may mean one ring being too close to my hood piercing, so the left side was probably a good idea.
She cleaned the area, marked where the piercings would go and showed me in a mirror. She decided they were a little far forwards, so we agreed to move them back, but keep them the same distance apart.
Julie's gloves were changed every time she touched something – Laura and I joked with her about how many pairs she must go through in a day, but it's reassuring to see that level of hygiene being practised.
All ready to pierce, Julie explained what would be happening; the pain would be less sharp than I'd experienced with my hood, and clamps would be used this time. I lay back a bit further in the chair, keeping my legs in the same position. The clamps went on and weren't particularly tight or uncomfortable. I held both Laura's hands, and Julie told me to breathe in, and that she would pierce on my breath out. The needle wasn't particularly unpleasant, and was very quick. Definitely not a sharp pain at all. Although I did squeeze Laura's hands, which she never tires of reminding me! There was a little pulling as the jewellery was inserted, and twisting as the ball was snapped in.
Julie asked if I wanted a break before the second piercing, but I decided against it. The clamps went back on, and I took Laura's hands again. Based on other people's experiences, I was expecting the second piercing to be worse, but there was really no difference at all. The jewellery was inserted, and I could sit up and examine my new piercings in the mirror.
The rings were fairly large at 10mm in diameter, but Julie had already said that we needed to allow for swelling, and examining the completed piercings agreed I should be able to downsize to 7mm once they were healed. We discussed the aftercare; same as with the hood, salt soaks, no unprotected sex while healing and to avoid sex or masturbation if it was uncomfortable. I was feeling fine, post piercing, so I put my tights and boots back on and Laura and I headed back to join the rest of the girls for more shopping.
Everyone was pleased to see I was still standing, and I wasn't in any pain walking around Camden. I didn't go to the toilet for the first time after being pierced until a good few hours later when I was at home. I noticed some tiny spots of dried blood on my underwear, but then after peeing, lots of fresh red blood began to run from the piercings. I padded my underwear with some toilet paper for a while, and emailed Laura declaring; "I'm bleeding RED blood!" The bleeding stopped, so I changed into pyjamas and went to sleep.
When I woke up the next morning, no more blood had appeared overnight. I went to the toilet again, and the same thing happened as last night. I thought it had stopped, so I went downstairs to get a drink. Then felt more blood, trickling down my leg and soaking my pyjama bottoms. The bleeding continued for a while, dripping on the bathroom floor while I was shaving my legs, but stopped by the time I got out of the shower. Laura emailed back, saying she'd be more concerned if my blood wasn't red!
The piercings weren't causing me any real discomfort, although I had to be careful sitting down and getting in and out of cars, especially in jeans. I didn't experience any more bleeding the next time I went to the toilet, although it did burn a bit, and continued to do so for a few days. I was a little sorer by the two day mark, and a tiny bit swollen.
The first few salt soaks I attempted stung so badly I gave up... after adjusting the amount of salt I was using, it finally occurred to me that my genitals were more sensitive than the rest of my body, so I doubled the time I usually let salt soak water cool, and that solved the problem. I still occasionally experienced a little discomfort putting underwear on and crossing my legs, but everything had largely settled down within a week.
Having been given a healing time of 6 – 8 weeks, after six weeks I decided to downsize the rings as the larger ones twisting and catching seemed to be the source of any remaining discomfort. I had ordered some 1.6mm by 7mm BCRS from Cold Steel's website, along with some ring closers to go with the ring openers I already owned to make the process easier. Changing the rings was relatively easy, although the piercing further back was trickier, due to it being harder to see and reach. The smaller rings have made things much more comfortable and look far more attractive.
So, despite a worrying first few days, these have been largely trouble free piercings that I've grown to love!