I love my piercings! The following is just one more story of happiness and transformation that can be found through piercing from the perspective of a larger and non-twenty-something woman. I'm sorry that it is so long. It seems that I have a lot to say about the matter. Enjoy! ;)
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Chris Studio High Priestess Piercing Location Corvallis & Eugene, Oregon I had both nipples pierced horizontally at High Priestess Piercing after my thirty-second birthday. That piercing hurt a lot. When I was done I didn't think I would ever get another piercing for as long as I lived. For the next week or two I was really sure I would never get another piercing.
Eventually as the healing process continued I began to notice how my attitude and outlook began to change. It was a rough healing process. My nipples were pissed. The right one swelled so much it looked like it was trying to eat the barbell. I continued to seek my piercer's advice on how to care for them and support healing these babies. At the shop they lengthened both barbells for me and suggested I do anything I could think of to keep "the girls" happy.
I was desperate. I washed them twice a day with the recommended cleanser. Sea salt soaks twice daily followed by a cool water rinse. Ice packs... Supportive bras... I tried everything and it wasn't working.
But out of all this trouble my relationship to by breasts changed. I know it sounds odd, but I began to see them as beautiful and valuable. Especially my tiny sore pink nipples! As I was literally forced to spend time nurturing my piercings, I no longer saw my breasts as things that get in the way of carrying things, sleeping on my stomach, etc. Now they were my best girls and I felt damn pretty even while I was in pain.
After my change in attitude hit home, while it may sound a bit odd, I began to examine how I treated my breasts in general. For years I had just been trying to get them out of the way so I could do every day activities. And I realized this was no longer good enough for me. That's when I figured out the cause of my pain and discomfort – my bras were minimizing.
I had been wearing a size D cup which kept my breasts from shifting, getting in the way, and kept them out of the spot light so to speak. For freedom to bounce I needed a DDD, EE or F depending upon the bra maker. Wow! I marched down to the local specialty shop and promptly bought my girls some new digs.
Since then my breasts, the neighbors, the local green grocer, anyone within eye shot of my swinging girls have been all smiles and the healing has been fantastic. After a few weeks of good care and better bras my nipples are almost ready for the final downsizing.
Thinking along the lines of if a little change is good then a big change in attitude would be better, I decided to look into genital piercings. I researched BME and other internet sources. Finally I decided that a vertical clitoral hood would be my next step. Not only is would it provide stimulation, but also it would provide me with bling in my pants. I could use improvement in how I felt about my appeal and my confidence. I checked my anatomy with a q-tip and thought I was good to go.
Now where should I go for the piercing? While the downtown Eugene High Priestess Piercing shop was the definitely qualified to do the work, it's a really hopping place. I knew I wanted to take my time with this piercing and make sure my anatomy was a good fit, etc. I was very nervous and I wanted the vibe to be right. To be truthful I also wanted a little anonymity if I couldn't go through with the piercing. So I decided to take a trip to High Priestess's (HPP) Corvallis shop.
The thirty-five minute drive would help settle my nerves a bit and make sure I had ample time for a final review of what I was about to do. Yea, it's wise to question your intentions and perhaps sanity when you are about to let a perfect stranger, even a highly trained perfect stranger, near your clit with a really big needle.
The Corvallis HPP shop is clean and bright. They share the space with several tattoo artists. I immediately enjoyed the mellow atmosphere. The counter staff asked me what I would liked pierced and copied my ID. I was so nervous I barely spoke and found I had to repeat myself a few times. Very quickly the gentleman behind the counter put me at ease.
He asked Chris, the piercer, to connect with me. Chris was a doll! He was absolutely informative, professional, and really funny. We went back into the studio and he made a point to lock the door. I wasn't even undressed and he was thinking about my privacy.
Chris asked me several questions about what I was looking for in this piercing. He pulled out a piercing mock up to show me what a vertical hood was and what was needed to make the piercing work. And also to show me what other options were out there for genital piercing.
Then after what felt like 10 minutes of talking and confirming we both had the same idea of what I wanted, he asked me to get undressed from the waist down. Yep, I did drop my drawers for a stranger. Up to now Chris had been so professional that my embarrassment of being a large half naked woman on mission for a fun piercing melted away in seconds.
I laid down on the freshly cleaned bench or bed with a little dental bib under my butt. Once Chris saw to my comfort, he began checking out my goodies. While this was initially awkward, Chris kept talking the entire time. He let me know what he was doing, why he was doing it, and where he was going to next. After checking things out, he asked me to put my pants back on.
It was only after I was dressed and he had ungloved and washed his hands again that Chris explained what piercings I could do with my anatomy. In his opinion it was possible to give me a vertical hood but not advisable. He thought that I would find it more irritating that pleasurable with what was there to work with. He did think I had enough space for labia minor or major piercings and I was a good candidate for a fourchette. Any work around my clit was just going to be too tight.
Throughout this conversation Chris was entirely professional. He presented his opinions in a clear and thoughtful manner. It was clear that he was focused on doing the right piercing for me, not on making the sale. Long story short I decided on ONE labia minor piercing.
A few minutes later I found myself on my back, lips opened wide and ready for piercing action. We checked the location and I approved the spot. The clamp was applied – that hurt like hell. Chris waited a few moments to check for small veins or arteries. Then I felt a little poking sensation on the side of my lip.
"What's that?!?!?" I asked. Chris paused and his voice did crack a little when he said it was the needle. I think he was wondering if I was going to loose it right there and then. I asked him to pause for a second and explain how the needle was lined up. I told him he didn't have to move, I just needed to know that the needle wasn't going to hit anything else in follow through. Acknowledging that I was being irrational, I was frightened I would end up with a great big needle in my clit by accident.
Chris let out a deep breath and smiled. While holding perfectly still he told me exactly where he was (I wasn't about to look down and sneak a peak). There was no way he could possibly hit any other place than where we intended. After feeling reassured, I said I was ready.
He had me breathe in and out twice. On the second breath out I was pierced. It didn't hurt a bit. I think the clamp had numbed the area. Taking off the clamp was painful. Inserting the 10 gauge captive bead ring smarted quite a bit. The cleanup was fine.
The after care was simple. After 10 days it felt healed enough that I thought I could go and add a few more rings to my labia minor without complication.
Since I had such a good result with Chris, I decided to see him again to finish the set. He works two days per week in Eugene so I didn't have to make another road trip. Chris did a great job confirming what I wanted from my piercing. I didn't have a set picture of how I wanted the piercings laid out; I just knew I wanted to have two sets of two at a minimum and ideally three sets of two. I wanted the piercings to be arranged so it was comfortable to sit, walk, etc and since the space is tight I did want to avoid any unnecessary tissue pinching between the rings.
With a clear idea of where I wanted to go with my genital work, Chris began. Any one familiar with HPP knows they are fanatical when it comes to cleanliness. Chris changed his gloves and washed his hands numerous times before, after and during the piercing procedure. After a brief inspection and cleanup of my labia minor, Chris told me he could easily put three other rings in, so a total of two pairs. There just wasn't enough space for the third set. He also suggested a staggered placement which he thought would work the best with my tight space (I have large outer labia and they rest over the labia minor).
After I agreed, Chris marked the location of each ring. As each line kept blurring, Chris asked if he could mark and then pierce each one as he went along. He told me that he preferred to pierce with a needle that was just a tad smaller than the CBR so that the CBR would apply pressure to the piercing and reduce the amount of bleeding should that occur. Since they were out of that needle size I could use a smaller gauge needle and stretch up to 10 gauge or be pierced with a 10 gauge needle although this may lead to further bleeding.
I choose to use a 10 gauge needle with the 10 gauge CBR. As the set up for the first piercing took place, I commented on how tight the clamp felt. Chris loosened it up a bit and asked me to start breathing slowly and deeply.
WOW! This piercing hurt a ton more than my earlier piercing. I didn't know if I could take two more piercings like this. After Chris put in the CBR he mentioned that I was bleeding quite a bit. He had warned me of some bleeding, but this was more than he expected so he wanted to use the smaller gauge needles and stretch up to the CBR. I wasn't sure I could take more pain, but I trusted his skills and agreed.
The next two piercings made the first piercing seem easy. They hurt a hell of a lot. In all three cases the clamp wasn't has hard as it was the first time I was pierced. This leads me to believe that the clamp had helped numb the area.
When all was said and done Chris cleaned the area, let me check it out (GOD my four silver rings were beautiful!) I was beat and headed home.
For the next 24 hours I bled pretty consistently. I continued to bleed a quick drip-drip each time I did something to disturb the piercings like using the bathroom, bathing, etc. They were pretty swollen girly bits for a couple of days too. I couldn't separate them from one another due to swelling they had effectively sealed shut. This didn't impair urinating, but it did make cleaning the piercings tenuous.
By day five the swelling had gone down and everything was back to normal so to speak. I continue to take two saltwater baths per day just to verify that everything is getting clean. And I follow up the soaks with a cool water rinse and then wash with the recommended soap. No more pain although I do sleep with my legs spread as far apart as possible and I've switched to boy short underpants.
After the healing is complete I'm going to deck my labia minor step ladder out in a new set of pink titanium CBR. I have found that I feel more beautiful and sexy. Friends and family have asked me if there is a new guy on the horizon because I seem more confident, happy and at ease with myself. I just smile when they ask. I know it's because I finally feel good about all the pieces of me.