I've always thought the fourchette piercing was quite pretty, and had wanted one for quite some time. I was slightly hesitant, however, simply because I wasn't sure if I was quite ready to get a genital piercing yet. I'm not sure why I was so nervous, because I'm really not modest, but anyway, I was quite nervous about the whole thing and took my sweet time in deciding to get it. After about a year of liking and wanting one, I decided to go ahead and get it sometime soon. Scott Jania of Progressive Piercing has pierced me several times before, and I always insist that my friends go there as well. At one point while in the shop as moral support to a friend, I mentioned to Scott that I was thinking about it. He said he would need to do an anatomy check, which is one of my personal favorite things about Scott- he does not commit to being able to do a piercing before checking to see that anatomy is appropriate.
At A Glance Author Lisa Contact Lisa@bme.anon IAM redXlibation When A week ago Artist Scott Jania Studio Progressive Piercing Location Chicago, IL It took about a month for me to get my nerve up from there to actually have him do my anatomy check. I went in one day with my friend Celeste as her support while getting her nape done, and so we just did it then. He said it looked fine for that, and also mentioned that I could easily get a PA as well. We discussed what jewelry suit us both the best, and eventually settled upon using 10gauge tygon. I decided to actually do the piercing that weekend.
The following day, I decided to just do it, because if I put it off too long I'd simply be more nervous. I'm completely comfortable with Scott; he is completely professional so I was not worried about that. I have no idea why I was nervous at all. I gave Scott's intern/apprentice Ian the heads up that I'd be coming in that day.
After my classes finished, I grabbed Celeste and we headed down to Progressive, which is located within the Alley Alternative Shopping Complex on Belmont. Don't let the location fool you- it's one of the cleanest shops I've seen. I filled out my paperwork and did the usual pre-piercing stuff before Celeste, Ian, and I stepped into the piercing room and shut the door.
Having Ian there actually helped calm me, because Scott explained step-by-step absolutely every little tiny thing he was doing and why he did it, even more so than usual. Ian also thought to ask different questions that I hadn't thought of, which kept my mind off of the fact that I was about to get my first genital piercing. Scott opted to use 7/16th" for the length of the tygon. The marking went slowly as Scott put me in several different awkward positions to see which would be easiest to pierce in. He explained that depending on anatomy, this piercing is best done in a variety of different positions. I eventually ended up on all fours, with my front end {chest, arms, and head} resting entirely on the table with my legs spread. It was incredibly difficult to hold, so Scott allowed me to take a break in between most of the steps to rest.
After he eventually finished marking, which he explained to Ian is quite similar to the procedure for marking a navel piercing, and found the final position, we got all set to pierce. Scott used slightly curved forceps. They were uncomfortable, of course, but bearable. He lined up, then instructed me to inhale, with the piercing being done on the exhale. Tears sprang to my eyes on the exhale as he pierced. It stung more so than hurt, however. The removal of the forceps was actually the worst part, I think, though transferring the tygon was no cakewalk either. Getting the bead on wasn't too bad, by that point the reality of my new piercing had sunk in, and I couldn't stop giggling. I walked around for the rest of the day on cloud nine.
I found the best method of sea-salt soaking to be by wearing a pad to absorb excess water while using cotton balls. For the first few days, it was very tender, but never actually painful; I walked a bit funny and sitting in certain positions was kind of sketchy. It never interfered with any daily activities, however, though it was about a week before I could comfortably wear a thong {it says this piercing was done a week ago, it was actually two, however, there's no option for two weeks in the form!}.
I love it and totally recommend it to anyone. The area is now slightly more sensitive to the touch. It got slightly tender just before my period, but is fine now. I'm super excited for it to complete the healing period so that I can go in for the PA!
Feel free to email me if you have any other questions!