For a few years I browsed the female genital piercing section of BME, trying to determine what sort of genital piercing I wanted. A vertical hood appealed to me, as did a christina. My other piercings are all pretty standard....a medusa, septum, nipples, and navel. I wanted something a little more unique for my genital piercings. I had remembered talking with a friend about vertical labia, and the more I thought about them, the more I wanted them. I decided I'd pursue two vertical labia and a christina. I researched these piercings as much as I could (which was a little hard with the vertical labia, because they're not very common.) I wanted a female piercer to do them, just because I felt I'd be more comfortable that way. So I went to HTC, one of the only two places I'll get pierced in town. I talked with the staff there and found out Katelyn was the piercer I should talk to, so I came in on a day when she was working and told her what I had in mind. She said she'd never don e vertical labia before, but that she did work with surface bars and she decided it would be something she'd be interested in trying.
At A Glance Author goforthbyday IAM goforthbyday When N/A Artist Katelyn Studio HTC Location Phoenix, AZ I went back in to HTC about a week later so we could talk about jewelry and make some measurements and placement plans. We talked about tygon versus surface bars and decided that the christina would be done with a 10g L-shaped half surface bar with a flat disk on the top (to prevent it from snagging on clothing), and the labia would be done with 10g regular surface barbells with all flat disks. As far as placement went, she told me I'd be better off with the labia piercings a little higher up (closer to the christina) than I had originally wanted, because of the way the skin needs to stretch during sex.(which I hadn't even thought about before...doh!) I climbed into a chair in their piercing room, put my feet in the stirrups, and she marked me up. We had also talked about a deep vertical hood instead of a christina, but when she tried to fit the receiving tube under my hood to see if I was built for it...we found out I'm one of those few girls with a hood that's too shallow to b e pierced. (I admit I was a little disappointed!) So, regular christina it was. She was very thorough about the perfect placement and I had a little mirror the whole time to see what she was doing and where she was marking. When we had both agreed that she had marked the perfect placement, she measured the final markings in order to special order the surface bars. After paying a 50% deposit on the jewelry, I went home to anxiously await its arrival.
A few weeks passed. The jewelry was a little delayed because of the APP conference. When it did arrive, I got a call from HTC on a Thursday telling me that my jewelry was in, but that after that Friday they would be having to close their doors for an undetermined amount of time (they're back open now, though!) I freaked out a little, because I had been planning to have a brazilian wax done to make healing a little easier, and suddenly I didn't have time to schedule that appointment. I was also a little tight on money at that time. I decided I'd just have the christina done on Friday, and wait 'til later in summer for my labia piercings. I figured this would also make it a little easier on myself, pain wise. So...I waxed the area for the christina myself! Which actually wasn't too bad, but I'm definitely going to have a professional do the brazilian for my labia piercings. With a fresh bald spot ready for stabbin's, I showed up at HTC that Friday. While waiting for the jewelry to "cook" in the autoclave, we chatted about tattoos and roller derby and other such delicious things. I paid, and once the jewelry was ready I de-pantsed and climbed into the chair yet again. I glanced at the half surface barbell and thought "holy crap, that thing is fucking HUGE." I have my nipples at 10g, but for some reason seeing this 10g surface bar sitting innocently on the tray was very intimidating. Katelyn marked me up again, making sure everything was perfectly straight, and after the usual glove routine, clamped my pubic mound...which hurt like a bitch. The only piercings I'd ever had done with a clamp was my septum and my medusa, which wasn't too bad....but with the pubic mound, Katelyn kept having to lift it up slightly to make sure she had it perfectly placed at the bottom, and that area isn't particularly stretchy. I just tried to focus on the art on the wall while this was all happening, and tried to psych myself up for the actual piercing. When I was all cla mped and ready to go, she told me to take a few deep breathes, then br eathe in, and as I exhaled she pushed the needle through. It was by far the MOST painful piercing I have ever experienced. I gripped the sides of the chair like my life depended on it, and as much as I tried to stay still, I sort of leaned forward and felt my hips shift like they had a mind of their own. But in a few seconds it was over, and as the pain started dissipating it was replaced by the weirdest pleasant sensation. I'm not sure if it was just the relief of the whole thing being over, but it wasn't a bad feeling at all.
Once the jewelry was in with the bead and disk screwed on, Katelyn handed me a mirror to have a look. It was –perfect-. The bar was a bit longer than necessary to accommodate for swelling, so the bottom bead rested at the very top of my hood. It was exactly like I'd pictured it. It bled a bit, and she gave me some gauze to pat away the blood, then she took some photos for her portfolio (woo! my crotch is in a portfolio! How exciting!!) In a sort of post-piercing daze, I carefully put my pants back on, got my sea salt from the receptionist, tipped Katelyn, and drove home.
It bled a small amount that night, but it wasn't too bad. When I walked around I felt this tight, tingling sensation and marveled at finally having a christina. The next few days, my stomach was more sore than the piercing! I think that somehow I pulled some stomach muscles when I strained and leaned forward during the actual piercing procedure. The top hole scabbed a little and this made it painful to sit in a way that stretched that part of my body. I did sea salt compresses to help soften the scab, which made it more comfortable. After those few days, though, there was no soreness and now I forget it's even there until I see it (then I feel all warm and fuzzy inside! awww) I normally do sea salt compresses but treat myself to a sea salt bath every few days (I take a shower beforehand and disinfect the tub too, to keep the soak as clean as possible).
I was warned by a few people that christina piercings tend to get in the way during sex, but I haven't found this to be a problem at all.
So, there is my experience of the first part of my three-piercing genital project. Now I'm extremely excited to complete it with my vertical labia in July. I'll definitely write an experience about those, too.