There seem to be comparatively few experiences on BME regarding fourchette piercings, so I thought I'd add mine.
At A Glance Author Memma Contact Memma@bme.anon IAM memma When Three months ago Artist Mark Studio Tantalyze Location Kendal, Cumbria, UK I had been contemplating this piercing for some time. Have always thought they look beautiful, and would compliment my other piercings nicely. It was just a case of having the money to go ahead with it.
So, skip forward to piercing day. I'd finally got myself a job that paid me enough money that I could spend it on getting pierced again. Recently prior to this I had split up with my other half of two years.. I suppose this did feature a little in my decision to take the plunge, as it were. Pain is a very cathartic thing for me; piercing pain doubly so.
Although I've said I'd planned to get this piercing at some point, the decision to go through with it on that day was somewhat spur-of-the-moment. A dear friend of mine was getting her tongue pierced, and as I sat watching her get needled, all I could think was 'want one, want one, want one'. So I asked Mark if he could do a fourchette for me while I was there... he said he could.
The piercing itself was fairly uneventful. Opted for anaesthetic, which to be honest was a waste of time as the piercing was so quick anyway that by the time I'd had a chance to go 'OW!', it would have been over and done with. I chose a 1.6mm BCR to go in it, which was a mistake, as I shall explain a little further down...
Cleaned up (a fun task – I had stupidly neglected to mention the ibuprofen I'd taken for my recent second tongue piercing, therefore I bled like a stuck pig), paid up, and left. It actually surprised me how noticeable the sensation change was. I was wearing fairly small underwear, and as such I had to be a little careful not to sit down too quickly...
As I have briefly mentioned, the BCR was a mistake. It got caught on EVERYTHING. I had to abandon the idea of underwear altogether for a while as it was just too painful. To anyone thinking of getting this piercing, go for a curved barbell. Seriously. I cannot stress this point enough.
Aftercare was reasonably simple as with all my genital piercings. Just a rinse off in the shower every morning and a quick swab with savlon at night. I was extra careful during the first two weeks to give it an extra squirt of antiseptic after bowel movements, due to the piercing's close proximity to my 'exit hole'.
The BCR continued to make a nuisance of itself. I still couldn't wear panties after three weeks, and it still hurt like hell if I caught it even just a little. So I found a nice little curved barbell to put in it instead. I meant to go to Mark to let him change it for my, but in my wisdom I decided to give it a bash myself (late at night, after much spliffage and too much rum). This was my second big mistake. Getting the ring out and the barbell in was no great difficulty, however screwing the bead onto the end of the bar was nigh on impossible. It's not an easy area to grip by one's self anyway, and add to that the fact that I couldn't actually see what I was doing made it all the more tricky. I tried everything... leaning round to try and see it (causing my legs to close up just enough to render the area inaccessible), using a mirror (even worse since it's hard to co-ordinate one's movements in a mirror), and lastly just doing it blind. This seemed to be the only method that would work, and in my determined (and drunken) state there was no way I'd let this piercing go. Forty-five minutes, a lot of fumbling, and a fair amount of pain later, it was done.
The difference was incredible. I could sit down, wear thongs, and do pretty much whatever I wanted again. The piercing finally healed roughly a week later. It did migrate a couple of millimetres, but thankfully decided to stop after that. I suppose it just wasn't comfortable where it was.
Now, three months on, I have finally had a chance to 'try out' my latest genital adornment. To be honest, it wasn't exactly mind-blowing for me, but my partner really liked it. I guess other people will have different opinions about it, as always, but I can only speak from personal experience.
To summarise, this is a highly aesthetically pleasing piercing. I've heard migration can be a worry for some people, so do be aware of that. It's a fairly quick healer and it DOES have benefits (though as stated, your mileage may vary). Just don't make the same mistakes I made – I really don't regret getting this piercing but there's a lot more I could have done to make it a much easier experience for myself.