At A Glance
Author	Jane
Contact	Jane@bme.anon
IAM	Jane66
When	A year ago
Artist	Steve
Studio	Alan's Tattoo
Location	Moretor, Merseyside, UK

The build up
I discovered BME in March 2002. By then I already had four modifications; a self-done labia piercing, a navel piercing, a vertical clitoral hood piercing and a tattoo. My interest in mods waned, probably due to the distractions of bringing up a young family. While I'm not completely sure what re-awakened my interest, at least some of my motivation derived from difficulties I was having with my marriage. My partner of some twenty years chose to bring another person into our relationship, though he assured me that his feelings for me were unaltered. I guess I felt the need to reclaim some of my self-esteem and do something for myself and I found myself spending more and more time on BME. Looking through the pictures and experiences I quickly realised that I wanted to restore symmetry to my labiae and if possible get a triangle.

So on one sunny morning I left my husband, who was ostensibly working from home with his new love and HR manager and went out to do some "shopping". A new piercing and Tattoo establishment had opened up in the neighbouring town so I decided to call in and see if they could fit me in. My ultimate ambition was to get a triangle done, though I was planning on using a part of my body that required less precision to check out the competence and experience of the piercer. I parked up nearby and went in. The place was primarily a tattoo parlour but also had a resident piercer. I've never been the most confident person when it comes to shops or for that matter telephones, so it took all my courage to walk up to the man on the desk and say, "Do you do genital piercings?" For the record he had an impressive septum spike, spectacularly stretched lobes, no untattooed skin visible below the neckline and most likely answered to the name Butch or Spike! "Steve, a customer for you," he shouted to a smallish man who was making himself a cup of tea in the back room. Steve came to meet me and showed me the way to his consulting room.

The room was small but reassuringly clean, with that freshly scrubbed hospital smell, that hospitals don't always have any more. There was a doctor's examination room style bed, an autoclave and a huge range of jewellery hanging from a wall rack, all in individually heat-sealed bags. Steve asked me to sit on the bed and asked me what I wanted. I explained that I was looking to even up my labiae; it was now nearly 15 years since I had pierced my left labia with a set of dividers, a monkey wrench, a cork and a good measure of recklesnesss. I told him, that as an incentive, I had bought myself a stunning pair of 3mm, 20mm internal diameter segment rings from Breed 3-1-6. I also explained that I was ultimately looking for a Triangle, though not on this visit. Steve admitted openly that he had never done one, though he had a friend who he would call for me. He also pointed out that he would have to provide the initial titanium jewellery due to recent legislation changes re garding impurities in surgical grade stainless steel.

The piercing
He asked me to remove my jeans and knickers then sat me on the side of the bed and took a long look at my labia, then put a dot on the outside of the right one, trying to match exactly the position of the existing ring. While this was happening we had a brief conversation about the pros and cons of viewing women's genitalia as a profession; apparently Steve had just been to an event in Hamburg where he had pierced something like 200 clitoral hoods in a few days. He reckoned that he was worse than useless at recognising faces but fancied his chances of recognising the "genitals" of anyone he had pierced in an identify parade! That made me laugh! He got me to move about, to make sure the positioning was even and showed me the place he was planning to pierce me in a mirror. It was fine. We then had a discussion about the gauge of the piercing, 1.6mm, 2.4mm or 3.2mm. Being impatient I was veering towards the larger size when he pointed out that he didn't have any 3.2mm je wellery autoclaved. That settled things! When he brought out the cannulated needle I was suddenly relieved that the larger gauge ring was off the menu. It looked huge. He collected together his supplies in a steel tray and put them on a trolley next to the bed. The needle, the ring in its bag, lubricant, some adrenalin-like blood coagulant, ring opening and ring closing pliers and a big box of disposable gloves.

Steve asked me to sit back on the side of the bed and put the heel of my right foot up on the bed too, giving him plenty of room to work. It struck me as strange to look down to see the head of someone I hardly know, a few millimetres from my most intimate parts. With a fresh pair of gloves on he held my right labia quite firmly between his fingers and asked me if I wanted to be surprised or a count. I wasn't bothered. He carried on talking away, joking that it must have taken a hell of a whack to get a pair of dividers through the other one. As I said yes, he pierced me. It hurt, a sharp stabbing pain but hardly enough to stop me talking. By the time I looked down, the needle was already gone and in the sharps bin, leaving the plastic cannula through my labia. He took the ring out of its bag, popped the ball out and fitted the end into the cannula. By rotating the ring in and gently lifting the cannula, he installed it without further discomfort. Then he leaned for wards with the ring opening pliers. Moments later I heard the familiar "tink....... tink.... tink... tink" of the ball bouncing away on the tiled floor and Steve swearing quietly under his breath, as he reached for a second 2.4x20mm ring. "I usually use these for PA's he said as he prised the ball out and fitted to the ring already in my labia.

I was bleeding a little on the exit wound so he used a Q-tip soaked in the blood coagulant. After a minute or two it stopped completely. Before I got dressed he asked me to hang on while he phoned his friend Jay about the triangle. With the phone in one hand he asked me if I minded if he had an exploratory poke about, while the voice on the other of the phone issued instructions. The verdict was that I would have no problems getting a triangle, I had room to spare. He wrote Jay's number on the back of his business card and said that if I did agree to go ahead with it, I'd have to sign a disclaimer due the potential risks. Steve asked me how I had looked after my previous piercings. His advice about this one was as follows: - go easy on the anti-bacterial soap since it is easy to destroy the delicate balance of vaginal flora. Use salt-soaks every other day. Don't to worry too much about urine since it is a great antiseptic and above all avoid rotating a crusty ring through the piercing. He also recommended tea-tree oil as an antibiotic and lavender oil as a healing enhancer, but to dilute the former with something like baby oil, since neat it would sting on mucous membranes. He showed me a pre-diluted dab on dispenser available from a Boots, a UK chain chemist, handed me a care sheet and wished me good luck in my quest for a triangle. I paid at the desk and left a healthy tip and drove home feeling unfeasibly smug, knowing that I done something purely for myself.

The aftermath
I was a little uncomfortable the following morning, just mild bruising. In some ways I quite like the post-piercing discomfort, all too soon piercings become undetectable, part of the norm and its good to have that little nagging reminder that you have done something a little out of the ordinary. Until yesterday, when I acquired a tragus piercing, all my mods have been invisible to the general public. I love having the knowledge that below my outer clothing I would probably shock most of the people I work with! A couple of days later my husband noticed my new addition and asked me why I had done it. I explained my need to do something purely for myself.

I have always rated labial piercings as amongst the easiest to get and the hardest to keep. This one was no exception. It was of course my own silly fault. I was so keen to match up my labiae that I installed the 3mm segment ring about three weeks after the initial piercing. Breed segments have nice rounded convex ends to the ring section and I was able to get the ring in without and discomfort at all. I was so pleased to be symmetrical again, although in retrospect I wish that I had waited longer. I continued cleaning the piercing according to instructions but found that while there was no infection, it just wasn't healing. Then I noticed that it was migrating. A 3mm ring was migrating through my labia! It was quite fascinating to watch. The problem was caused by two things: the position of the piercing, as low on my labia (as close to my anus) as I could go and the large internal diameter of the ring. Whenever I sat or walked, the rings were pulled out slightly by my thighs. A lovely feeling, but not ideal healing conditions; the constant low pressure was just enough to encourage healing behind the piercing but to open up fresh flesh in front.

Click here if you are logged into IAM to see a picture of the migrating ring. If you are not and IAM member it won't work., sorry.

The movement did eventually stop and I healed fully, though the ring was nowhere near level with the first one. Regretfully I decided to retire the piercing about 6 months after it was done. The hole closed perfectly and apart from a little bit of scar tissue, that can be felt rather than seen, there was no evidence that it had ever been there. I have of course since been re-pierced, by Allan (aka Bear on IAM) and managed to keep it in place. The trick appears to start small, 1.6mm and use a straight barbell with enough spare room to clean it. To let it heal completely before getting greedy with bigger jewellery. Labia are hard to heal but easy to stretch.