If you're considering getting a triangle piercing, my advice is to go ahead with it! Getting my triangle pierced has been an eye-opening experience for me and has many perks. For example, I find myself smiling as I walk down the street because I know that no one I pass by would guess that I have my triangle pierced. I just look like a typical preppy college girl to them...
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Tom Studio Industrial Strength Location Berkeley, CA Well, I suppose I'll start with some background. I go to UC Berkeley and was a freshman when I discovered Industrial Strength, a piercing/tattoo shop on Dwight just off of Telegraph. I had gone in with several of my single friends on Valentine's Day to get my navel pierced (my first non-earlobe piercing; I got my ears pierced when I was 10 with a horrible gun!). Just as Tom was about to pierce me, my favorite Slayer song started playing, and Tom and I started to talk about music. Instantly, I felt comfortable around him. He pierced my navel (which hardly hurt at all!) and I went home, happy about the piercing and the piercing artist. Let me say this: I think it's very important to feel comfortable around the person who is going to pierce you.
Two weeks later, I walked back to Industrial Strength to ask about some redness that had developed around the top hole of my navel piercing. Tom told me to do salt water soak (which, by the way, worked wonderfully). We started to talk about music again and, once again, I felt perfectly at ease around him. The conversation shifted toward piercing, and we started looking at the hundreds of pictures covering the walls of his studio. I was quite in awe. "People pierce THAT?!" I found myself thinking over and over again. But I found some of the genital piercings intriguing, especially the triangle. I asked Tom if I could do that!
He checked out my anatomy and said, sure enough, that I would be a perfect candidate for my very own triangle piercing. As I have already said, it's super important to feel at ease around your piercer, because you have to show him/her your most private of regions. "OK let's do it!" I said. Wow, the adrenaline really started flowing at that point. He went and got the jewelry (14-guage captive bead ring) and set up the little surgical tray with all the supplies he would need. That needle looked big!
He had me slide my butt all the way up to the edge of the table (it's sort of like an examination table at your typical doctor's office) so that my feet were next to my butt. He took his time marking the location of the piercing. Tom doesn't use forceps. To ensure that he completely bypasses any nerves when piercing a triangle, he makes sure that the clitoris is aroused and out of the way. I was getting quite excited when we decided that it was time to rock and roll.
I gripped the sides of the table with my hands, closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. As I exhaled, I felt a very sharp pain in my privates, which was almost immediately replaced by a feeling of elation. He slid in the jewelry and put the bead in, and it was all over. It's one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. I sat up to look at my new jewelry. Tom gave me a mirror. I was amazed: it was so beautiful, and it felt so nice. It was absolutely perfect. Once I had finished admiring my triangle, I stood up and tried walking around, which was no problem. I had no pain, and there were only a few drops of blood. I pulled on my underwear—lovely flowery cotton ones that you buy at Costco in packs of ten—and my fairly tight jeans without any discomfort. I felt great. Tom got quite the bear hug (Go Bears!) before I left.
I had some bleeding for the next five days, but a simple panty-liner kept that problem under control. I washed it twice daily in the shower with a mild anti-bacterial soap (I prefer Softsoap) and soaked it in warm salt water (shot glasses in the shower work very well for this) before bed. It is important to make sure that you keep the soap away from the vagina and that you wash away all of the soap, because if you kill too many of the naturally occurring bacteria in the vagina, you can get a nasty yeast infection. This didn't happen to me, but it can if you're not careful. The first few days, I must admit, I wasn't too keen on going to lecture wearing tight jeans. Skirts and Advil solved this problem. Within one week, it was completely healed.
Since my perfect triangle experience, I have ventured further into the world of body piercing. To me, piercing, even in the genital area, is about personal growth. I stretched my triangle to a 6-guage, and I now have both of my nipples pierced both vertically and horizontally at 12-guage. My vertical hood (14-guage), together with my triangle, forms what Tom has dubbed a "clit sandwich".
Now, over a year later, I still walk to class smiling to myself.