I think genital piercing intrigued me even when I knew so little about it (and about my own personal genitals, sadly) that I thought "clit piercing" was the only option. It wasn't until about 3 years ago that I was exposed to other possibilities, through a BDSM discussion group. It really makes a difference when someone you "know", a real person, has had it done and can share their experiences with you. It makes it seem like a genuine option.
At A Glance Author girlndocs Contact girlndocs@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Chuck Studio Lucky Devil Body Piercing Location Seattle, WA Several months ago, somebody linked me to the Rings of Desire page and I got interested in having my vertical hood done, but after a bit of research my Manindocs and I concluded that it wasn't the piercing for us – we have a fulltime power exchange relationship and he wanted something he could pull on, hook a leash to and so forth. It seemed like the hood was such thin tissue it wouldn't hold up well. I went back to read some more and a triangle piercing sounded like a really durable, effective, erotic one, but M. was lukewarm about the whole thing until one evening I took a spare CBR and slipped it over my triangle to see how it looked. M. walked in on me and wanted to see too, and it really lit a fire under him – right away he started plotting how to get that piercing done!
Deciding who would do the job was pretty easy. When I was interested in the VCH I'd checked out APP piercers in my area, one of whom was Chuck at Lucky Devil. As I read through the triangle piercing experiences at BME I noticed that her name came up several times and all with good experiences. When M. talked on the phone with her he really liked her, too. So we knew we would travel to Seattle to have Chuck pierce me.
All of it still seemed far-off to me, until M. got an unexpected bonus at work and told me that as soon as he could arrange it, we'd be going to get the piercing done. Gulp. Suddenly we had an appointment in just two weeks. I was excited, because I loved the idea, but it was nervewracking to have a definite date approaching! I started practicing the relaxation exercises I had learned before my homebirth, and when I felt sudden twinges of anxiety about it, I used them to my advantage by breathing them away rather than continuing to tighten up. I hoped this would help me respond to any fear I might have, on the day of the actual piercing, by relaxing rather than panicking.
One day about a week before the piercing I woke up so scared about it I was in tears. After M. glued me back together and I was able to think about it more rationally, I realized that what I was so terrified of was the awful feeling of being scared. In a moment of clarity I realized I didn't have to be scared. Just like with my homebirth, just like entering a new stage of the power exchange with M., I could make the choice to have an experience without fear instead of insisting on experiencing it.
The day of the piercing came and we dropped the kids off at their grandparents and drove up to Seattle. From the outside Lucky Devil looks like a stereotypical tattoo dive, but inside it's clean and spacious and everyone was welcoming. I was surprised to realize that although I was shaking and feeling a little queasy, I wasn't feeling any emotional fear. It really helped to make that distinction. I was able to try and get my physical adrenalin reactions under control a little.
The Lucky Devil's piercing room is a tiny, private, quiet spot. I couldn't even hear the music that had been playing loudly in the main studio. Chuck cleaned me off and checked to see whether I was built for the piercing, agreeing with me that I would be just fine. Then she marked the placement and really took her time, marking, checking from another angle and marking again. Finally she showed it to me, and explained why even though the marks looked crooked, they would produce a piercing that was straight and correct for my body (they did).
Chuck advised that I start breathing deeply as she began to apply the clamps, and I appreciated that, because in my experience the classic "pierce on the third exhale" just is not enough time to really let go. She made sure nothing about the clamps was painful, because, she said, if it was, then she'd clamped something she wasn't supposed to. I remember her telling her apprentice that one way to confirm the clamps were on OK, was to check that "the little captain of the boat" was still visible. Hee.
I'd mentioned earlier that I had had a natural birth and as she finished up with the clamps and attached the ring to the needle, she reminded me: "Natural childbirth ... this is gonna be a piece of cake!" And it was time. Chuck asked for two more of those deep breaths. I took one breath and let it out. Everything seemed to happen very slowly as I took the second breath – I had the fleeting thought that I should be afraid because this was it, but all I felt was calm and inevitability and I took my time inhaling, and then let it out without hesitating, and she pierced me.
I tensed up and gasped, which probably didn't make it any easier for me. It wasn't over as quickly as I'd hoped it would be – with my lip piercing the pain had come and gone before I had the chance to finish thinking "OW!" but this time I was able to think "OW! Iwantthistostop!" before there was a pause, and then another "Owthathurts", for the jewelry to go through. The sensation was different from my lip piercing, too, I could definitely tell that the needle was going through more tissue. Sort of a passing-through sensation instead of a pop.
Then it was, and as they passed me a mirror to check it out I had a huge grin on my face. I did it! I couldn't believe that after so much mental preparation and building up, it was over. Chuck and M. made me lie back for a bit longer and while I was there, Chuck attended to changing out my silver earrings for steel CBRs. Then I had a sucker, put my underpants and boots on without falling over, and we decided that was the sign that I could get up and go.
M. had parked several blocks away from the studio, which turned out to not be so fantastic for me. I was definitely not one of those women who feel the triangle magic just walking from the piercing bed to the front counter! It was sore, pinchy and swollen and I bet anyone who saw me waddling out of the studio could have guessed where my new piercing was. (But I did get a real charge out of walking past the burly guys getting tats in the main studio and realizing that I'd just done something that would probably have made them cry like babies!)
It's pretty comfortable now. By 3 days after – the swelling was down, it had stopped itching (all my cuts and things do that) and even most of the hey-there's-something-in-my-pants strangeness is gone. Chuck said to expect bleeding "like clockwork" on day 3, but I haven't had any more than tiny spots and that's done too. So far it's been much easier to heal than my lip was. I'm at day 5 now, and would be past any discomfort at all if I hadn't caught it a funny way getting out of bed and torn one side a tiny bit. Yeowchh – yet even that's calming down quickly.
When M. first called Chuck to discuss doing the piercing, she told him she looks forward to meeting anyone who is willing to consider a triangle piercing, because it's such a great piercing but there are so many horror stories about how awful it is to get. I can see what she means: when I was reading about them, I saw a lot of people recommend not getting one as a first genital piercing. I think that's bullshit; if it's the piercing you want, go out and get it. Why go through a needle in your pink bits for another piercing you don't want as much? Personally, if I was going to get a genital piercing, I wanted to make sure it was worth it. It was intense, but it was an experience I'm really proud of now, and a piercing I look forward to having for a long, long time.