A real transitional experience

At A Glance Author The Big Hippy Contact The Big Hippy@bme.anon Artist Gary Scott Studio Bodyworks Location London

An ampallang? Sometimes I worry about myself wanting things like this! To fill you in, I've only been into the whole piercing thing for about 3 years, not like some of the old pros out there, but in that time I've chalked up a good 14 or so in my left ear, nose, tongue, both nips and the essential PA. So I think I've got a fairly good handle on the piercing thing by now, but there was always that barrier that needed to be crossed, that of the ampallang, the most adventurous piercing a man can wear. I've always thought the amp was the most practical and aesthetically pleasing male piercing, but unfortunately involves having over an inch of skin (and not just any ol' bit of skin, but the helmet of your old man) penetrated with a very sharp object. The PA only goes through a couple of mm of skin, and the amp is a big advance on that! I have also been extra-hesitant because I am uncircumcised, and have heard some very bad stories about ampallangs on uncut knobs, infections, rejections, having to have the piercing done at a minimum of 4ga, that horrible thing where the foreskin can swell up, ouch. Almost enough to put a man off, in fact.

I have been pondering this piercing pretty much ever since I got the PA, it seemed the next logical step. And now seemed like the logical time, I am single again after a 10 month relationship with a lovely girl hit the rocks. Since I'm pathetic at picking up girls at the best of times (it only ever happens by sheer luck!) I figure I'll have the time for it to heal properly.

So, the decision is made. I'm going to do it. I have had nearly all my previous piercings done at Bodyworks in Croydon, South London by Gary there, so I know him pretty well. This will be the man who I entrust to stick a metal spike right through the head of my knob. You need to be able to trust your piercer implicitly before letting them perform this piercing, getting it is, in itself, an act of faith. Gary has reassured me that being uncircumcised shouldn't be a problem if the foreskin is kept back behind the piercing for the first couple of weeks, and the piercing is kept clean. For uncircumcised men, Gary usually fits hemispherical balls to the barbell when the return visit is made to change down the size of the bar, since they sit flush with the side of the helmet and do not intrude on the movement of the foreskin as much as regular balls. I can see this being an advantage! I guess I had no trouble whatsoever with my PA when I had that done, so hopefully this shouldn't prove too problematic. It's still a very big step to take, though, so I have to head off there and make the appointment.

The next day:

The appointment was made... for half-an-hour's time, once the queue in the shop had subsided! I was expecting to come back in a couple of days and do it then, but half an hour was cool with me!

Luckily, the appointment was only to assess placement and so on. Gary marked a dot either side of my helmet to show where the optimal placement would be. This would be a transurethral piercing, which is supposed to heal more quickly. He then gave me a set of calipers to take home with me, and told me to measure the exact distance, down to the fraction of a mm, between the two marks when I was fully aroused, as this would be vital to ensure I got the correct size bar. Needless to say, the nerves I had took their toll on my ability to get it up when I got home, so I relaxed for a while, then attempted to think some "nice" thoughts so I could get this damn measurement. 41.2mm. OK, no problem. The dots had nearly rubbed off by this point, though!

The day after the next day:

I phoned before I went down to Bodyworks, it turned out they were having a bit of a slow day, since the weather wasn't up to much, so I said I'd go straight down there. I decided not to drive, since I wasn't sure if I'd be up to driving again afterwards! So, it's about a 20 minute walk from my place, so I headed down there, and, even though I should be used to this by now, my legs were getting ever more jelly-like the nearer I got. I got there, and the shop was empty, so I was shown straight in. I dropped my trousers again, and told Gary the measurement. It turns out I have quite a large differential in sizes (my knob goes from very small to pretty big) so this would necessitate a longer barbell than he would usually use. I guess my knob was particularly small that day, it was cold, and it obviously knew what was about to happen to it... So, time for the "off"... Gary changed his gloves (all his equipment is out of packets or straight out of the autoclave), then pulled out a Medicut needle (a cannular needle that leaves a plastic sleeve behind it). A big bloody thing! I could feel my knob attempting to retreat into my body even further. Gary then re-marked the placement dots (since they'd pretty much worn off). Gary uses a local anaesthetic for his piercings, this icy cold stuff, feels weird but it gets the job done. So I got a hearty squirt of it either side of my bell-end (like it really needed to be any colder!), he swiftly grabbed my helmet in a pair of open-ended tweezers (it squeezed down to only about 1cm!) and stuck the needle through in one quick motion. It didn't hurt much, but it was a very strange sensation. I looked down and saw this plastic tube stuck sideways through the end of my knob. Gary grabbed the barbell, stuck it into the end of the plastic sleeve, and pulled it through the piercing, which was a whole other sensation. Then obviously the effects of the anaesthetic wore off, and I had this intense burning sensation in the end of my cock that made my knees go weak (again). But it was all done, I'd gone through with it and come through it relatively unscathed. I was bleeding quite badly though, but I was kinda expecting this, I am a bleeder by nature, most of my other piercings have bled fairly badly, but have healed perfectly. I was given a handful of paper towels to put down my pants, it was so bad I was expecting it to start running down my legs! So, after about 5 minutes, once the pain had died down, I gave standing up a try, and as I was putting my pants back on, I got this strange sensation as I stood up, the new piercing was definitely making its presence known. I was told to keep my foreskin as retracted as possible, this isn't always easy, since the head of the penis becomes a lot more sensitive when the skin's pulled back, but I knew I had to do this...! I got a Savlon Wound Wash spray to clean the piercing with (this stuff works wonders) and headed off home, legs still wobbly, but with a great feeling of achievement. The bleeding subsided pretty quickly, once I got home I examined the paper towels, they were pretty sodden with blood, but not much more seemed to have come out since.

Later that afternoon:

The piercing has been a dull ache all afternoon, not really painful, but definitely uncomfortable. I'm not sure if this is the piercing or the fact that my foreskin is pulled back behind the bar. But then came the worst bit, having to go to the toilet. I remember how much this stung the first few times after I had my PA done, but this was much worse. It was painful, my legs started jellifying again! I finally got the guts together after the wee-wee to have a go at cleaning the piercing with the Savlon spray, so I got out some cotton wool buds and the spray and set to it, there was a lot of crusty blood around the holes that I was trying gently to get off, once I got it all off one side, I tried slowly sliding the bar through so I could clean the other side... wow, that is a very unusual sensation, a bit sore, but not entirely unpleasant! So when it was all clean, I adjusted my foreskin and gently put it back in my pants...

Time shall tell:

Well, it's now two days since getting the piercing done, it's still rather tender, but the bleeding seems to have stopped and weeing is almost manageable again without pain, but I guess I'll be sitting down until I can safely pull my foreskin back over the end of my knob. I haven't woken up with morning wood yet, but I bet that'll hurt! But I know I will learn to appreciate it in due course! Otherwise, I love the way this piercing looks, even though the barbell that's in it right now is a little too big (to allow for swelling, I have to return in a couple of weeks to get it downsized and to get my hemispherical balls), it gives rise to some unique feelings (even with my very limited experience of it to date) and I'm sure it will give me many years of pleasure! Most importantly, it feels like a real achievement, such as conquering a fear of flying, or spiders or whatever, and you feel much better about yourself for having done something challenging and come through it a stronger person. I can recommend this piercing, not only as the ultimate male piercing and as a symbol of dedication to body art, but also as a character-building exercise, you feel so much stronger for having gone through with it. And Gary at Bodyworks was as professional as ever, always recommended if you're a Londoner.