special ampallang: placed above the urethra

At A Glance Author Edward Contact tyrone_jackso55@hotmail.com Artist Pere Studio Body Basics Location Chicago

I first thought about getting my penis pierced when talking to a girl I was flirting with. I had my eyebrow pierced one year ago, and I wanted something new, something different. We talked about my options but none of them seem particularly appealing. Piercing your navel, ear cartilage, or nose seemed somewhat feminine (no offense to the thousands of big, beefy guys with their navels, ears, and noses pierced who could beat the snot out of me). Besides, I wanted piercing that was a step further than what I had, and those other ones were anti-climactic. The only thing left was a genital piercing.

At first I balked at the idea of skewering the most sensitive area in my body with thick metal. When I die, I want the last thing to go to be my penis. It doesn't matter if I'm a blind, deaf, and mute quadriplegic, as long as I can be jerked off, I'll survive. I decided to research the matter.

The first site I came across was B.M.E. The photos intrigued me. The one that looked the best was the apadravya, I thought. All of the stories sounded encouraging, and few, if any, complaints.

Next I read old threads from rec.arts.bodyart at DejaNews. I found many of them helpful, but the best were the posts on parlors. There was a complete debate about the best piercing parlors in Chicago, my permanent residence. I had my eyebrowed pierced

At Rising Phoenix in Addison, and while I was happy with the end result, and never experienced any negative side effects, I didn't really trust the piercer. The place is located in a strip mall, in a shitty, run-down part of Addison. The windows are boarded up with plywood, and the interior is dark and dingy. No one said anything to me until I walked up to an artist and stood two feet away, as if they were too tough to answer my questions. I didn't want to go back there to have something as serious as a genital piercing done, and several piercers themselves recommended Body Basics in the city. Their website had many pictures of piercings, so I decided to go down there and decide for myself.

Body Basics, for those of you who live in Chicagoland, is located on 613 W. Briar St. on the Near-North side of Chicago, right next to the Briar Street Theatre. I'm from a nice area on the South Side, and although North Side Yuppies with their espressos and cappucinos and abercrombie & fitch nauseate me, it was encouraging to find a parlor in such a safe, friendly neighborhood.

I walked in and met Pere (pronounced "Perry"). I asked him about apadravyas, and he warned me of two things, 1) the hole, if left to heal, is permanent and 2) there will always be a small amount of leakage out of the whole. Apadravyas, ampallangs, and prince albert's typically go through the urethra, the canal responsible for fluid transfers in the penis. I salute the thousands of men who do it anyway and endure urinal leakage for the rest of their lives, but I didn't want to screw up my body permanently over a piercing. But I knew I wanted something, so I made an appointment to come back in two hours, so I had time to think things through.

I ate some food on Pere's advice, then came back a few minutes before my appointment. I asked Pere if I could get something that didn't go through my urethra, and he tossed one of his portfolios in my lap and told me to look through it. Then he mentioned that the ampallang could be placed above the urethra, causing no leakage whatsoever.

I decided to go for it. Any time you get pierced, I recommend bringing a friend along for support. I went by myself because it was a Thursday afternoon and all my friends were working, but it would have been better if I had someone there to tell me that I was not going crazy.

After about five minutes he led me upstairs to what looked like an old doctor's office. He introduced me to his apprentice, John, who would be observing the piercing. I sat down on a long, cushioned bench, above five feet in the air and pulled my pants off. What was nice about having the apprentice there was that Pere explained the entire operation to him, the what-to-look-out-fors and the what-not-to-dos, which made me feel a little more comfortable. He said that piercing above the urethra is not possible on all men; on some it is too high. Mine was very low, however, and he drew several lines in purple-medical-pencil to mark off my urethra. Then he "bent" my penis, which activates certain glands, showing him how large my penis would be erect. He took a measurement, then asked if 10 ga. was alright. 12 ga. is a little small, and 8 ga. is way too big, he said. He seemed to know what he was doing, so I told him to go ahead, and he proceeded to mark the entry and exit points.

The needle, as I remember it, looked something like a drill bit you use in those Sears Craftsmen cordless drills. I took a deep breath, but he advised to establish a regular breathing pattern as I wouldn't be able to hold my breath the entire time. He then explained to his assistant that the piercing has to go slow because the tissue inside is like jelly, and if you jam it through it can leave small bubbles, which is bad. I was breathing regular by then, and he asked me if there was anything I needed. "How about something to squeeze on?" I asked. He found a stuffed penguin and handed it to me. I clenched down.

The piercing itself lasted 6 seconds. I'm not going to try to make it sound any easier than it was—those 6 seconds were the longest 6 seconds of my life. The pain was intense, and excruciating. But it's all part of the experience. Soon it was over, and Pere inserted the jewelry, which I didn't feel at all. Then he told me to take a look, and there was blood, but not much. He showed me how to bandage it up, and warned me that 1) after I woke up tomorrow there was going to be a lot of blood, and not to get worried and 2) in the future, when I think it's healed, it is really not. I said thanks, paid him, and left.

The first night the weather was hot and muggy, so I couldn't sleep more than two-hours at a time. And every time I got up I re-bandaged the wounds. I had the procedure done at about 4:30 p.m. on Thursday and after 5: 00 a.m. on Friday most of the bleeding had stopped. Day two and three were about the same, there was no serious bleeding, only a little crust.

Now that I have it, I love it. Not only does it feel great, but women love it as well. I can't tell you how many sexual favors I've had from girls simply because of my ampallang. I think it's the best and safest genital piercing of them all. I haven't had any negative side effects. Pere told me it will leave two small permanent holes, but I have moles bigger than that, so it'd be silly to worry about that. If you want to get pierced, start off with something small, like an eyebrow or a navel. But once you're comfortable with that, go all the way and get an ampallang. You'll enjoy it.