I had my lobes pierced with 12g. cbrs three years ago and have since stretched them to 0g. double-flared tunnels. A year ago, almost to the day, i got a 14g. PA (way to thin a piece of jewelry.) I also have an industrial (16g.) and a lorum done myself at a 12g. (risky, i know.) I have been happy with my piercings, but for the most part I have felt unsatisfied with my overall piercing experience. After a lot of thought, i came to the conclusion that this was because of two reasons. Reason one: I consider myself a piercing enthusiast but have only four piercings, two of which are usually only shown in fairly intimate situations. Call it stupid, but I didn't want to be all talk. Reason two: None of my piercings had pushed my limits. My previous piercing experiences were relatively painless and easy. I had no doubt walking into my local piercer's studio that i would be able to go through with any of said piercings. Walking out, I had no doubt that I could do it again in a heartbeat. Also, I have a bit of a thing for pain. Now I knew the problem.
At A Glance Author Andy Contact andzwar@mail.com When It just happened Artist Pierre Black Studio Blacksun Studio Location Montreal Time for a solution. Ultimately I felt I had two options. Option one: a more painful/extreme piercing. Option two: multiple piercings. Because I knew that I wanted to push the limits and have bragging rights afterwards, I opted for a happy medium. Multiple piercings with at least one piercing that I expected to be painful enough. There was one more factor, however that led to this solution. My close friend, Emily, had been pierced at Blacksun in Montreal twice before and had not stopped talking about it since. We live just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Despite the fact that it is a fairly large city with a fairly large selection of piercing studios, there are no studios which live up to my standards for cleanliness or experience/ability. Time for a road trip.
I began to plan my marathon piercing. I decided easily on a tongue web and my nipples. The advantages of these piercings is that they arent visible at work or in front of my mother but are still easily revealed. However, I was still left without a piercing that pushed my limits (I had heard nips could be very painful, but i wasnt worried) I knew immediately that it was either going to be an ampallang or an apadravya. I had heard that an ampallang was the most painful piercing a guy could get, and i love the way an amp looks with a PA. I had one concern with an ampallang. I'm gay and was worried that an ampallang could hurt someone during anal sex. I asked around and finally talked to and older gay man who said that there was no need for concern in that area. It was settled. I was getting a tongue web, nips and an ampallang.
On the Fourth of July, Emily and I took a bus from Boston to Montreal. We changed our money, checked into our hotel, and headed to Blacksun to make appointments. When we arrived we were greeted at the front desk by two women, Fanny and Jessica. Jessica recognized Emily on sight though it had been almost a year. We spoke to Jessica, Fanny, and Pierre, the piercer at Blacksun. It must have taken us two hours to finally book our appointments because we spent so much time talking with all of them about all sorts of things mostly but not totally on the subject of piercings. Through the entire time I was there I was consistently amazed at how knowledgeable and friendly everyone was. Also, it was quite clear that the priority at Blacksun is making sure that the piercee gets the end results they want. i.e. Jessica calling the jewelry company to make sure they would be able to get a larger variety of jewelry sizes in case they didnt have anything in stock that would fit for m y PA or Pierre talking Emily out of the antieyebrow she thought she wanted because he could tell that her skin was very likely to scar badly, but also proposing a facial surface piercing which he thought would work better but look as good. Finally we made appointments.
Emily was pierced on Saturday evening (surface piercing, tongue web, triangle) and I was scheduled for Sunday. When we arrived I was really nervous, but also really pumped. I already liked and trusted Pierre after talking to him and watching him work on Emily. We decide to start at the top and work our way down, seeing as the amp jewelry needed to be autoclaved (they had jewelry in stock). The tongue web was quick and nearly painless. The nips hurt, but in absolutely the best way possible (I want to take them out just so I can have them pierced again). Then, it was time.
I had wanted my ampallang to be transurethral because it heals fasted and i like the way it looks when the balls of the ampallang are lined up with the urethral opening (and entrance for my PA) when viewed from straight on. Unfortunately, Pierre said he probably couldnt place the ampallang that way because he was worried it might pinch against the PA. He did say that he would place it as low as he thought possible and that it may end up hitting the urethra anyway. Around this piercing I was entirely willing to listen to whatever Pierre thought would work best, so we also agreed that he would do the piercing at a 10g. and then put an 8g. barbell in it. He made the markings and we were ready to go.
I took three deep breaths and he started to pierce. It hurt so badly and took forever. I could feel exactly where the tip of the needle was the entire way through. I was shaking and clenching my teeth and gripping the chair and even yelling some. I tried as hard as I could to just concentrate on breathing. Finally i felt him stop pushing. I said "is it through?" and Pierre said "no." Then he started pushing again and it was done. The needle was through. He let me take a break and i just sat there in shock. It had hurt so badly, and the jewelry wasnt even in yet. Wile i caught my breath Pierre told me he had hit a tough spot, which was unusual with an ampallang, though not too worrisome, and that this was the first time he had ever had to stop midway through. It was time for the jewelry. In went the taper. I yelled again. It hurt more than the initial piercing, but was faster. Then the barbell itself. Once again this step was more painful then the last. I was done. Pierre tightened the balls and explained aftercare. He also told me that he had hit the urethra with no problems. Then Emily and I sat in the waiting room and I drank some juice. We said our goodbyes and left. I had gotten an extremely painful piercing. I felt like I had earned it.
It has been 72 hours now. All my piercings are simply beautiful. The ampallang looks amazing and really savage. Aside from soreness on Sunday evening recovery has been really easy. It is only slightly tender and has bled only a drop here and there, despite the fact that i have heard lots of stories about very bloody ampallangs. I guess that stretch from 10 to 8 was worth it. I feel like a stronger person after what I went through for this piercing. It was a truly transformative experience, but knowing what it was like, Im not sure I could go through it again. This is exactly what I wanted from this piercing.
I would also just like to add that Blacksun is amazing. I have never had a crush on a store before. I drove eight hours on a bus to get there and it was worth it. They are clean, professional, and interested in what the client wants and needs from their piercing and their piercing experience. Ill never get pierced anywhere else ever again.