I've been wanting to get one of these (and a PA) for a long time, and just never got around to finding a place I liked enough to do them. And there was a lack of motivation to really look for such a place.
At A Glance Author Seraphiel Contact Seraphiel@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Bryan Campbell Studio Saint Tattoo Location Knoxville, TN A couple of months ago, some friends of mine had called me up randomly. They were going to the tattoo & piercing place they had been to before, and they wondered if I wanted to tag along. They knew I had been considering getting my tongue pierced (that was done by Aaron), so I went, and got that done, and it went really well. Saint Tattoo has two people (Aaron and Bryan) who only do piercings (rather than a tattoo artist who "also" does piercings) and a perfect score on their health department inspection. The piercing room was meticulously clean and I observed the clean-up process between customers.
So now that I got through that and had some idea of how the process worked, I went back a few weeks ago to do the two piercings I have wanted for ages. Bryan was the piercer on duty that night. He actually tried (more than once) to talk me out of the ampallang, because of how painful it can be, how complicated it can be to heal, and that it doesn't add that much sensation for the wearer. He also tried to convince me to do the PA, see how it goes, and do the ampallang later...
But I knew I had wanted these two piercings. I have wanted them for years, ever since I first heard of them and then saw pictures of them. There's just something about the combination that appeals to me on a visceral spiritual and emotional level. I wanted to have them, I knew I wanted them, and there would be little sense in just waiting to come back for something I knew I was going to get.
So once Bryan was satisfied that I really wanted the ampallang, he did the PA first. That went well, didn't hurt much, just a few seconds of stinging pain and then he was done. He pierced it, then stretched it, in an attempt to keep it from bleeding too much... But I tend to bleed a lot. I managed to use gauze soaked in tea, to help stop the bleeding over the next couple of days.
Anyway, back to the ampallang: now that had a bit more of a sting to it. The measuring, the lining up, even the clamping was all fine. When he pushed the needle through I didn't yell or twitch (I think) but the pain sort of radiated from there for several seconds. When it passed, and he had the barbell in, I felt euphoric... It was finally done, and it looked really good.
Over the next couple of days the PA was bleeding like mad until I thought of using tea on it. The ampallang hardly bled at all for about a week and a half, and then it started up. It's been kind of a tedious and obnoxious struggle to do all the soaking, wrapping, etc, just to wait for the bleeding to finally stop. But it's almost done, I think.
I talked to someone who had said that if he lost his ampallang he probably wouldn't get it re-done, and I'm beginning to see why... But despite all that I'm glad I did it, and it looks great. I think at this point I would re-do it if for some reason I lost it.
A couple of times over the past week and a half, I have woken up with rather painful erections, and other times gotten aroused in the middle of the day. I think the pain was mostly from the piercings pulling against the wrap I had around it, and straining against the healing skin inside the hole, so I'm hoping that pain will pass before too much longer. It's still bleeding, and getting an erection seems to set off a fresh spurt of blood. Oddly enough it seems to be bleeding almost exclusively from the right side of the hole, where the needle came out. I'm not sure why that might be. Anyway, I have been continuing the saline soaks day and night, keeping it all wrapped up loosely, and covered with a plastic bag. Otherwise I would probably have bloodied up several pairs of shorts and jeans by now. :P
The bleeding seems to be diminishing, though there is occasionally a mild tingling/stinging sensation that feels like it's coming from the right side of the ampallang. For some reason it seems that side of the hole is having trouble healing up properly.
Overall, Bryan did a spectacular job with the piercings. He was perfectly professional, very patient. I had lots of questions about barbell sizes, healing processes, that sort of thing, and he was able to answer everything easily.
He did such a great job with the piercings, I'm going to make an appointment with him in a month or two (once the ampallang is more on its way to being healed) to get my nipples done. :)