Monday, June 15, 1998.I have been considering a genital piercing for years, but in the past two weeks I have really been thinking about it seriously. I only knew of two kinds of male piercings, the PA and the Ampallang, and even then I didn't know which was which. I only have one piercing now, a small 10g ring in my left ear, which I love. My tastes in body-piercing are minimalistic, and I know I don't want to cover myself with lots of them, so those I will get should be chosen carefully.
Yesterday I found BME. I checked out all the sample pictures, and read most of the "experience" stories, which I found really helpful to my decision. As you will read on, though, there are concerns that were left untouched by the BME archives, so here is my Apadravya "experience" for all of you to read. Excuse the verbosity, but for the sake of other nervous piercing inadepts like myself, I want to be very thorough.
My concerns include the typical: how intense is the pain, how long does the discomfort last, is it difficult to heal, and how does it complicate peeing, etc. However there is one issue that was never mentioned in the other "experiences" that really concerns me: Will an apadravya compromise the integrity and/or reliability of condoms? I am single and sexually active (sometimes), so contraception and protection are of course very important to me, and if anything could at this point dissuade me from piercing down there, it is the possibility of an apadravya-induced "accident."
Now that I have learned so much from BME, I have a good excuse to visit my friend Marco Vicario, who runs his piercing operation out of Tora Tattoo in Kitchener, Ontario. Around here, everyone knows he's the best, and the too-much-eyeliner girls with dozens of steel bits in their faces all swear explicitly by his technique, skill, and his unflappable charm putting you at ease before the stabbing. And I've known him for 16 years, since my early teens. I hope he will be able to answer the few nagging questions that BME has not. I hope he has some insight into the condom issue, though I wonder if he uses them since he is after all a happily married family man, and his lovely wife Tamara is always chronically and blissfully pregnant.
Thursday, June 25, 1998.
Ten days later. I went to visit Marco at Tora Tattoo yesterday, and since it was a slow day, we hung out for quite a while talking frankly about penises. Ha ha! It seems funny to me, as I've known Marco for so long, and it's intimidating to think that he's going to be touching my nervous heterosexual dick. I'll get over it. Tamara wants to see it when we're done, and my ex-girlfriend Emily wants to sit in and watch the piercing. I have only told a few people about my intentions, with reactions ranging from cool conceptual admiration to "My God, man, you're paying someone to stab your best friend in the head!?!"
Marco says that a good piece of jewelry, properly sized and well smoothed, will not compromise the integrity of condoms, though if I'm concerned, I can get the "super-strong" kind. Not a bad idea! Marco has never done an apadravya as a single piercing, so we're going down the road (to Toronto) to find a piercer who has done this before.
I did some measurements at home with a pair of Stadtler retractable compasses (a new use for my graphic design tools!), and I ordered the jewelry, a 1 1/8" 10g barbell, the same gage as my ear ring, in stainless steel. He doesn't keep stuff like that in stock, so it will take two weeks or so to come in. I'm nervous and anxious.
Tuesday, September 15, 1998.
Some problems ordering the jewelry, but it has finally come in. On the advice of one of his peers, Marco changed my order to 14g, considering that a 10g will be harder to center on the urethra, and may even obstruct urine flow. I will upgrade through 12g to 10g later, to avoid migration and pressure on the flesh and all that. bigger gages are just better - everybody knows that. We're going down to Stainless Studios on Tuesday.
On Saturday, I'll be sitting in while Marco does Emily's tongue. I'm disappointed that Em can't be there for mine as we agreed, but she has to work. Oh well.
Tuesday, September 22, 1998.
When we got to Stainless, it turned out that the bar I had had a sharp edge, so Tom made another one while we waited. Got some great food across the street at New York Sub (you've got to try their potato sub - Mmmm) and finally we were asked in to do the piercing. While I dropped the trousers and Tom marked the in/out points, Marco and he talked shop, going over all the details and trading anecdotes. Strangely, this professional banter really relaxed me, and I felt confident and ready.
The whole procedure was comfortable and well explained. Tom inserted a 6g taper in my urethra to ensure that it was properly centered in the clamp (somewhat uncomfortable), set up all the equipment, and asked if I was ready. "Yes." A deep breath in, and the needle went through. The pain was incredible; I would later compare it to having my limbs torn off by angry dogs. But that lasted for less than two seconds, followed by the all-over body rush that I have heard about. I felt it from my scalp to my fingertips, and fading down into my knees. After a very brief pause, the jewelry was slipped in, accompanied by another burst of very intense pain, though seemingly not as bad as the initial one.
For another 20 seconds, it hurt like a motherfucker all over. I couldn't really tell where the pain was coming from, it was as though my entire nervous system was on fire. Then - very suddenly - it washed away. Whoosh! I couldn't believe it. No pain, just relief and - disbelief! It didn't hurt at all! The pain was so brief and temporary. Not what I had expected at all.
In fact, Marco and I had some errands to do in Toronto, so we went walking about for the rest of the day, and I felt fine. No aching, no throbbing, no soreness, nothing - as though it wasn't there.
Wednesday, September 23, 1998.
I still can't believe how briefly it hurt, and how comfortable it is now. It bled a little bit this morning when I got an erection, and I was relieved to find that the jewelry fits okay. When I say "bled" I mean there was less than a drop - more like a minute smear - around one of the exit holes. I'm keeping it clean, and moreover, I've been taking really good care of my body and mind; it will heal nicely.
Peeing is not interrupted in any way. No leaking or anything like that. The only difference worth mentioning is that the jewelry holds my foreskin back when I'm flaccid (which is most of the time), which I'm not used to. I showed it to Emily tonight in the bathroom at the Jane Bond cafe, and I have to admit it's really cool.
All that business people will tell you about wearing tight briefs is pure bunk. You might want it hugging in there for the first few hours when it's tender, but I wore boxers all day and is was flappin' around in there, and it doesn't hurt or nothin'.
Wednesday, October 22, 1998
It's been in a month now, and I will update my journal one last time before sending it in to BME.
Some observations:
I must thank everyone who submitted to BME for their stories, and the people who responded from rec.arts.bodyart to my questions about jewelry and gages, and special thanks to Marco Vicario from Tora Tattoo (Kitchener) and Tom from Stainless Studios (Toronto). Moreover I hope that in submitting my story to BME that I can encourage anyone who feels hesitant about getting the apadravya.
- It's healing really fast. That's good.
- The hole has stretched. The 14g barbell is sliding around in a hole that would easily accept a 10 or 8g. This was a surprise to me, I thought it was migrating or something and would have to take it out, so when I was in Toronto I dropped by Stainless Studios again to ask about that. Apparently it's quite normal and expected for the hole to stretch like that. There is some dribbling when I pee - but just a little bit. More like a moistness around the bottom (frenum) hole that I wipe off if the facilities are available.
- The 1 1/8" was great for the first stages of healing because it would slide back and forth easily for cleaning, but it is not quite snug when I'm erect. I will switch to a 1 1/16" when I get the chance. Maybe even a 1" - when I did my measurements I thought the piercing would be more oblique. Because I haven't upgraded to the "snug" jewelry, putting a condom on is not so simple as it once was. If you find yourself in such a situation, you might want to practice by yourself a couple of times before getting into an intimate situation where you'd be expected to get it on gracefully.
- I could masturbate carefully after almost a week, but had to refuse other sexual advances. After three weeks, I feel okay about doing penetrative stuff. I will of course wait until it's totally healed before I allow any oral contact (germs! yuck!)
- No infections (knock on wood). I have been using Jergens antibacterial hand soap (good) and later got some Spectral Gel (even better). Washed it twice a day for the first two weeks, and now about once a day.
- The whole ordeal was definitely less complicated than I had imagined. If you are considering this piercing, let your choice be guided by aesthetic concerns; be not dissuaded by fear of pain or complications.
Ian Ring
(hring@golden.net)