Claiming my apadravya

At A Glance Author Stormboy Contact stormboy@ozemail.com.au Artist Peter Sheringham Studio The Piercing Urge Location Prahran, Victoria, Australia

Claiming my apadravya

This is my second go at writing my experience of getting an apadravya. My first is a day-by-day account of the week before and the two weeks after. If anyone wants it, it can be found on my website at: www.ozemail.com.au/~stormboy/apad.htm It is long - 6 A4 pages of 10pt text, and probably not interesting to a lot of people. But if you want to know what I experienced in fine detail, visit it and find out.

Who am I?

I'm a 30 year old gay man, working as a teacher in a university in Australia.

Why did I want an apadravya?

I had been thinking of getting one for probably 2 to 3 months. I already had a PA, which I did myself (as well as a fairly decent history of other piercings - nipple, eyebrow, frenum). I like my PA a lot - the sensation, the look of it, the feeling of being different to other people, the knowledge that I did something very few other people do. When I look at cocks now, if they haven't got a ring in them they look sort of naked to me. It just seems like the ultimate jewellery for the penis to me.

The apadravya was, for me, a step up from the PA. I wanted it because of the aesthetic appeal, but also, and more importantly, because it marks me in a really permanent way, because it requires me to place real trust in someone else, and because it means that I will have to demonstrate an aspect of my masculinity - my willingness to suffer and triumph, and to leave the experience different, better and changed. Even if I abandon the piercing eventually, there will always be a reminder there. In a way, getting the apadravya has been a rite of passage for me. I wasn't primarily interested in the sexual aspect of the piercing - my research indicated that the major benefit sexually was for the female receptive partner. I'm gay, and couldn't find anything much to suggest how it worked for male receptive partners.

How did I prepare?

I did heaps of research (you can't teach an old dog new tricks!). I hit the net, and read a few small novels on apadravyas, looked at photos, read aftercare sheets, looked up anthropology texts and on and on. By the end, I felt I had read enough personal experiences on it. I knew the important facts to be taken into account, such as placement, the importance of measuring, problems with bleeding, pain and so on. I knew this wasn't a piercing I was going to do myself. For a start, I didn't have the right tools, or the right jewellery. Secondly, I didn't think there was much way I would be able to start and complete the piercing quickly, because of pain. And, although I knew a lot about the anatomy (I'm a nurse), I wasn't sure about placement, or the tricks of ensuring placement was right. Finally, it was important, I felt, to have someone do it to me. Not for the masochistic reasons, but because it was an experience I wanted to live. So I chose to go back to The Piercing Urge (www.thepiercingurge.com.au) in Prahran, Victoria. I phoned the staff there, and asked some questions. I knew they were A-OK on things like aseptic technique, but I wanted to ask about cost, preparation, whether or not they would be happy piercing an intact (uncircumcised) guy and stuff like that. I got all of my answers and made the appointment. I started taking a good multivitamin, and some echinacea to give my immune system a boost. I thought about taking someone with me, purely in case I couldn't drive home, but I decided in the end not to. I arranged for a day off work, but ended up having to commit myself to a meeting after the piercing. I also bought a packet of menstrual pads - to soak up the bleeding.

I did do a lot of "umming" and "aahhing", and changed my mind a number of times. I also examined my motivation a lot, and wondered how I would feel with this hole on my cock in ten years time. I did end up doing it though...

What was the procedure like?

The Procedure itself

Uneventful. I chose the jewellery (hematite balls, stainless steel internally threaded barbell, 12ga), pulled off my pants, got EMLA cream applied to my glans (and debated the effectivity of EMLA cream) and Neosporin shoved into my urethra (I hate that feeling) and waited for half an hour, for the EMLA cream to do its work. After the 30 minutes was up, I was marked up, prepped, and pierced. After the piercing, Peter put a glove on my cock, although he said he didn't think I was going to bleed much. He answered some more questions and detailed the aftercare, I paid, he checked how I felt, and saying I was OK, I left. I took a few drops of Emergency Essence (like the Bach flower Rescue Remedy, but an Australian Bush Flower Essence) before and after the procedure, and that helped a lot.

Pain

During the procedure itself - a brief sensation of pushing and a little pain, but nothing startling. I agree that nipples are more painful. Peter, the piercer at The Piercing Urge, uses EMLA cream. Clinically, I can't see how this works at a more than superficial level. Whatever it was, I had little pain during the procedure.

Bleeding

None to speak of during the procedure.

Overall impressions

The people at The Piercing Urge are pretty professional. Peter asked if I would mind a trainee coming in to watch - I said that would be OK. However, I wasn't introduced to the trainee, and she didn't speak to me through the whole thing - it felt a bit like being a patient prodded by medical students, except she didn't touch me. A small criticism that comes from being a nurse: although the jewellery, needle, insertion taper and all of the rest of the stuff was opened from sealed packets, the order that Peter did things in meant that it was all (theoretically at least) contaminated. The order was wash hands, don (clean latex) gloves, remove EMLA cream and Tegaderm from my glans, prep (with Betadine ointment), mark site, check marking, perform piercing, insert jewellery. When Peter removed the EMLA and Tegaderm he contaminated his gloves, and then consequently contaminated everything else when he handled it. I'm certainly not suggesting there was client to client or piercer to client cross contamination, but the process itself means that the desirable end of putting sterile jewellery into a new wound was compromised (even if this could be achieved with non-sterile gloves). If Peter changed the process a little (double gloving would be fine, or removing the EMLA then washing hands and donning gloves), there would be much less chance of contamination. I emphasise that this is a minor concern, and if it had worried me I would have said something at the time. Peter did a really good job, and I would recommend him to anyone.

What was it like afterwards?

Bleeding

I bought Libra Fleur Super-absorbent pads. I think I probably bled in total about a teaspoon of blood over the first two days, then not at all after that. There were no terrible clots of blood or things like that. I used three pads, then gave up because I wasn't bleeding much, and because they were so uncomfortable (women, I feel for you!).

Pain

Here is where my experience seems to be atypical. I had a lot of pain on the first five nights - none during the day, but heaps when I got an erection. Enough to wake me up. I thought it was possible it was bona fide pain on the first night, but on the second I saw that the barbell was too short. Peter had guessed pretty well (he measured while I was flaccid), but it was about 2mm short. So, I rang to ask. He indicated that he thought it was likely to be just pain, and to wait and see. I did - the pain gradually diminished over time, until I had none, so I think he was mostly right, but the barbell was too short. I had it changed two weeks after the piercing.

Sex

I masturbated about 10 days afterwards. It wasn't painful, but I didn't notice much extra sensation. I did however when I added my PA ring back in. The feeling of the two pieces of jewellery rubbing together is amazing, as is the constant sensation on my frenulum. Sex feels very different, but this is much more likely to be something happening in my head than something happening in my cock.

Aftercare

Salt water soaks were the recommendation. I ended up modifying this a bit, and using some essential oils (lavender and tea tree - a few drops of each) in the soaks, and then after a week exchanging one saline soak for one with strong green tea. I had excellent healing - a combination, I think of good piercing, using the vitamins and herbs I took orally, the aftercare, and having a good immune and body repair system!

Do I have anything else to say?

Yes. This has been an important thing for me - a way to celebrate myself and my body. I danced naked under the moon to celebrate it (I'm a Catholic - about as far from Wicca or other Earth religions you can get!), and it makes me feel complete.

Would I recommend it to other people? Yes, probably. But I think, for the curious or those who just want something that looks good, I would recommend the PA. But that might just be being snobby!

This is a piercing that freaks people out - it is a pretty invasive thing to have done, but for me it seems so right.