Apadravya in Gothenburg

At A Glance Author David Contact talbot@hotmail.com Artist Måns Studio Barbarella Location Gothenburg, Sweden

I'm a 21-year-old male, living in the north of Sweden. I've found out how fun piercing is during the last one and a half year, mainly concentrating on facial piercing. During the last six months, I've been reading everything concerning genital piercing I could lay my hands on. At first, I was thinking about getting a PA, but when I read and saw photos of the apadravya, I knew that I wanted one. After working almost all this summer, I finally had a couple of weeks of vacation. So me and a friend decided that we'd travel to Gothenburg, for shopping, going to a a goth club, and as the grande finale.. a long awaited piercing. She had also thought a lot about a "real" piercing.

After spending a couple of days with just record shopping, some partying and dancing, the day with the appointment at the piercing studio was there, faster than we wanted to realize. The fridge was completely empty that morning, so we had to go out for a snack before going to the studio. I can remember shaking pretty badly while eating that sandwich, due to nervousity.

We smoked some five or six cigarettes before entering the studio, which proved to be very clean, bright and nice. We were told to sit and wait for a few minutes in a sofa, and also given some papers to fill out. They also handed us a copy of "The eye of the needle", telling us that we could "look in it for ideas, about placement and so on..". I think they wanted to try to keep us calm while waiting. After a little while, my friend was told that it was her turn. I hoped that it'd take a real long time. But no. It seemed like a minute or two, then it was my turn. She came out with a huge smile on her face, telling me that it wasn't that bad after all (she got a hood piercing).

The piercer introduced himself and talked a little about the procedure itself. I told him how long barbell I thought I would need, since I had measured it to an approximate lenght. We agreed that it'd be wise to add a couple of millimeters to that lenght, just to make sure that it wouldn't be too short. He told me that I'll have to change to a barbell with correct lenght after it has healed.

Then he asked me to take off my pants, and lie down on a bench (the type they keep in hospitals). He cleaned the penis, and marked the entry and exit holes. I took a look at them and said ok. I'm pretty afraid of needles, so I began to get VERY nervous at this point. He applied the forceps (not too tight, thank-you-very-much) and brought out the needle. I usually try to avoid seeing the needle, but this time I couldn't avoid it. Anyway, he asked if I wanted him to tell me when he would start to push it trough. I answered no, and in that very same moment he started to push it through.

The pain wasn't as bad as I thought. But still, it hurt kinda bad. I can remember counting to 23 before he had pushed it trough, even though it didn't take more than perhaps two seconds. I could feel when it entered the urethra, and I could definitely feel it leaving the urethra. Anyway, he told me that the needle was all through, and that he was going to insert the barbell. That hurt a little too, but not so bad. I had expected a slight blood-bath after reading some of the experiences here om bmezine.com, but very few drops of blood showed up. I took a look at it, and noticed that the barbell was exactly where it was supposed to be, right on the marked spots. I sat up slowly, then stood up and put my pants back on, got some aftercare advice and soap, paid and then we were off.

I had read that it'll feel like peeing razorblades the first days, so I was quite worried about the long (14 hours) traintrip home. We were leaving Gothenburg the same day as we visited the piercing studio. To my amazement though, it didn't hurt at all. The morning after though, it hurt pretty bad. But that was the only time it hurt when peeing too. I'm happy to notice that it doesn't hurt much at all, otherwise piercings could hurt the first days. But not this one, unless I don't bump into something (ouch!), of course. I hope to be able to switch to a barbell with the correct lenght within a month.

Thanks for reading anyway, and I'd like to point out that Barbarella in Gothenburg is a great piercing studio. Famous for being THE swedish piercing studio.

/ David