Ok, here it goes. First of all I must say that I've never had a "real" piercing before. Yes, I had the hoop in the ear in high school, and dating myself, it was pretty unique at that time. But I don't count that as a real piercing for myself. I had a medium length career in the military and a couple of unsatisfactory years in corporate America before I returned to grad school, so no piercings there. After I got my MA and headed into the Ph.D. portion of my studies, and after my divorce, I fell into a yearlong funk. Last summer I felt I needed to get back to whom I was before the military and everything else. I grew my hair long (and subsequently cut it short again because it irritated me) and tried to put the hoop back in the hole. It never closed surprisingly. Nevertheless, it seemed so out of date and I felt the word "poseur" fit better than "me". I was uncomfortable with it and haven't put it in since, after all, there are so many aesthetically pleasing ear decorations around today that a hoop is well... you get the idea. I thought it was cool because when I was a kid my mom dated a shrimper in the 70s with one that I looked up to, but those days are gone.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Andrea Venhaus Studio Deep Metal Piercings Location Dortmund, Germany In the fall, I came to Germany on an academic invitation to teach literature for a year. What I found was a whole culture that was live and let live: the bureaucrats have nose rings and I even saw a Polizeimann with a CBR in his ear - in uniform no less. It hit me in November, "wow, why don't you get your penis pierced". So I did my research here and joined Tribalectic for the forums and found lot's of good advice and experiences. The experiences on BME were so helpful, that I am writing this experience as a thank you to BME and perhaps it will help another reader contemplating a piercing.
So in early November I got a PA. What happened immediately, as I was heading home, I was suddenly out of my funk. My God, I felt really good about myself! I don't have a clue about what Freudian mechanisms fired off in my psyche, but it was definitely good and I wasn't about to question it.
After three weeks of admiring my PA, I decided to "upgrade" to an appy. My piercer, Andrea, said she wouldn't do until at least four weeks, which earned her a lot of respect in my book – she said that she follows APP guidelines. I ended up waiting seven weeks because of work commitments that didn't give me enough recuperation time (you don't want to start bleeding while speaking at a conference right after this piercing). So yesterday, the first day of the X-mas break, I had it done; a present to myself.
So I go in with my moral support: Sandra, a pseudo-girlfriend and her friend Sonya. My hands are sweating. When it's time to go in, Sandra declines to watch. She is mortified not of blood, but of seeing another person in pain. Sonya comes in though, which is good. Andrea has her apprentice also come in for training.
The room is typically clean and sanitary, as you would expect of a professional piercer. I drop trou and lay on the table. Andrea measures me and we have a problem. She pierces and 12 gauge usually for a starter but I wanted 10. The jewelry she had available was too long (or I am too smallJ). So after pleading with her, we decided on a 10 gauge piercing and an immediate 8 gauge stretch. I must say at this point, that I originally wanted a 6 ga piercing from an experience I read here on BME, but Andrea said no, there was too much of a chance of tearing rather than piercing. To my delight, this was an excellent compromise. I wanted heavier metal for better healing and less bleeding (as I read in the other posts here). So an 8 ga barbell it was!
So, I'm doing my breathing and I feel the needle go in my PA hole. I expected two or three breaths but that was not the case, Andrea went right for it. I was surprised but I wasn't going to stop her in mid-action. Actually, in hind-site, that was better for me not to expect it. I also have to say that the actual piercing wasn't as bad as I had built up in my mind. Yes, it hurt, but I was expecting far more. And I didn't numb the area; I wanted to experience the pain.
So, onto the stretching, after the initial pierce, I decided that a numbing lube might be ok, I had my experience! OK, this is when I got what my mind was expecting – sweet Jesus, Joseph, and Mary! That was excruciating! Five minutes of stretching, about 3 or 4 pushes with rests in-between. I can't say how many pushes; I was occupied on other things - like the pain. But then, Andrea joked, "one more push and you will give birth!" Really, my breathing went from steady to "I'm a guy in labor". I don't think I noticed any effect from the numbing lube, if I did, then I am glad she used it. The push came and I was done.
Aftereffects. There was no bleeding for me during the piercing (or I didn't notice). The apprentice brought in a coke and candy for me (and Sonya, very nice of her). I laid on the piercing couch as my endos kicked in. Sonya was pale but thought that it was cool and started to ask about a VHC. After a while I got up to pay and leave and left a 20-euro tip. The ride home on the metro was hard as well as walking but by 10 PM I was totally normal (my piercing was at 2 PM).
I've had, surprisingly, only a little spotting of blood from the urethra. I was expecting a lot more bleeding but I believe the stretch has something to do with that. Andrea told me to wait at least two days before, um, manipulating it but I couldn't wait after admiring it. So I masturbated on the first evening and it was bloody. And again in the morning and not bloody. It doesn't hurt now and isn't really sore but a little tender. I think my soreness was a result of the stretching yesterday.
I would advise this stretching technique, as it seems to minimalize the blood, it is worth the extra pain (hey, it's going to hurt anyway, why not go all out?). But I don't condone going against your piercer's advice, the hypocrite that I am. I am very happy with the 8 ga. I will wait before I decide whether I want to stretch again to my goal of 6, this might actually be enough. I can feel the wait and it is incredible. Orgasms are incredible too, the barbell adds sensitivity so you don't have to be rough with it, very gently suffices to create incredible sensations.
If you want this piercing, you will be very satisfied with it. I recommend it but just be prepared for the pain. After it's done, you might feel as wonderful as I have.