I've been totally addicted to piercings since I got my ears pierced when I was 16. Fortunatly, or unfortunatly, whichever you desire, I tend to think about them for awhile before I do them. My apadravya was over a year in the making, but I don't regret it at all, and I love it now. I've been checking out BME for the last two or three years, and had done my research on just about every piercing, even the ones I didn't plan on getting. So, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into to.
At A Glance Author Chase Contact Chase@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Zig Studio Industrial Strength Location Berkeley, Ca I moved to Berkeley about 2 months ago, and had been checking out the local shops, with an apadravya in mind for the near future. Most of them were totally out of the question, but I when I went in Industrial Strength I knew it was a great place. It was clean, the studio rooms were behind the counter, each artist having their own room. It was clean and the people were great. This was definitely the place I wanted to have my mods done.
So about five weeks ago, on a friday lunch break, I went in and talked to them about doing the apadravya, planning on doing it the next friday. Todd, their other piercer, told me I could just come in anytime, and Zig yelled from her studio that I should just do it now. I thought about it for the rest of the work day and just couldn't wait any longer. That was the day.
When I got off work, I went home and showered, nervous as all hell. I dressed in some loose pajama pants, and walked the seven blocks to the studio. Zig was really friendly and joked with me about not being able to wait. We talked for a few minutes about it, then I filled out my forms and she copied my ID. I had forgotten to eat before going, so I went out and bought a powerbar, and candy bar, and a gatorade while Zig prepared the room.
I got back, ate my powerbar and drank some gatorade while Zig was finishing up. She told me she would be doing it at a 10g but I wanted it done at 8. She was suprised, but I was sure about it. She didn't want to pierce me with an 8g needle, so we decided to pierce with a 10g needle and taper to 8. Little did I know what a difference that was going to make.
So we went into the back, and I dropped my pants. She selected the right length barbell for me, then cleaned the entire area, inside and out, and marked me. At this point my penis had all but disappeared, and I was starting to sweat, especially when I watched her attach the needle to the taper to the jewelry, it was freaking long! She got ready, clamped me, and asked if I was ready. I was and I started doing the whole inhale exhale deal. On the second exhale she pierced me. It hurt an absurd amount, and I know I screamed Fuck at the top of my lungs at least twice. The whole shop heard me for sure. The needle was through pretty quickly, but then came the taper. My adrenalin was going pretty hard at that point, so I grabbed the seat and held on as tight as I could. The taper burned, but it was a lot shorter period of time in retrospect than in the moment. The jewelry was in and Zig screwed on the bottom ball. I felt like I was going to pass out for about 30 seconds, but one of the women came in and gave me my gatorade when I asked for it, which made me feel a lot better.
I asked Zig to take a couple pictures, since I had gone alone, luckily she had her camera with her. She took one for me, showing my face, and a closer picture for her portfolio. I sat for a couple more minutes and got up when I wasn't seeing spots anymore. I had sweated so bad I was totally stuck to the chair, which wasn't fun considering how afraid I was of hitting the piercing. I barely bled at all, probably because I was so afraid there was none in my glans at all. I payed, talked to Zig a little more about aftercare, and waddled out of the studio. Luckily a couple of my housemates were going out to dinner and were close enough by to pick me up. Walking that seven blocks wouldn't have been that much fun.
Well thats my apadravya experience, I think I'll write a healing progress report in the the next few days. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I'm really excited to. If you're thinking about it, go for it!
Pain is only Temporary.