Frenums

At A Glance Author anonymous Artist noname Studio nowhere Location Planet Earth

I just completed phase one of my first body art project, and it was the most intense piercing experience I have ever undertaken! I decided some time ago that I would start a scrotum ladder project, but it wasn't until recently that the opportunity presented itself.

My first piercing (a lorum) was completed by Rick who I'd met in 1993 when he was the first body piercer in town (and who has trained with Fakir Musafar). He was impressed by my knowledge of body piercing because of the information that I had gained from reading the rec.arts.bodyart newsgroup when I first discovered the concept of body piercing. We became friends and he sort of became my personal piercer after that (although I had my PA and nipple done by other piercers which I'll never do again). The opportunity for this ladder project presented itself when he wanted some scanning, editing, and printing done of his work, so we worked out a trade, coupled with the fact that he just moved into the bodyart shop a few blocks down from my place, which was perfect because since my bike was stolen (ah city life...) I'm on foot (I hate public transit).

On to the experience...

I arrived a few minutes late because of encountering a major traffic jam on my way home from work, so I was kind of hurried and out of breath, and really didn't have a chance to psych myself up for the upcoming experience. Rick was ready for me, so we went straight into the procedure without further ado. As soon as he shut the door, Sean told him that he had two more walk-ins, so he had to hurry, which was probably for the better in retrospect. By this point I was getting pretty psyched about the prospect of getting three piercings in my scrotum, but I wasn't ready to back out. I thought back to six years ago when I got my lorum and recalled that it was a very painless experience (amazing what time can do to memories!).

Rick had me drop my shorts so he could get started and mark out the locations. I was amazed at how low my testicles were hanging because of the heat, but he said that it was better this way. After checking for vessels and marking the locations, he informed me that he would first do two and see how I felt for the third, but by this point I was committed and would do all three come hell or highwater. After I chose three 14ga 5/8" rings, he had me lay down on the table (for lack of a better word.. kind of a padded table, chair thingy). Now I was surely committed!

The piercings...

It was time. As I lay on the table (bench, chair, whatever) I focused on the ceiling and tried to get into the right headspace for what was coming. Once the clamp was set and the needle was in place, Rick (in the soothing, hypnotic voice he uses just prior to the actual pierce itself) had me take three deep, controlled breaths. As I exhaled slowly from the third breath, I felt the needle prick into the skin and through. Rick informed me that he was placing the jewellery in, and I felt the pressure and slight prick from the needle exiting the hole. Once the bead was in place, he asked me how I was doing and if I wanted to wait or carry on with the next one.

Do it! I said. I figured getting it over with was the best way.

The second piercing went exactly like the first, only maybe because I was expecting it, or maybe because the scrotum gets more sensitive further down, but this time the pain was roughly double. Not too much to handle, though. The third was by far the worst. Once it was done, my head felt like it was spinning and I just lay there breathing slowly. Rick told me we were done and I did extremely well (if only he knew!). He got me a hand mirror and I checked out his work which looked excellent (no blood at all). My lorum is currently stretched to 10 ga, and I said it looked kind of like a mother duck and three little ducklings running up my scrotum. Right now the piercings don't hurt much, but every so often when I change my sitting position, I get a little pinching to remind me of what's down there. They're also a little sore and swollen when I get up in the morning.

Rick says that I should be ready for another set in about a month or so. I think he enjoys doing this because it's such a diversion from the usual tongue and navel set that gets pierced around here (of course the drop-ins after me were a tongue and navel). Once this project is complete, I plan on doing matching hafadas (maybe not spaced so close together) and an apradavya.

If you're from Calgary or ever visit here, I highly recommend getting pierced by Rick. He's extremely professional and has much higher standards than alot of places I've seen around here.

Also, you can check out Esoterik's website (which I built...shameless plug here) at www.esoterikbodyart.com. Soon I will be adding Rick biography and samples of his work.