At A Glance Author Dave Contact Dave@bme.anon When A month ago Artist self Studio home Location Auckland After my circumcision (which you can read about under "A belated circumcision") I hankered for something else. I had always been intrigued by the thought of piercing skin. When I was about 12, I tried to push a needle through the top of the foreskin. It must have been blunt because even using a lot of force, it wouldn't go through. A little after, I saw one of the first girls in our class to get pierced earrings which I found very attractive. Although piercing was never far from my thoughts, I didn't do anything about it until five years ago when I found what I wanted in BME! (What an empowering site!) A frenum piercing! I would do it myself. In fact, I never contemplated having it done by a professional. I am not recommending that piercing be done by oneself but if it is, it adds a special dimension to the event. One day when the others had gone out for several hours, I put a sharpish sewing needle in a cork. I reshaped a stainless steel earring wire so that it became a 10 diam. mm ring with a tail which could be removed after pushing through the hole. The ring part was a bit open to allow room for it to pass into the skin. I marked the entry and exit points. I sterilised everything and used ice to numb the area for 10 minutes. I set up the video to record. My hands were shaking and my heart was pounding but I managed to push the needle through with some effort and a little pain; it was difficult keeping the skin stretched enough, I really needed three hands. I removed the needle and inserted the wire but could not get it right through because after I removed the needle the exit hole closed up. After much struggling, I sadly abandoned the attempt, turned the video off and then it sort of went out of my everyday mind.
Three and half weeks ago, I came across the reshaped ear wire and immediately decided to have another go as no one was around for a while. This time, I used a hypodermic syringe with a 1.40 mm diameter needle. (It was left over from giving our calves 5 in 1 vaccine!) The ear wire was 0.8 mm in diameter. I boiled everything for 10 minutes and put the needle on the syringe very lightly so that it would come off easily. I was in a hurry to go out before a particular shop closed at midday so I decided to "feel the pain" and not numb with ice. This was more a matter of expedience rather than wanting to experience the pain. I carefully marked the entry and exit points each about 6 mm back from the knob rim points. With the skin pulled flat, the marks were about 12 mm apart.
A spring clothes peg was used to hold the knob to the right with the side of my right hand which was also holding the needle and I pulled the skin tight with my left hand. I put Savlon on the wire and needle. The needle was pushed in on the mark on the side of the frenum away from me and the point positioned so that I could see that it would exit on the mark towards me. Amazingly, it entered with a slight pop and no pain. I continued pushing lightly and it emerged spot on with no pain. I removed the syringe and inserted the ear wire into the needle and withdrew the needle which guided the wire through really easily. I manoeveured the ring part into place and cut off the tail so that there was a 2 mm overlap which would prevent either end from disappearing under the skin. About a third of the ring was hidden from sight. I bent the ring closed. It was so simple, a complete anticlimax, all over in 20 minutes. I expected some bleeding from the larger needle being removed but there was virtually none. I went out shopping immediately and it has been perfectly comfortable ever since. Also, I have now completed the video record!
I think that the syringe needle avoids pain because it is so sharp and is on an angle so cuts rather than forces it way through. I wonder how it would go on nipples.
There were crusties for the first two and a half weeks. At this point, I went into the local piercing etc shop and looked for a suitable CBR. It was 4.30 pm in the day and I was served by a 14 or 15 year old school girl who must have had a part time job there. I asked to look at CBR's feeling somewhat embarrassed in case she asked where it was for. I don't know what I would have said if she had! The selection was poor, I wanted a 2.0 mm thick ring but settled for a 15 mm diameter 1.75 mm thick ring. At home, I filed up a stainless steel taper from 2.3 mm wire which was reduced to 0.8 mm at one end and polished it. I did not know how long healing would take but after 20 days I was fed up with the wire ring with its sharp ends that could dig in so I gingerly removed it and carefully inserted the taper using Savlon as lubricant as well as antiseptic. It went through easily to about the 1.2 mm mark so I inserted a 12 mm diameter 1.0 mm thick sleeper. This was much better except that the hinge had sharp edges so limited the amount that it could be turned without pain. So today I took it out and tried the taper again. To my surprise, it went through up the 1.85 mm mark with just noticeable feeling, hardly pain. So I tried the CBR and it went straight through. The most difficult part was fixing the ball. I had to use circlip pliers to spring open the ring and held the ball correctly positioned with long nose pliers, a bit of an engineering exercise. It looks fantastic and turns easily but I will leave it alone for another week or two until the crusties disappear completely.
Now I have a permanent hole, my first piercing. This won't be a significant body modification to most people but to me it is wonderful. I can't wait to play with a healed hole. I wonder how far it can be stretched. Now I have done a second thing just for myself and this time it is known only to me though my wife will find it soon enough. Her reaction will be interesting. I feel really good about myself.