This was my second (and technically 3rd) piercing. My first piercing was a frenum and if you're interested in that you can find that experience here Thinking about a Frenum piercing?. Before I got my frenum pierced all of my BME/IAM friends were saying, "Once you get your first piercing you will be hooked and want more." Quite frankly I didn't tell them but I didn't believe it. Well, I was wrong because the day after my first piercing I was already planning more.
At A Glance Author sydplay Contact sydplay@bme.anon IAM sydplay When Six months ago Artist Ashley Studio Cape Fear Tattoo Location Greenville, NC The frenum was healing slower than I thought which made things a little uncomfortable so I was not anxious to get another piercing on my dick until that one was totally healed and I had a little bit of a break. That lead me to the idea of a scrotal piercing so I started to do some research to see exactly what I might want.
I'll split this experience into three sections: Planning, Procedure and Healing.
Planning:
Placement was a big issue for me for two reasons. Firstly, I do enjoy many types of ball-play including stretching and banding so if I got any piercings placed near the top of my scrotum (Hafadas or higher placed centerline) it would rule out that play. That's not happening so it ruled out those placements. That left me with the option of a mid or lower centerline piercing. This brings me to reason number two, appearance.
Everyone's tastes are different and I have nothing against centerline scrotals but I really didn't care for the way they looked, I don't know why, I just didn't. I started thinking it would be really cool to do two piercings side-by-side on the left and right of the centerline, basically the same way the testicles hang.
So now I had my placement idea and I started chatting with people about the procedure. I like to do a lot of research before any piercing/play procedure and thanks to IAM that's an easy thing to do. One thing I was really interested in was how someone would ever be able to properly mark for scrotals. The scrotum changes size and shape a million times a day so how do you get the right marks?
I was chatting with IAM: julespain (a BME verified piercer) and since she had experience she was able to give me a direct answer. She basically said you have to have a lot of patience. Stretch the skin, manipulate the skin, look at the markings standing, sitting etc. By taking your time and changing positions after the initial marking you can see how they will end up. She also mentioned that she had much better success by starting scrotal piercings with barbells and after they had healed switching them to CBRs. The CBRs look much better but they would increase the chance of rejection if they are put in unhealed piercings.
Now I had my plan and I knew what to expect so I contacted my piercer IAM: Southern Belle (Ashley) to set up an appointment. She did an awesome job on my first piercing so it was an easy decision to have her do the scrotals for me. She also mentioned that her mentor IAM: micro-wave (Steve - also a BME verified piercer) was going to be in town so I could get a chance to meet him. I had heard great things about him from Ashley and several other people on IAM so I thought it would be cool to meet.
Procedure:
A few weeks later it's appointment time and when I got to the shop it was great to see Ashley again. She's really cool and it's nice when you can be friends with your piercer. I also got to meet Steve for the first time. It's funny, Steve's one of those people you're instantly comfortable with even after just 60 seconds. We spent about 15-20 minutes chatting, filling out the usual paperwork, etc. I told them both I wanted to get two 8-gauge scrotals but I wanted some unusual placements.
Steve asked me if I would mind if he sat in on the procedure so he could get a chance to watch Ashley work. I had no problem with that plus I wanted to get some procedure pics to post on BME and he was glad to help out.
So we headed into the piercing room and since this was my second time there I was a lot more comfortable. It came time to drop my shorts and unlike the first time I was 100% comfortable doing so, which was really cool.
I showed them where I wanted them placed and the first response was basically "that's a bad idea." I have to say I was instantly crushed because I had the placement planned for weeks in my head. They knew from experience that the placements I wanted had a higher chance of rejection and that traditional placements are "traditional" for a reason. Over years and years and years of piercing, people have learned what areas of the body accept and keep piercings and what areas usually don't work.
Almost all scrotal piercings are placed down the middle of the scrotum or on the sides because of the structure of the scrotum. We had a 5-10 discussion on why those placements are proven to work and why mine might not. It was a cool, informative medical discussion (at some point though I laughed to myself because I realized here we were having this serious discussion about piercing and anatomy and I'm standing there naked from the waste down.)
I told them if the placements were an absolutely stupid idea I would try something else. If they were a mild risk though I would like to try them. I did have some things going in my favor, we were started with a relatively large gauge (8g), starting with barbells for 2 months before switching to CBRs, Ashley knows how to get the proper depth and I am committed to proper healing procedures.
They left the decision to me and since it was not a huge risk and the worst thing that would happen is that I would have to take them out if they started to reject I decided to go for it. I really wanted to do something unique if possible and oh yeah, I'm stubborn and once I get something in my head I want it!
Now it came time to mark for placements. We spent 20-30 minutes getting the markings done. It was really cool to have both of them there, I felt like I had two expert surgeons working on me. Some massaging, stretching, stand up, sit down, lie down, erase marks, mark again, stretch, stand up, sit down, lie down. They were staring at the markings like engineers making sure everything was perfectly aligned.
It was so awesome to see people working so hard to do the best job possible and I remember being really impressed with their focus. They agreed the marks were good and it was piercing time.
As with my 8-gauge frenum piercing Ashley told me she would use a 10-gauge needle and then immediately stretch to 8-gauge. This keeps the barbell tightly pressed on the skin and reduces bleeding while also increasing the chance of successful healing.
The first needle went through and it hurt a good bit but not too bad. It was quite a different feeling from the frenum. The frenum was a quick blast head rush while this felt a little more like a burning feeling and lasted a little longer. The taper hurt a bit too, which was a bit of a surprise because I could not even feel the taper on the frenum. It was overall slightly more painful but really, nothing too bad. The second piercing went exactly the same as the first, a long kind-of burning feeling and a painful stretch, all-in-all very mild pain. I would grit my teeth a little and make some funny faces but that was it. Both piercings were done in 5 minutes and the barbells were in.
If you want to see the procedure pics click one of these: BME access – Procedure (click "next image" for more ) or IAM access - Procedure
Since I wasn't nervous/uncomfortable being naked this time I got a good look at my new piercings before I put my clothes back on and they looked really cool, exactly what I was hoping for!
The three of us grabbed lunch from down the street and had time to relax and catch-up before I had to head home.
Healing:
After a 1 & 1/2 hour drive I finally got home and got another look. They had bled quite a bit, more than expected but I could tell it had stopped. Oh well, so much for that pair of boxers. I packed the area lightly with gauze to keep any more clothes from getting ruined. They bled a little more overnight but that was the last of it.
I've learned the second day is where any pain or swelling starts. The after pain was quite different than the frenum piercing. With the frenum piercing there was only pain if the piercing was twisted or pulled. The scrotals had a low-level constant pain, nothing bad at all just mild annoying pain.
Walking was very uncomfortable but I had planned a few days off so I could just sit, relax and let them heal. A great IAM friend of mine IAM: Strawberry (Claudia) had her nipples pierced and she said she found it comfortable and an aide in early healing to be topless around the house so no clothing would rub on the fresh piercings and air could get to them. So off the pants came and it really helped. I'll tell you if I could I would have spent the whole first week naked and healing would have been a lot easier but hey I had to leave the house.
The whole first week all I wanted to do was sit with my legs wide open because it was the only way I was comfortable. I would sit at work with my legs wide open under the desk. I would laugh at myself while driving because I would have my left leg pressed against the door and the right leg pressed against the center console.
Luckily through my IAM contacts (Claudia, Ashley, Steve, etc.) I learned early on the importance of taking the healing process seriously. Not just to avoid some potential serious problems but also to ensure the chances of long-term success. I use the "leave it alone" philosophy, which was taught to me, and it works great. No touching the area AT ALL for the first 10 days. No soap, no soak, no touching jewelry, just let your body do the healing. The only thing that would happen is water from the shower would naturally run over them.
Lots of crusties would develop each day but I just left them alone. They would fall off on their own and some new ones would develop. The left barbell was in an annoyingly crooked position for the first two to three weeks and I really wanted to correct it but I left it alone. I knew when it was ready and things were healed enough it would break free on its own.
Days 3-5 were the really tough days. The piercings and skin around them became very dry and started to itch. My scrotum was starting to look like alligator skin, you can see what I mean in this pic: BME access – ouch! or IAM access – ouch! The 4th night was the worst. I woke up at 3:00am with an itch so strong it's hard to describe. I had poison ivy a ton of times as a kid but this was 10x worse. Luckily, due to poison ivy, I have trained myself not to scratch because it only makes things worse. So no scratching but also...no sleeping.
Thankfully by day 6 the dry skin itch was going away and they had enough healing days that I felt comfortable lightly putting vitamin E oil on the skin without touching the barbells (another healing suggestion from Claudia). I ended up putting vitamin E oil twice a day for the next 2-3 weeks and it really helped.
By day 10 everything was getting comfortable as you can see here IAM access – looking good and now I just had to wait for another 7 weeks to go by so I could put the CBRs in.
I decided to order some black Niobium CBRs from the BME shop because I though they looked really cool and at 8 weeks I slid the barbells out and immediately followed the CBRs through.
I did not expect what happened the next week. By changing from barbells to CBRs I was forcing the fistulas to change shape and I had to go through another mini healing period. The next 7 days were just like the first 7 days just a lot milder. Lots of crusties and general discomfort but as I said, milder than the first healing week.
If you want to see the healing pics click one of these BME access – Healing (click "next image" for more) or IAM access - Healing
After a few weeks of having the CBRs in they became very comfortable. The piercings are now so comfortable that I often forget they are there. Unlike my frenum, once healed the scrotals can be twisted, tugged etc with no pain whatsoever. I absolutely love them and would recommend them to anyone.
Being someone who is still relatively new to piercing I have to say I am totally impressed with the professionalism and dedication of high quality piercers. They work so hard to get you what you are looking for in a very safe manor and I think that's highly commendable. One last thanks again to Ashley and Steve. You guys are total pros and I really felt so well taken care of and so comfortable, you're awesome!
