In October 2000, I got my fifteen-rung frenum/scrotum ladder, with its attendant 'interesting' healing (see 'One Man's Journey pt 8'). Fast forward to September 2002 and, having resisted the urge for almost 2 years (something to do with becoming a husband and father for the first time and all the associated busy-ness), I'm back at 'Artline' for a pair of side-frenum ladders.
At A Glance Author GothPaul When Five years ago Artist Lee Studio Artline Location Bedford, UK After the trials and tribulations of the first ladder, I thought I'd learnt my lessons.
These ladders would also be pierced at 1.2mm (16G) like the first one, but instead of straight 6mm barbells, we would use 8mm CBR's (to avoid the problem of balls falling off and/or pulling into the piercings)
We would also build the ladder in stages, starting with three on each side, quite widely spaced, then, when the first batch had healed, adding more in the gaps and so on until it looked right.
Again, Lee insisted on undercharging me. The first six rings would be £40 total, with any subsequent additions at the same price. His justification for this was the same as last time; because the piercings were so quick and easy to do, he wouldn't feel right charging for each one individually, which was fine by me. He also added that these were surface piercings (a term which meant nothing to me at the time) and had a fairly high chance of rejection (I chose to ignore this; MY piercings NEVER rejected!).
I signed the disclaimer, we went through into the piercing room and I dropped my pants and hopped up on the chair.
Lee gloved up and started marking me up, checking several times that I was happy with the placement.
The first clamp went on (top right)
"Ready?"
I nodded and the needle was through, immediately followed by the ring. The pain was similar to the first ladder; a slight pinch, nothing to worry about.
The other five rings went in similarly. Again, each was slightly more painful than the last, and the lower down the shaft they went, the tougher the skin seemed to be.
The piercings were finished in no time and I was wrapped in kitchen roll. I then paid and went home.
Lee had given me his standard aftercare instructions; keep them clean, sea salt soaks twice daily, ibuprofen for a couple of days to ease any inflammation, leave it a couple of weeks before getting adventurous in the bedroom, be careful when cleaning that you don't pull any hairs into the wounds or they will get infected, keep an eye out for migration/rejection as this is quite common with this kind of pierce, otherwise LITFA.
Day 1. I got home and, as soon as the kids were in bed, my better half got her first sight of the new rings. Lisa's not a fan of freshly done piercings (once they're healed she loves them, although she'll always be more of a tattoo lover) but she was definitely impressed.
"Wow! We've got to try them!" were the first words she said.
I agreed with her sentiments, but I was a good boy and resisted the temptation; Lee had said leave it for a couple of weeks, remember.
Day 2. Aftercare progressing, no problems. Lisa and I agreed to wait until they'd healed for at least another week before attempting sex.
Day 3. Healing well (for 3 days old). Not too tender to the touch. I was still itching to try them, but resisting the temptation.
Day 4. I succumbed, jumped on Lisa and we had sex (with condom), which was amazing and free from complications (aside from getting the condom on and off over six fresh wounds) Lisa said she felt every new ring, and was also more aware of the other rings than she had been in a while.
Day 5. The new piercings were a little bit sore, but I put that down to mild reaction to condom lubricant (it's happened before)
Day 6. While soaking, I noticed that all six piercings were looking kind of angry around the entry and exit wounds. I popped a couple of ibuprofen and kept them under observation.
Day 7. The top left ring was visible through the skin and the other five were still angry. Visited Lee, who confirmed my fears; they were rejecting. He recommended that I remove them all and get them redone later. I decided to persevere.
Day 8. The skin above the top left ring was now paper thin. After much dithering, I regretfully removed it. Bottom right was now looking very angry. The other four were also irritated.
Day 9. Bottom right was now visible through the skin, so I bit the bullet and removed the ring. Top right looked happier, but the rest were still inflamed.
Day 10. Bottom left and middle left were not happy at all. Top right had settled down and seemed OK.
Day 11. Bottom left was now clearly visible through the skin, so I removed it. Middle left was less irritated, but middle right was now getting angrier. Top right seemed to be healing well.
Day 12. Middle left was flaring up again and middle right was now held in by a thread of skin, so I removed it. Top right seemed to be well on the way to being healed.
Day 13. Middle left was obviously on its way out, so I removed it. Top right (the last survivor) was solid and happy (and is still in place today)
A few weeks later, I replaced the ring in the remaining piercing with one of the 6mm bars from my first ladder (Lisa and I found the ring to be a little uncomfortable) and have since upsized it to 1.6mm (14G) (the stretch was easy and painless). I am currently wearing a titanium banana bar, but sometimes swap it for a 1.6 x 8mm CBR (which isn't uncomfortable for either of us)
The wounds left by the removed rings have since completely healed and left no visible scarring.
Do I regret having these piercings? No, I most certainly DO NOT. Despite the fact that 5 out of 6 rejected (still not sure why the last one didn't reject, but hey...), I learnt a lot of good lessons from this experience. Writing this has made me think about these ladders a lot and there is now a strong possibility that I will try again. And anyway, as the wise man once said; the man who never made a mistake never made anything.
Would I have done it differently with hindsight/Will I do it differently next time? Yes, there were a number of things we could have done differently which would probably have improved the chances of keeping all of these piercings:
1. We should have done the piercings at 1.6mm +. The increased diameter would have made the piercings much more stable.
2. The death of these piercings was primarily due to failure to follow aftercare instructions (if I had waited longer before trying them, I'm fairly sure they would have survived longer).
3. Another contributory factor, I think, was location; standard frenum piercings run along the raphe (the ridge of thickened skin running the length of the underside of the penis and scrotum). This serves as an anchor for the piercings and stops them from growing out. Side-frenums are, effectively, surface piercings and subject to all the common migration/rejection issues associated with this type of piercing.
4. The idea of spacing the piercings widely, healing and filling in the gaps is, I think, entirely valid.
5. When I do them again (and that's a definite 'when' not 'if') I will probably ask Lee to use PTFE (flexible) rather than metal (rigid) for the initial piercing to give them a better chance of healing (location prohibits the use of surface bars, or I would opt for that method)
What else have I learnt?
1. If your new jewellery looks like it's rejecting, don't be bloody-minded. If you're sure it's on its way out, the sooner you take it out and let it heal the better; the longer you try to keep it, the more likely it is to scar.
2. Aftercare instructions are there for a reason; your piercer knows what he/she is talking about (or should do, at least 90% of the time) far better than you do!
Having recovered from this far from successful attempt, I took a break from piercing for a while, two and a half years, in fact, which brings us to April 2005 and my next experience; The Apadravya!
Enjoy