At A Glance Author Torq Contact Torq@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Alec Studio Straight to the Point Location Portland Or A few years back I finally decided to go for it and get a "functional" piercing. I sort of view piercings as either functional (they serve a purpose generally sexually) or "visual" (just for adornment and/or shock value. Argue this if you want, it is basically true.
Having had no personal experience with piercing, I decided I would go for a "nice easy, one-time and it's over" Apadravya. It went along well for a while then after about 6 months the top started migrating out. I loved my Apadravya, since it was 3 piercings for the pain/price of one (and so did my wife) but I wound up with just a single P.A. at 10 gauge in the end. Alec, being the consummate professional that he is, told me I had to wait a while before he would re-pierce me, so I waited.
I went about 6 months trying to decide how much courage I had. Having someone stick a needle thru the end/center of your member is not quite as bad as it sounds but it should be carefully thought out. During that period I gave careful consideration to my experience with the Apadravya, and the P.A. I wound up with, and I decided that the Apadravya was really what I wanted since it was less common than the P.A. and that ball on top did so much more "function-wise". It also was much better to urinate with. Honestly? I would take an Amp or an Apadravya over the P.A. any day just for the convenience we males enjoy so much, being able to pee conveniently without spraying.
But if *one* is good, then isn't more better? How about two? I talked to the piercers at Straight to the Point a lot during this time and finally decided I wanted the more unique piercing rather than the more mundane. So we did it twice, vertically on each side of the urethra, beside the exit hole for the P.A. and out the top center.
At the beginning my Apadravya was a 14 gauge which started out in tygon, but quickly became a 1 1/4" 12 gauge barbell. By the time the Viper was done, the P.A. I had left was at 5/8" 8 gauge with a Captive Bead Ring. Alec did the Vipers in 14, then stretched them to 12 before putting in the barbells. Now the question anyone considering this is going to ask is, "how was it compared to the original Apadravya?" and I would have to answer that since we did both in one day, it was worse pain-wise. The outcome however was everything I had hoped for and more. Less than 40 people have seen it? Several male Doctors have seen it and many female nurses, and a female doctor, 2 piercers and my wife. The reaction of the guys is almost always extreme shock, with the blood rushing out of their faces.
Ok lets get to gauging up!
Until very recently (after major surgery required removal of the P.A. for a few weeks), I had always had Alec do the stretching of the Vipers and the P.A. as separate events, so I didn't notice the difference between them. The Vipers started at 12 gauge, which tended to be uncomfortable most of the time, they are now at 8 gauge and have settled down nicely. They are probably getting close to 2 years old at this point. I made the mistake of taking them out for about half an hour once when they were at 10 gauge, and had to put in a set of 12 after, the holes closed down that fast. Next day back to get the holes re-stretched. Stretching each gauge on the vipers is probably close to the same pain level that the original Apadravya was, and 1/3 less than each of the original Viper piercing itself. Twenty minutes later the pain is down to about a two hour old bee sting? You still feel it but it's not bad.
After my stint in the hospital, the P.A. had closed form 6 to about 10, so that got done in increments back to 6 over several months.
I went back to get the P.A. stretched the last time to 4 gauge and decided to go to 8 gauge on the Vipers the same day, less trips and I figured if I was going to be in pain why not get it all over at once. Now I have a better frame of reference.
The P.A. this time was not as intense as the Vipers by about half. But the Vipers I didn't feel four hours after. The P.A. took about two days to not feel. The pain from this stretch took longer to wear off.
Apadravya vs Vipers, or Is twice as much better? It seems to be, and it doesn't matter what position we use (remember when I said visual or functional?)
Oh and just a quick note here:
I have asked Alec a few times and in his 14+ years of piercing? He says has only done this a few times? And always crossed the bars thru the center rather than parallel. I can't say which way is better, but I did want it to be unique.