Since my last writing I have wanted to get my PA redone. The mistake I made was removing my jewelry too soon and not having anything in place for that one night. I paid that price and wanted to move forward again. Chatting on the internet only rekindled my interest, and my return to BME to read the experiences. The more I read and chatted, the more I wanted to get my PA redone.
At A Glance Author BillEboy Contact hyguy69@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Mikel Studio Andromeda Location New York City When I started calling around on Long Island, I found few people willing or experienced to do PA's. Most places don't even do lower body piercings. Using the BME sorting programs to go through the experiences, I could see that a trip to New York City was going to be in the cards. If I wanted experience and a safe piercing, that was the best way to go. Two studios seem to have the most documented positive experiences, Andromeda and Gauntlet. Gauntlet is out of business, and Andromeda had a web site giving me access to the information I needed. Browsing through their web site made me feel comortable that they were professionals and this was the place to go. They also have two separate operations for piercing and tattoos, not mixing them together. Mikel was mentioned in most of the experiences on BME, and I actually chatted with a guy who had a stretching done by him. He said that Mikel was one of the best piercers on the East coast and that's what I wanted to hea r. When I spoke to Mikel on the phone he was very friendly, professional, and said "He would take good care of me". He told me what days he was in the studio and now I had to plan the trip.
Since the attack on the World Trade Center, travelling into New York has not been good and single occupancy vehicles are still banned on bridges and tunnels in the morning. This meant that train, subway,and foot was going to be my best way to get into lower Manhattan. I also decided to wait till after the Holidays were over to make the trip easier, and aimed for last Friday. I took a personal day off from work and headed for the train. By the time I got to Penn Station, I was a wreck from the anxiety and excitement of what was to come. It was quite cold that morning and I decided to walk the 30 some blocks across and downtown and it actually helped me relax a bit.
Climbing the stairs to the studio had my heart pounding nearly out of my chest. Mikel met me at the counter and he immediately put me at ease with his friendly manner. He already knew that I was bringing my own jewelry so we just needed to decide which one to use. I had 8 and 10 guage 3/4" circular barbells and Mikel suggested that we go with the 8 guage, it would be the best choice. He took my jewelry in the back to setup while I filled out the paperwork and paid. The girl behind the counter went over all the aftercare instructions and gave me a copy, I would never remembered all the details in my state.
Mikel called me into the backroom and closed the door. I knew at that point that we were on our way. He told me that he has been at Andromeda over 10 years and before that at Gauntlet. He only does piercing and body mods and I really felt comfortable with him. As I looked around the room it resembled a Doctor's office, clean as a whistle, organized, and professional. The dentist type chair was covered with clean paper just like in a doctor's office. Mikel asked me to pull down my underwear and pants and get comfortable in the chair, and then he would explain and take me through each step of the piercing. He donned the first pair of gloves and proceeded to clean me throughly with 3 different things. Then he regloved and put a towel with a hole in it over my now shrinking cock, which was trying to hide from its certain fate. Next he marked the spot and checked it with me. Regloving again, he told me that he now was going to insert the receiving tube. That went s moothly and I hardly felt it atall. Some people complain about the tube, didn't bother me. Mikel now showed me he new needle and asked me if I was ready. I said yes and leaned back in the chair to hold on. Funny thing that this point I wasn't nervous any more just excited. He told me to take several deep breaths and put the needle through on my first exhale. It caught me by surprise cause I was expecting the second or third breath, but he was quick and I felt the intense pain for only a fraction of a second. Mikel told me the next thing I would feel was a pulling sensation as he inserted the jewelry. He was right no pain and just some bleeding. We waited a few minutes for the bleeding to stop and I got my first look. What a RUSH!! I had forgotten how cool it looks and I was clearly on cloud 9 now, relaxed and excited at the same time. Mikel wrapped me up in gauze and a clean glove with a rubber band to hold it in place, and checked to see if I was ok before lett ing me get out of the chair. He also told me that the PA takes a leas t a year to heal enough to remove the jewelry overnight. I will be following all the instructions. I tipped Mikel, thanked him for a job well done, and walked out with that silly grin knowing I had followed through on my quest for my PA. As I went down the stairs to the street, I was still floating on my own cloud.
When I first had to pee, 4 hours later, the gauze was soaked with blood. It bled a little then but peeing didn't burn at all and the bleeding stopped on its own. I used pads in my briefs that first night but had very little bleeding. Today is Wednesday and after 5 days I have only a little spotting on the pads and thats it. Twice a day cleanings and salt water soaks per the aftercare instructions have worked well so far.
I wrote this for 2 reasons, first to say that a professional is best and Mikel is certainly that, second to help somebody else that might be on the fence about getting a PA. Take my word for it, its great and go for it if you really want it. Can't wait to size up to 6 guage, Mikel said 2-3 months should be ok.