The surfacing of the urge to get a PA was a little odd for me. Previously the only body piercing I had experienced was an ear piercing. This was largely done for image purposes and needless to say I grew out of it pretty quickly. I think that Internet surfing was largely responsible for planting the PA seed in the back of my mind. I remember the first images I saw of a PA and having that half-fascinated, half-horrified feeling that means you find something pretty exciting. I've had my PA a little over 18 months now, so I thought I'd share some of my experiences with you.
At A Glance Author toolman Contact toolman@bme.anon When Two years ago Studio Streetwise Body Piercing Location Auckland It wasn't really a problem choosing the type of piercing, I think the PA is a really masculine piercing (despite its origins). To be honest I find most other 'male' piercing a bit fussy- looking. The PA has a nice symmetry and balance about it, especially with larger gauge jewellery.
I read a fair few peoples' experiences, and a lot of other people seem to start piercing other parts of their bodies before moving to genital piercing, I didn't really consider this. I do a lot of martial arts and the idea of providing people lots of little pain handles all over my body didn't really appeal, neither did having a piercing forcibly removed in the middle of training. A piercing that wasn't in the way of normal activity and let me get on with things seemed the way to go.
So with the mental hurdle out of the way it was on to breaking the news to my wife. After all she would have to interact with the piercing after it was done and I knew I'd need her support as it was healing (no nookie for a while). My wife couldn't really understand why I wanted to do such a thing, but said as it was my body I could do pretty much what I liked. In retrospect I wish I'd gone into detail a little more about what was going to happen so she knew more what to expect. There are two forms of consent; informed and the other! If I can give you guys out there one tip it is to ensure your loved one knows what's involved, it can backfire otherwise (more on this later).
As well as surfing the net I'd managed to speak to someone who I'd heard, through the grapevine, had a PA. He is quite the bachelor and had had his PA for some time. As far as the piercing itself went he said he got pierced and then straight away ran back to a university lecture (4km's away). I figured that if he could do it so easily so could I (I figured wrong as it happened). He also said that there seemed to be a fifty/fifty split on female approval of the modification. Some of his girlfriends insisted he left it out during sex whilst others preferred his jewellery in. One went as far as saying that all men should be fitted with them at birth!
It was all systems go. I'd earmarked the Christmas break period as the most suitable time. We don't train over Christmas and I had some time off work to heal. A sensible decision as it turned out. There's really only one place I would consider going for a piercing in Auckland and that's Streetwise Body-piercing. They are a member of the APP and are very big on customer service. I bothered them several times before going in and they were always very helpful. My piercer even called the day after I had been pierced to make sure I was doing okay. I finally made it in the day before Christmas Eve (I resisted calling it a Christmas present or anything similarly tacky).
My wife dropped me off but wasn't too keen to witness the procedure. My piercer was great, I wish I could remember his name so I could give him a rap. He chatted to me for a least twenty minutes before starting things, I lost count of the number of times he changed his gloves and washed his hands. It turned out Streetwise makes most of their own jewellery and I was shown the autoclave and how all the jewellery and needles were sterile-sealed afterwards. I don't really remember much of what we chatted about but I do remember one piece of advice he gave me; if you want to stay married don't show your PA to other women, even if they ask!! I didn't like to ask how he found this one out.
As far as the procedure went not much sticks in my mind. My old fulla definitely experienced huge shrinkage when faced with the needle. The receiver tube insertion was the most unpleasant part, by the time the needle went in I was quite relaxed (deep breathing really helps). However as I lay back sucking on a sweet I was given, I knew it'd be a while before I was back training. We had decided that 12 gauge was a better place to start than 10 gauge and I'm glad we did.
There was a lot of blood...I'm not really used to seeing that much blood from that part of my anatomy. In fact things didn't really seal up for three days. I'd think I'd stopped bleeding, only to move quickly and start dripping again. Strange as it sounds you come to love your own urine (stops the bleeding). After I got home and took the bandage off I had to cut the clot off the CBR with scissors (yummy!?). I'm glad I had the time off to get well. The first day was spent lying around doing very little. As prepared as I was for the blood it was still quite a shock. It did eventually stop it just took some time!!
I met my wife back at the car, feeling slightly the worse for wear (I thought I was harder than this!!). Unfortunately I was seeping through my shorts and this started things off on a really bad note. In fact my wife felt rather green and this set the tone of things to come. I tried as much as possible to keep the gore out of sight- hard when you drip blood on the bathroom floor- but to no avail. This is what I mean when I say you must ensure your loved one understands the process and gives informed consent. The look of things on the first few days was quite off-putting and I'm sure this is why my wife is still not that taken with my PA, and is still squeamish about it.
Anyway 18 months down the track I find myself still with a PA (up to 6 gauge now), still with my wife and a little wiser.
Stretching my PA has taken a while. From 12 gauge a 10 gauge slipped straight in. 8 gauge took quite a while, and 6 gauge was a bit easier. This is probably down to my improving stretching technique. I found that taking things slowly ends up quicker in the long run, if you rush stretching you end up sore and unable to touch anything for a while. Using a knitting needle and lots of lube really helps, however I might try a tapered artists brush next time. I have also found that tea-tree oil (smear on ring and run in and out of piercing) really helps healing. Using a CBR with a convex end is much easier to guide through a piercing than a convex end. On a side note after going up a gauge I get an instant, really hard erection which is amazing.
I haven't really had any trouble during exercise aside from the time I lost the ball off the ring and had the end taking flesh samples from my urethra. I thought something felt strange!! Sadly (read stupidly) I wasn't able to check things for a couple of hours and the piercing was quite upset and crusty by that time. Tea-tree oil to the rescue, thank god!
My PA hasn't made that much difference to love-making for my wife and I. She has to be really in to it before I leave my jewellery in, and even then it does more for me than for her. This is a shame as I was hoping she would find it more enjoyable than she does. As I mentioned before I can't help wondering if this had something to do with her first impressions of the piercing. Up to now I have only worn CBR's so I might try changing to a curved barbell and see if this makes a difference.
Would I do it again? Definitely, the process has taught me a lot about my body and the way it heals. I love the look and feel of my PA. I have some tattoos, but the PA is the only jewellery I wear and it looks great. I was going to stop at 6 gauge but it's amazing how rings get smaller the more you look at them so I might try for 4 gauge (looking at the 12 gauge ring I can't believe how much trouble it caused!).
As for my wife I'll keep working on her slowly and gently. She has her bellybutton pierced so it's not an entirely lost cause. I reckon she'd look fantastic with her nipples pierced and maybe something further south! Any ideas how to bring that one up in conversation?!