October 15, 2002.
At A Glance Author mmATL Contact mmATL@bme.anon When Three months ago Location Atlanta After much Internet research, contemplation, and backing out of one "I'll do it if you do it" experiences where my friend would have gotten her hood pierced, I resolved to get my Prince Albert. I don't have an active sex life, so I'd planned my piercing to be more of a personal expression of my rebellion against expectation and a hidden kink for my otherwise celibate sex life. You see, I am a seminary student. People have all sorts of expectations of one in seminary, as well as those serving as clergy. While I am pursuing ordination in a mainline denomination, and while not legalistic in its interpretations of the religious life, the laity often has certain expectations about the kind of life a clergyperson should have. Despite piercing not being inherently sinful, I still looked forward to the morality challenging "kick" of being pierced in such a private area while most would never guess I'd get pierced. Undoubtedly, in part, I am making an effort to define myself as something other than the presumed persona of a clergyperson.
So, I found a very well known and reputable piercing studio in Atlanta. I drove there in slight disbelief that I was going through with this and with excitement. I was thankful that the studio was empty for most of the time I was there. I spoke with the piercer about wanting a PA, the jewelry, the pain, the hole and etc. He recommended a curved "banana" type barbell until the piercing healed. His opinion was that a ring would rotate, removing the "crusties." He believed that the crusties needed to stay, as any wound would need to scab in order to heal.
After these initial details, the piercer took me into the private studio room and measured the distance from the bottom part of the urethral opening across the underside of the meatus to the edge of the corona near the frenum. He marked the placement of the future hole with a skin marker. He then used this measurement to suggest the proper sized barbell.
We settled on a ¾ inch 6-gauge titanium banana barbell. He electroplated a very light blue color to the bar and steam sterilized the pieces and tools.
We went back to the private studio and he set out the sterilized tools, washed and put on his gloves and mask, and wiped the head of my penis with a mild disinfectant, that wasn't betadine.
Inserting the tube was definitely the most uncomfortable part. It seemed to cause him some trouble to get it situated just right. I was laying flat and was unable to look. My piercer made the point of telling me that he was going to pierce from inside the tube to the outside, so that the skin didn't get stretched in two directions when he inserted the needle. He had me exhale, inserted the needle, and I was pleasantly surprised that the piercing really didn't hurt that much. It was on the order of a strong pinch. Inserting the barbell hurt a little less than that. Then, it really didn't hurt at all. He put some gauze around the head and pulled off one of his gloves over it. I'd worn loose shorts with boxers and I felt no discomfort as I walked out of the studio.
My healing went well. For two or three days I was overly cautious and used some gauze and unlubricated condoms. I wear briefs most of the time, so this caused some necessary manual adjustments at times so that I didn't get pinched. I was able to masturbate gently after the initial days, though bleeding usually accompanied it. I did my best to keep it dry when in the shower and always pissed right before exiting the shower.
Getting used to pissing with the PA took some practice. Most of the time it caused some pressure to build up because of the jewelry blocking the flow. I did drip from the pierced opening. At urinals I just stepped closer and found that this was not really a problem. The "halo" produced by the ball on the end of the barbell was tricky at first. Interestingly, I found that it caused more problems when I was seated because it would direct some urine upwards, causing me to piss some against the underside of the toilet seat in the front. I just made an aiming direction to solve this.
I kept the initial jewelry for a month. The healing completed during this time so that a complete tube of skin formed. Right at one month's time (November 15th), I returned to the studio and bought a ¾ inch 6-gauge titanium ¾ circle barbell. I had it colored dark blue. While I really liked the look of this ring, it caused me some problems. It would often turn to one side, exposing the pierced flesh on the inner part of the circle. This would often rub on my briefs and get sore. It took me a while to figure this out. In fact, it would pinch occasionally and it even scabbed over once. I didn't know it immediately, but I lost a small part of the pierced flesh because of this pinching and scabbing.
I figured it was mostly the ring. So at another month's time (December 15th), I went to the studio and bought a ½ inch straight barbell with 5/8-inch balls. I loved the way it was heavier and stayed close to my skin. It didn't turn around and pinch as much. However, the exposed flesh still got sore.
About a month after I got this barbell (~January 15th), I returned to the piercer and described my problems to him. Because my piercer wasn't there, I spoke to the owner. He took a look at it and told me that it looks like they pierced it a little shallow because of the internal anatomy of my urethra. In hindsight, I think this is what caused the trouble in placing the tube and accounts for the needle not coming out at not quite the marked place. The owner offered me some options. I could just remove it and be left with a hole. I could hang weight on it and make it pull through, creating a meatotomy. He could pierce the upper part of my head and insert a crossbar. Or, I could pierce for another PA further back than the first. He gave various benefits for each, such as access to the urethral tissue as a bonus for oral sex and the enhanced effects of the crossbar during sex. I told him that I'd have to think about this stuff and I left the studio and took my jewelry out. He had been really nice about my options and had offered to do any of that piercing for free. I've yet to take him up on his offer because I haven't decided on which to do.
I'm a little frustrated that now I've got this hole that leaks significantly when I piss and I'm not able to wear the jewelry I own. My urination is a much messier affair now. Since the owner is a different person from my original piercer, I'm not really hesitant to go back there. I only saw my piercer the time he pierced me, since I've dealt with the owner. I don't think the owner would have had the problem with the anatomy issue. In the end, my PA was shallow and it migrated forward a bit while I had it. Now it's a bit of a frustration because it makes a mess. I'm looking for some way to close the hole. I haven't found out if this can be done and I'm not overly optimistic.
I enjoyed my PA while I had it, but I can't help wondering if it would have been more comfortable if it had been placed further back. I'm wondering just how much my wearing briefs contributed to this issue. Do other PA wearers still wear briefs w/o problem? I'm curious.