I live in a conservative part of the US. I'm 64 years old and conservative in my way of thinking and living, though I do have a steel ring through the end of my penis.
At A Glance Author anonymous When Six months ago Artist Cannon Studio Acme Location Cincinnati OH In fall 1998 I discovered, in a men's health magazine, a reference to the PA piercing, and then I researched it on the Web. I've visited bme many times, and this posting is by way of saying thanks for your help in making a decision which has been the right one for me. There are things in this posting which I have not seen in any other, so this might help some guys.
I thought the PA looked cool, but I took my time I getting one. Over the next 3 years I visited 3 piercers, whose names I'd obtained from the rec.arts.bodyart site and the Website of the Association of Professional Piercers www.safepiercing.org. Each piercer patiently answered all my questions, willingly showed me around the shop, and did not pressure me to get pierced. I returned several times to talk with Cannon at Acme Piercing in Cincinnati because I was especially impressed by his emphasis on hygiene, particularly his careful record-keeping of sterile handling of the jewelry.
>From the piercers I bought 3/4" CBRs of 12 ga, 10 ga, and 6 ga, plus a 7/8" 8 ga CBB. By removing the bead I could try them on to see how they looked and felt, and I could actually wear one held in place by tight briefs. The thinner rings had a smaller gap, and before long, one would stay in place even without external support. Every guy has a wide place inside his urethra near its outlet, and apparently an end of the bead-less ring hangs up there.
Still not pierced, I took to wearing a ring all the time without the bead. I learned how to urinate standing up by rotating my penis 90 degrees, controlling spray by resting my finger against the ring and letting urine drip down my finger. (Your mother taught you to wash your hands afterwards, anyway.) I even wore the ring in the showers at the gym, which is patronized by folks of all ages. I did not show off the ring, but the only time I ever made a point of hiding it was when little boys were around; I would hate to have it frighten them. I have not noticed anyone else with a PA, but no one has ever commented on my ring or even raised an eyebrow. Probably no one ever looked.
During the 3-year period I had several conversations with my doctors about getting pierced, and both my family physician and my urologist saw the ring in my penis. Neither had seen a PA, though my urologist had seen a hafada and my family physician had seen a labial ring. My family physician expressed concern that the foreign object in my urethra might lead to a urinary tract infection, but he said "If you're REALLY REALLY motivated you could proceed." When he did my annual physical exams, with me standing naked while he checked my scrotum for hernia, he usually paid no attention to my penis ring
My urologist had no problem with the ring. He showed me how to cold-sterilize the ring with weak bleach solution after it fell out on the locker-room floor. He asked about "the spray problem" and drip from the pierced hole, but gave me his go-ahead for piercing without batting an eye. Speaking of his own body and referring to the chance of infection after getting pierced, he said "I'd do my penis before I'd do my tongue." He told me to stop taking my blood-thinning medication 5 days before getting pierced, and suggested I come in 3 or 4 weeks afterward to have the healing checked. My cardiologist (I had heart rhythm problems which took two multi-hour operations to fix, and led to my taking the blood-thinner) predicted my heart rhythm would not be disturbed when the needle went through me, and he summarized his reaction simply as "We are all sexual beings."
The most important reason that I waited so long to get pierced was respect for my wife's feelings. We've been happily married for over 35 years, still very much in love, and I didn't want to get pierced unless I was convinced she would enjoy it too. When I first broached the subject to her, after getting the go-ahead from my urologist, she naturally concluded I had taken leave of my senses. Her first reaction was that piercing is a counterculture statement, and I'm not counterculture, but quickly her reaction took the form "I don't want anybody to hurt my husband."
When I started regularly wearing the ring without the bead, that was OK with her. She began to enjoy playing with it as part of foreplay, though I took it out for intercourse. (Imagine the hunt if it fell out, inside her!) Stimulation of the inside of my urethra by the ring felt wonderful if she was the one playing with it, but I never got much out of playing with the ring myself. Sometimes I would make hints about getting pierced, and twice she even told me to go ahead, but she was just being the Dutiful Wife. I was waiting for her to bring up the subject, and for that twinkle in her eye to show she thought it would be fun.
After 3 years of wearing the ring without the bead, I was willing to stay that way if that was what pleased my wife. But one day she brought up the subject of my getting pierced, and there was the twinkle in her eye! I didn't lose much time making an appointment for next day with Cannon at Acme. After all those visits, he recognized my voice on the phone without my having to identify myself.
Cannon agreed to use the 12-ga ring he had sold me nearly 4 years before. It took about an hour to sterilize it. I told Cannon that I'd already had nearly 400 28-ga needles in my penis, because I have used injections to cope with impotence since before Viagra came out. Cannon said "This'll be a walk in the park for you." Off with the shorts and underpants. As I took out the 10-ga ring I was wearing, I showed him where I wanted to be pierced through the frenulum scar. The receiving tube was unimpressive after my wearing rings in my urethra for so long. I told Cannon to never mind the breathing business, just to go ahead when he was ready, but I asked to have a look when he got the needle through. I suppose my eyes widened as the needle went in, but it hurt little more than a medical injection. The beveled point of the needle barely emerged from Nature's hole in the end. "Penis shishkebab!" I exclaimed, and he had the ring through in a moment. "At this point am I supposed to scream and hit the ceiling?" "You could, but it's not necessary" Cannon said. I was astonished that there was not even a drop of blood. With that all there was to it, I felt just a little foolish as I pulled back on my pants. I tipped Cannon $20 (amount learned from bme) and promised to submit a strong recommendation to bme.
Urination after the piercing never hurt. An ugly blood clot came out next morning, and there was spotting for the next 5 days (I wore adult incontinence pads to be sure). I religiously followed Cannon's aftercare instructions: cleaning with SoftSoap in the morning shower, sea salt soak in the evening. There was never any problem with the healing. After 5 weeks my urologist took a look with a magnifying glass and said it looked good. Since he had asked about drip and spray, I demonstrated for him by peeing in a beaker. No drip from the piercing. He suggested using a condom for intercourse, then omitting it if there was no blood.
We did not attempt intercourse before the urologist's OK at 5 weeks, though I continued to give my wife good orgasms while I did without. With the condom on, I could feel mild tugging on the new ring, but not much else. Cannon's instructions for healing worked well, so I decided to wait the suggested minimum of 2 months before trying intercourse without the condom. When we finally did, it was great to get back to friendly closeness, but there was no remarkable sensation due to the ring. I've never had particularly profound orgasms, and I don't now. As healing proceeded, she played less gently with the ring, and the sensation for me became about as good as it was before I got pierced. My wife does not feel the 12 gauge ring inside her.
So for me, the PA has been mostly a decoration. My wife says "It's cute" and "It looks like it belongs there". I'll go back to Cannon to have the 10 ga ring put in, perhaps eventually at most an 8 to match my wedding ring. Another piercer, who pierces PAs at 10 gauge, told me most of his clients remain at 10 gauge. I'm too conservative to go in for constant escalation in ring size. I'm frequently naked in public, and I don't want to be "in your face" to people who didn't ask to see my ring. Also I want the ring to be a decoration for my penis, not the other way around.
During my routine physical exam 4 months after I got pierced, my family physician examined the healed piercing. He asked for Cannon's address at Acme in case another patient ever inquired about a PA. He volunteered that "if I had to choose one" he would get a PA rather than a tongue piercing.
Worth mention: my grandson is in juvenile prison, and to visit him it is necessary to pass through a metal detector. The hand-held detector whistled when passed over my fly, but the guard must have thought she'd found my zipper or belt buckle, and she didn't say anything. I sure didn't.
I'm happy with the PA, but I'll add an afterthought. Relative to the story about the Victorian fashion for tight pants, and having your tailor install a dressing ring through the end of your penis for holding it up, I've always assumed this was a tale invented to sell PA's. But I can report that it does work without the ring tearing out. The same effect can be attained with less trouble by wearing Jockey shorts!