My first experience (One Man's Journey pt 1) tells the tale of my first nipple piercing in April '95. The following could be subtitled 'What Pauly did next'.
At A Glance Author GothPaul When Ten years ago or more Artist Jim Studio Paul's Tattoo Studio Location Bedford, UK May '95, 2 weeks of painless healing after having my left nipple done, I'm back at 'Paul's Tattoo Studio', scanning the price list for my next addition.
Paul was busy doing some tat-work so I spoke to his business partner/apprentice Jim (who I knew from his other job as head doorman at my local rock club)
I saw the words 'Prince Albert - £25' on the price list and asked what it entailed.
I winced as he told me, thinking 'That's got to be painful, right?'
It was definitely the most extreme piercing I'd ever heard of at the time. I'd certainly never seen one and didn't know anybody with one (or so I thought), but having the cash in my pocket and, not wanting to leave empty-handed (so to speak) I decided to go for it there and then.
We stepped into the piercing cubicle and Jim asked me to drop my pants, sit down and pull back my foreskin. I did so and Jim pulled on a pair of gloves, took hold of my shrivelling tackle and checked to see whether I was suitably built.
Evidently, I was because he then produced a syringe (without needle), filled it with some kind of white ointment/cream from a tube, explaining that it was a mild anaesthetic (I'm guessing it was EMLA or something similar) and squirted some up my urethra and all over the head of my penis. He then rolled a condom onto my rapidly shrinking member told me to put my trousers back on and sent me out into the waiting room to sign the disclaimer and wait for it to go numb while he set up to do the piercing.
Fifteen minutes and four cigarettes later, Jim finally called me back in. I dropped my pants again and sat down in the chair. Jim told me to shift my butt right to the front edge of the seat and spread my legs, which I did. He then removed the condom and I looked down to see my poor penis looking very sorry for himself; it had definitely shrunk, looked pale and my pisshole seemed to be gaping slightly open.
Jim changed his gloves, wiped the underside of my penis with a sterile swab and marked his entry point with a pen. Meanwhile I kept my eyes resolutely away from the metal tray with his tools on.
I can't really remember much about what happened next; I'm not sure whether he used a clamp or freehanded. I know I didn't watch the needle go in and I certainly didn't feel any pain, just a slight pressure and a couple of tugs and it was all over.
I looked down, expecting BLOOD, but there was none at all, just a HUGE (2.4mm (10G) x 22mm) CBR winking at me from my pisshole.
The sight of it triggered my endorphin rush and I barely heard the aftercare instructions (something about sea salt, clean hands keeping the foreskin back for a while and be CAREFUL when you stand up after using the toilet)
Jim wrapped me tackle in a piece of kitchen towel and gave me the all clear to get dressed and go and sit in the waiting room, where he made me a coffee and we chatted and smoked another couple of cigarettes.
I then paid and the wave of endorphins carried me out the door, carefully trying not to bump my newly installed PA.
When I got home, I immediately went to the bathroom to have a look. My tackle seemed to be feeling better; it was back to something approximating full size and its colouring had returned to normal. There was a little bit of blood on the paper towel, but only a couple of drops; nothing to worry about. I went to the toilet and discovered that the anaesthetic was pretty much worn off (not sure how Jim managed to get the invisible razorblades in there, but it took 2 days to piss them out!)
Healing was once again uneventful; I had a couple of drops of blood for the first 3 days, then nothing. I kept it wrapped in paper towel for a week (more as padding than anything else) then rolled my foreskin back over it because the glans was starting to dry out and walking made the ring swing uncomfortably. Standing up and sitting down too quickly were also uncomfortable but I soon learnt to do things more slowly.
As far as aftercare goes; sea salt soaks twice a day and otherwise LITFA.
Masturbated for the first time on day 4; semen was a bit bloodstained and stung worse than pissing, but no ill effects. Forgot Jim's warning about standing up carefully after using the toilet until the ring came into sharp contact with the toilet seat; sounded much worse than it felt and did no damage (I still forget from time to time and have discovered that it's worse when my foreskin gets between ring and seat!).
In total, I think my PA took between 4 and 6 weeks to heal and has now been thoroughly stable for ten years. I am currently wearing a 4mm (6G) x 12mm circular barbell, with plans to, hopefully, get up to 6mm (3G) sometime in the future.
Here endeth part 2. Look for Pt 3 under "Navel"
Enjoy