I had wanted a PA for a long time. It is a piercing that no one can see unless you want them to, was purportedly relatively painless, and just looked damn cool. Still, I waited years since seeing them on BME before actually going through with it. I'm pretty needle phobic anyway, and the thought of a big needle sticking out of my junk was exceptionally scary. Along with that were the self-concept issues - I never thought of myself as someone who would have a piercing. I certainly admired them, but wasn't sure I was that guy.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Marea Kinney Studio Metamorphosis Location Indianapolis, In Earlier this year, my wife up and left me. After sitting with the oddness of divorce for a few months, that familiar urge to get the PA came back. Despite being afraid, I made an appointment at Metamorphosis in Indianapolis. I choose Metamorphosis because it had a good reputation, was clean with a very nice vibe (lots of plants inside, not hospital-like) and also because Marea works there, a piercer who had a good reputation and many examples of her work on BME. I was really worried that I was going to pass out or throw up or something, since I have a history of fainting and the aforementioned fear of needles. I drank some juice and tried to psyche myself up.
Marea was super cool, having the knowledge of body modification you'd expect from a piercer as well as the professionalism of a doctor. We discussed jewelry, and I opted for a stainless steel circular barbell. I had the intent of eventually wearing large jewelry, but given my fear of needles, I wanted to be pierced with a smaller one. Marea said the smallest she would pierce with for this piercing was a 12g, and she preferred to only stretch one size up at the time of piercing. This sounded good to me, so it was to be 10g jewelry. Once I was on the table I really didn't want to see what was going on, so I just took Marea's word for it on the placement. At this point I didn't ask a lot of questions, but as I recall she disinfected my urethra and inserted the receiving tube. Then she got the needle ready and I focused on my breathing. There was a countdown of some sort and she ran it through. The pain was minimal – it only felt like a pinch, with some discomfort as she pulled the needle through, stretched the hole and placed the jewelry. I still didn't look, but later saw that there was very little bleeding. I insisted on getting some gauze and a glove just in case. Afterwards I felt fine and drove home.
The first night, I woke up several times with some pain. It appeared that the jewelry was a little too small for my penis when in it's erect state, which is an inevitable condition while sleeping. At this point there was a fair amount of blood. I left it alone for a week and followed the aftercare instructions, but it seemed like it was tearing itself every night. So, I called Marea and asked about it. She said that they could swap out the jewelry for no charge. I went the next diameter up. Putting the jewelry in was a little uncomfortable, but not bad in the least. After that, everything healed nicely.
Once healed, I bought a set of tapers and stretched the piercing up one size about once a month. I used Ebay jewelry for this because it was just so much cheaper, and since I intended to continue stretching, it seemed like a waste to buy good stuff early on. By the time I got to 4g, jewelry was no longer available on ebay, so I bought my 2g at a local tattoo shop. During all this stretching, I tried a couple different types of jewelry. I had some circular barbells that I got with the intention of unbending since curved barbells were unavailable inexpensively at the time. (there seem to be many more options with the ebay junk now) I recommend not doing this, because it's really hard to maintain the threads while unbending. CBRs seemed to treat me pretty well overall. The 2g had one of those spring loaded beads. It did pretty well for the most part, but it popped out once during sexual activity. I would guess that this is something that happens occasionally, but that was the only time I've seen it.
0g seemed impossible. I got a 1g acrylic CBR from the BMEshop (highly recommended!) and managed to get it in with the 1g taper in my set. I wore it for a number of months before I could even think of getting the 0g taper through with out tearing some stuff up. Finally I did, but found that the piercing would get beat up in my sleep, I think just from the way the ring "folds" over if I lay on it. If it started hurting, I'd back down to the 1g for a few days, which seemed to help things get better quick on account of its light weight. After a few tries of wearing the 0g, it finally got situated enough to be cool. Lately I've been going through the same process with 00g, except it's about 10 times worse. Also problematic at this size is the fact that the jewelry is now as big as my urethra. The first several times I managed to get it in I couldn't pass urine! What I ended up doing was putting the ring in without a bead during the day. If I needed to expel any fluids I could just take it out. It stayed in place pretty good since it was such a tight fit. I was taking it out at night as well to avoid rolling over on it and such. Between occasionally wearing and using sounds, it finally got to the point where I could get the ring in without the taper. I can wear it during the day, and my urethra has stretched enough to use the bathroom, but it's still a bit uncomfortable in that regard. I've resorted to wearing my 0g most of the time and only put the 00g in for play.
So now, about a year and a half later I think I'm qualified to comment on daily issues of the piercing. Probably most pressing is urination. I still don't have a fool proof method for this other than sitting down, and even then, I sometimes over-spray on my balls out of the pierced hole. (that didn't really start until I stretched up to 00 and wear 0) If I do the "turn it upside down" method, it works ok, but it's still hard to predict. When using this method I always make sure to use the tallest urinal I can find (never a toilet) spread my legs pretty wide, and direct my penis with my thumbs while using my fingers as a shield to help keep from pissing all over my jeans if things go wrong. Sounds lame, but that's the best system I've found. One of these days maybe I'll get a hollow princes wand or something.
Then there are sexual issues. Masturbation is totally fine with it. At first I was worried that it would mess up my technique since I'd typically have my hand over the pierced area. I put my hand in a slightly different place now, but it's totally un-noticeable. As far as sensations, there was some added sensitivity at first, but after a while you just get used to it and its fairly normal feeling. The good news is that there's no decrease in sensitivity though! For me, the visual aspect is quite appealing, especially if I've got the 00 in. Oral sex with the ring in seems like a waste. To my experience it gives my partner trouble doing what they want and doesn't really add anything to my experience. Fortunately I can take my jewelry out for a couple days at a time without problem. Vaginal penetration with the ring in is pretty cool. It's nothing mind blowing, and think any benefits, at least for me, are largely psychological. I've only had sex with one partner since having the piercing, and her response was about the same as mine – not bad, not some crazy new experience either.
Anyway, I think that's about all I have to say. If this is something you're interested in getting, I say go ahead and do it. I mean, why not, really?