My first pubic piercing was performed about 8 months ago, and only 4 months after I first got into piercing in general. By this time I had my left nipple, left eyebrow, lobes and tragus pierced, all of which were relatively low in pain (the nipple having been numbed first). My friend had previously had a pubic piercing with a metal banana bar a few months back, but unsurprisingly this was unsuccessful and grew out within a matter of weeks. His scar had healed, and he convinced me to come along and get it done with him at a different studio to the one which had done his last pubic.
At A Glance Author Aaron Contact Aaron@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Alex Studio Medway Tattoo and piercing, Chatham, Kent. Location Kent, England, U.K.
I turned up at the studio with an expectation of getting a banana bar put in as I had seen in many of the photos on BME. However, discussions with the piercer revealed that he would use white PTFE instead to increase the chance of the piercing staying in for a longer time afterwards. He said he would bend the PTFE into a staple shape rather than a banana, so the bar would sit better in the skin. However, because he needed to prepare the bars, we were told to come back later on in the day.
When we got back to school and into lessons, I told a few people about what I was planning to get done. They were already quite shocked by the fact that quite a bit of metal had appeared on my face in what to them seemed like overnight. Yet when I told them of my pubic plan, I think all of them told me I was being an idiot and should just forget about it and get something small in my ear like a rook or daith, anything instead of something 'down there'. They, as well as me, thought I was going to have the very top of my penis pierced, as in many of the BME photos. However, when I went back to the studio later that afternoon, I found out it would be in a different place.
I went in before my friend, and as I sat down in the chair I was quite nervous. I had to take off my trousers and underwear, then my piercer got his little pen thing and marked out two dots where the needle would pass through. The dots were about 1.5cm above the base of my penis, not on the penis skin like I was expecting. I was also told that instead of typical silver balls like my friend had had, I would instead be getting white ones!! Thus they would easily show up in my pubes and look cool. I stood up and agreed with the position of the markings, then I laid back down and prepared for the piercing. He said he was going to perform it without clamps, and thus making two incisions – the first one outside, then travelling underneath the skin, then back out through the other marking. The first incision was quite painful, as was the breaking through on the second marker. Travelling through the skin wasn't in itself painful, but it all happened very quickly that I could n't distinguish where the needle was too much. Getting the bar through was also a little tricky, as he had to bend one of the legs of the staple back to fit it through the hole – which incidentally was 2mm – and this was quite a sensitive action. Nonetheless the whole experience lasted only a couple of seconds, and when he screwed the white balls on and I checked it out in the mirror and saw how good it looked, it definitely seemed worth the 4 seconds of pain and £30 price.
The first time I got an erection later that day on the train, blood started to pour out a little bit, which felt pretty weird and scary! But that soon dried up and stopped. As I wasn't having sex at this time, the piercing was allowed to settle somewhat, despite some knocking and movement. I also tried to follow the hot salt soaking instructions as best as I could. The piercing still grew out slightly, even before I had sex – which was a couple of months later – and when I noticed sinewy type blood seeping out of the middle of the piercing one morning, I got worried. I went back a couple of days later and told Alex (the piercer) what had happened; he explained that where not all of the lymph had gone out in the soaking (probably due to me not soaking for long enough each time) it had built up in the middle of the piercing and tried to escape through the skin. He then fitted a smaller bar to see if that would help, but no improvement was made over the next couple of wee ks so unfortunately I had to take it out.
About 3 months later I returned to the studio to have the same procedure done again, with hopefully better results. This time Alex used a clamp to pierce the area, which was ridiculously painful for about 3 seconds. Granted it was quicker, but the clamp hurt in itself, and he had a thick piece of skin to pierce – not to mention the fact it was a 2.4mm needle! He used a bigger needle than the bar with the hope that it would increase the chances of better healing, which it did at first, however I think the increased amount of sex and lack of time to allow the piercing to properly settle meant that the same thing was only a matter of weeks away. And when the sinewy blood came through again, I knew it was time to take it out myself.
I'm left with two pretty minor red scars in my pubic area now which aren't that noticeable due to my pubes covering them, however I still have plans to get two 8mm balls inserted into the lower (original) one of the scars, as the pubic piercing had a very positive sexual effect on my girlfriend!! Hopefully this will perform the required task, but also last a hell of a lot longer!
I'll probably update on that procedure in the coming months, if I get the balls to go through with being scalpelled 'down there'!