It all started with the first picture I saw of a woman who had rings in her nipples and one in each of her inner and outer labia. I was transfixed, transformed! In that moment I envisioned a reverse PA and knew that I wanted one, even though I didn't know that it had a name. This was in '82, I think.
I didn't have the courage or knowledge to do that right away, but within 6 months, I had taken a large sewing needle and pushed it through my left nipple, taking care to make sure everything was clean and as sterile as I could. I did well in high school biology and have a good grasp of what's necessary. There was surprisingly little pain. I pulled it out and tried to place a small gold ring through the hole. That hurt more, and it took almost 15 minutes to finally work it through. I closed it, put on a thin cotton Mexican shirt (so it could be seen if one really looked) and went for a bike ride downtown, as high as I've ever been without foreign substances.
It healed quickly, about 5 weeks. Within 3 months I had done the other nipple. It went really quickly the second time. The ring just slipped in in one stroke. It took a little longer to heal, about 7 weeks, probably because I was doing some modeling for a life drawing class at the time and I took them out twice to model. I had an ear pierced around this time, as well. I currently have 6 earrings.
The next two years contained an abortive attempt to give myself a reverse PA. I was erect as I pushed the needle up through the head and the amount of blood was frightening. I removed the needle and let it heal. My interest in piercing was a contributing factor to the breakup of my relationship within this time. After I moved out, I successfully performed the reverse PA piercing the first night in my new apartment. A ritual if you will, exorcising all the negativity directed toward my piercing interests. It healed completely within 6 weeks.
I began inserting multiple rings in my r-PA. Again, I didn't know that stretching a pierce was something others were doing. I was operating in a vaccuum, sometimes proud of my adornements, sometimes convinced that there was something seriously wrong with me, but hopelessly fascinated by piercing. All I had to go on was that first picture. Then I found a copy of "Modern Primitives". -I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE!-
This was liberating! I wasn't sick, I was ahead of my time! Slowly, I began seeing more and more body piercings in the media, then I saw a guy -with his family- at the beach, wearing two gold rings in his nipples, very much like mine. I nearly fell off my bike!
My next pierce was a frenum. It seemed to take forever to heal, so I finally took the ring out and let it "heal". Around this time I met my current SO. I promised her a surprise when we went to bed for the first time, and it was me who got the surprise. She was completely at ease with my piercings. I had expected a more extreme reaction, but she just took it in stride. She did ask me to take out the r-PA before entering. Sometime in the next couple of months, I discovered that although my frenum pierce had healed, the hole was still there! I had succeeded without even noticing! I put a ring in and started breaking it in, then more rings to stretch it.
Over the last few years, as piercing has approached (and achieved) mainstream media attention, I got on-line, found r.a.b and a whole community of perforated people, made the switch to steel jewelry, now readily available to me, and added a lorum and a hafada. I've been stretching up to heavier gauges, as well.
I intend to add two more hafadas, one at the bottom of my scrotem, and one behind,as an "almost" guiche. Maybe a PA and an ampallang, too. I'll do a PA myself, but I'll get a pro to do an ampallang. The two hafadas as well, just because I can't reach the locations I want with any accuracy! I'm nervous about letting anyone else pierce me, but I can feel it coming, as clearly as I knew that I would have an r-PA that first day.
JP
