This is first and foremost a story about a reverse PA, but it includes some pre-piercing history to get up to speed. After all, dont so many of our bod-mods have a good deal of lead-up and history to them? We've all got reasons for doing what we do. And, also, things have progressed in the genital-piercing-department since this reverse PA piercing, but the story still stands to be told. It's a bit long, but hopefully helpful and interesting to those who want to know. So here goes....
At A Glance Author Suffer Contact Suffer@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Ben Hartman Studio Loonar Piercing and Tattoo Location Hadley, Mass. See, I had wanted a genital piercing ever since i was a kid. Somewhere, somehow, as a child I had seen photos of various body piercings and was drawn to them profoundly. Getting a little older and somewhere, somehow, getting ahold of a copy of PFIQ (remember PFIQ?), my interest was really piqued. I knew then and there that I wanted to have a piece of jewelry through my penis, and I knew just what type too: an Apadravya. But, alas it was a vague and faraway vision: I was only a boy and not even fully grown; who would do it and how would we go about such a foreign thing; and even more importantly, at that time piercing was for the most part a gay male activity and like so many young boys I was taught that gay male activity of any sort was awful, terrible, bad bad bad.
It took years to begin to feel that whatever any of us may feel or desire was "okay", so long as no one got hurt without consent. But anyhow tattooing was fine, and by 15 I had my first tattoo, "jailhouse style" with a needle and thread and india ink, and then at 16 I had my first electric tattoo (to cover over the first one). I got a few more tattoo's that year and by the end of it, I indulged in fantasy and had my left nipple pierced. All of this activity was great, and profound, and meaningful, or at least fun, BUT still was not hitting the soul of my desire. See, I was still a kid, doing essentially impulsive things and still, essentially, hung-up. But I was getting there. (And by the way, no one under 18 should be tattooed or pierced, in my opinion. Dont be like me, I was a reckless thug at the time).
And let's speed this up: it's 2001, I'm 28 and have spent half of my life getting tattooed and pierced, scarred and branded, and being generally freaky-deaky and counter-culture-y and punk-rock. And in all this time, with all of the mods, the genitals just still seemed so far out, so beyond me, so freakish, so other and taboo, so... "gay". Not that there's anything wrong with that; and I mean that both stereotypically Seinfeldian AND literally. It was just this huge block inside that a genital piercing, and moreover my desire for such, was somehow shameful and somehow made me genuinely wrong and less of a man. Strange, I know.
And then one day, just like that, I just decided that it was time to be done. Well, not SO suddenly like some epiphany, but almost. See, I'd spent several months in a horrible depression, the worst one to date, and then coming out of it I spent some time soul searching and learning to enjoy the things I enjoy and embrace the things that are mine. It just happens like that once in a while, you look around and see who you are. And I saw that I am someone who has spent half their life both celebrating AND denying who they are. And I knew it was time to get that sucker pierced.
Ben was my only choice for this piercing. Loonar is hands-down the most professional shop in the area, to say nothing of the HUGE ammount of talent to be found there. I've been around this industry for a long time and there was no question for me. Ben's piercing is well known and rightfully so: his shit is just dead-on, perfect placement, clean piercing, etc. He did my double labret and it was absolutely perfect, spot on. Plus he's got a great demeanor and has just the right ammount of laid-back humor and clinical care and professionalism to make a piercing a good experience, and on top of it all he's a good friend of mine. No one else was gonna work on my dick. But how to do it....
Since a full Apadravya wouldbe a real ordeal to heal, and would keep me out of comission for some time, we decided to do it one half at a time. Sounded good to me. Only I have never-ever-ever liked the look of a PA. It just looks so silly and wimpy to me. But, ah, the REVERSE PA! Now that looks cool to my eye, and it hurts more than a regular PA so I could get the worst over with first. We would pierce at a 10ga. then stretch with a taper to 8ga. and put in the jewelry; the theory being twofold, one we'd keep bleeding to a minimum, and two I wouldnt be left with a noticeable "flap" of skin left by the larger needes.
We decided a curved barbell would be the best for it, sort of simulating how the Ap would look and serving to be more comfortable than a ring. But you dont want a curved 'bell too short, otherwise it'll cork you off (and that could be a real painfull problem), and you dont want a curved bell coming out of the urethra too far or else you'll lok like youve got a radio antenna sticking out of there (roger-dodger, wilco, this is purple leader, do you read me? over, copy?). So I measured what I thought would be the best length that night with a caliper and some porn, and placed a custom order with GoodArt for an 8ga. titanium curved barbell at 1 3/16" with a 3/8 bead at one end and a 1/4" at the other.
The jewelry came in good time, and I have to say hands-down GoodArt makes the finest jewelry out there. Plus they are very friendly and helpful and attentive, and fast on the delivery too. GoodArt titanium is the only jewelry I'll wear besides glass (check out Gorilla Glass, their stuff is the bomb, the finest I've seen!).
So, jewelry autoclaved and in hand, inhibitions gone and will galvanized, and piercer at the ready, we got down to it. First off, the jewelry was too long. I had figured when I measured that we could place the pierce right against the corona, but Ben showed me how that would hit the corpus cavernosum (of course, doh!) so we had to place the mark further towards the tip, actually exactly midway. That done, he put in the acceptor tube (not too too bad), I lay back and... Now, I've felt all sorts of pain in my life, but without a doubt this was the worst pain ever (albeit one second of pain). Ben had me breathe in and hold it, and on the exhale he pushed the needle through. The pain washed over me like a huge white wave, it swept up from my cock and nearly made my eyes pop out of my skull. It was a very long moment of flashing light and pain. I grunted with the exhale... and it was over. The taper was easy as pie, and the jewelry was smooth and cool and a relief. And it wa s... DONE! A huge rush, both physical and emotional, came upon me and I just reveled in it for a while. Very exciting to look down and see it done, and I was very happy to finally have gotten it. Something fulfilled, and something to put me into a new class of bod-mod initiate.
And here's the scoop on the healing, and the after-story. The first night was fine as could be. My first piss was only a little stingy, and i just barely spotted any blood. I did my soaks like clockwork and it went that way for the next few days, and then, one night after a shower I bled for about 20 minutes. Then another week of spotting, and the worst was over. Mostly. The problem was that the barbell was too long, and there was just no way for it to sit comfortably in my pants. No matter how my penis lay, the end of the barbell would hit or be pushed or would twist and it just always pinched or hurt. This also kept my urethral opening in a constant swell. I had the radio antenna I'd feared.
So, I ordered another curved bar from GoodArt, this time at 1" and it was a great improvement. But still, the reverse PA was just pinchy and awkward. It looked GREAT to me. And it felt wonderful when I wasnt wearing any pants. The initial healing was relatively simple and quick. And even dressed it was not too too uncomfortable, but it just never quite got FULLY comfortable. And, moreover, I began to form a small ridge of skin to the tip-side of the hole where the curve of the jewelry bunched up my skin. This stayed a sore spot and I began to fear it would either become bulky scar tissue, or, even worse, maybe the hole would migrate. So, last week I finished the PA and made myself the proud owner of an Ap., but that's another story.
In summary I'd say this:
First off, if you want a genital pierce by all means go and do it. Just make sure you've got the right piercer for the job. But dont let society or your own inhibitions hang you up and prevent you from undertaking something that could be immensely gratifying.
Secondly, if what you want is a reverse PA I'd say go ahead, but good luck with it. Maybe a ring would be better than a curved barbell, but I dont know; seems to me that it's an unavoidably awkward part of the penile anatomy to sport anything curved, and the only way to put a straight piece through is to go all the way with an Ap.
So, thirdly, if you want an Ap. but want to go half at a time, I'd suggest thinking about going with a PA first. I'm happy I did what I did, because I've learned a lot and I just know I would have hated to wear a PA, but you may be different.
I hope this was of some interest and/or of some help. Enjoy your bodies, feel free to ask me anything, and look soon for my upcoming tales of a self-done PA-to-Ap. (under supervision in sterile conditions), and my apprenticeship under Ben at Loonar piercing....