I am generally not an outgoing person, but once my heart is set on something it's hard for me to change my mind. Fortunately for me, not being an outgoing person usually means I spend an incredibly long time finding the courage to try something adventurous. It took me a year to get up the nerve to get my hood pierced. Clitoral hood piercings sounded pretty adventurous to me. Out of all my piercings up to now, this one was the one that needed the greatest amount of mental preparation. I'm quite self-conscious about my looks, especially when it concerns a body part that I can't even see without pulling a muscle or using a mirror. Throughout my research on BME & on forums I had this fear that once my pants were down my piercer would start the process by saying, "ooh, I've never seen that before." Thankfully, I got over it. I wanted to celebrate a part of my body that generally doesn't get mentioned that much but is still really important to me. I wanted to celebrate m y sexuality as a woman & break my own boundaries.
At A Glance Author Citronsoul Contact citronsoul@yahoo.co.uk When N/A Artist Anne Studio Wildcat Location Antwerp, Belgium So, after doing my bit of research I went from wanting a horizontal hood piercing to a vertical one. Although I think the horizontal piercing is more aesthetically pleasing, I decided that it wasn't "fun" enough. Decision made, I then had to prepare myself by actually telling people that I was going to get it done. My boyfriend & I discussed it & he was fine with it just as long as it didn't complicate our sex life. Stupid me also told my ex who laughed in my face & said that I would never have enough courage to get it done (ex's really can be a pain sometimes).
The next stage consisted of me actually getting it done. This involved me going down to Wildcat several times (best place in Antwerp & my previous piercings with them went great). I think I must have gone three times to get it done, but something always came up. Finally, last August the opportunity came & I nervously strolled down to Wildcat by myself. The only person who I actually wanted there (my boyfriend) was on holiday with his family. I chose this period on purpose though because I didn't want any temptation into having sex within the first two weeks of healing.
Upon arriving in Wildcat I made my decision...& then spent two hours standing at the counter talking to the staff because I was too nervous to make a move. The only thing that really snapped me out of waiting was knowing that I was meeting friends in the late afternoon & if I didn't get it then I'd have to come back once again & stand around in a nervous daze.
I snapped out of it, dropped my pants & laid down on the table while Anne gathered the necessary tools needed. Once prepared, the poking began. I did shout "OW" I believe because it did hurt. It was this very sharp intense pain that lasted only a few seconds & had completely disappeared by the time my jewellery was put in (a CBR, of what measurement I can never remember). I then hopped off the table, pulled up my granny underwear (with paper towels) & baggy pants with an immense feeling of euphoria. I officially had a clitoral hood piercing. It was brilliant!! I walked off without any pain & I didn't wobble around like a penguin. The only discomfort I had was sitting down directly afterwards & the bleeding. It bled a lot. I already had to go for a second stack of tissues half an hour later & because of this I started getting a bit nervous. Tip: bring a pad with you.
Problem number two revealed itself later that day. After relaxing at home & taking a sea salt bath (which I took a lot of the first two weeks) I decided to take a look at my new piercing. -shock- It was slanted. I went into frenzy of course. I couldn't believe that after all I had gone through...my vertical hood was only semi-vertical. As a result part of it goes through a part of skin that is next to my hood. After going through various emotional phases I got my act together, called Wildcat & asked Anne if I could come back down there so she could look at it...& if necessary do it over.
A week went by with my new piercing. Despite me not being too pleased with it I still took good care of it. I took plenty of baths with salt water & disinfected it with a non-alcoholic disinfectant (Diaseptyl) three times a day. After the first week I went back to Wildcat & Anne said that it was fine & that it was a bit slanted to avoid an artery. So, once again I hopped off the table content & now, eight months later it's completely healed.
BUT (& this is a big but) I am still not completely pleased. It took longer than normal to heal (three months versus just over a month). I had trouble every now & then mainly where the jewellery pierced non-hood skin. It has moved a bit since then for a better "fit" as it were & is even more slanted. Why did it bleed so much if it was positioned to avoid heavy blood loss? Out of all my piercings this is the only one where I really bled. If it was slanted to avoid something, why are other vertical hood piercings actually vertical? I also learned that since getting my hood done, Anne no longer works at Wildcat. That definitely caused me to raise an eyebrow. As a result, my concerns for this piercing have grown once again. When I get my jewellery changed from one of the others working at Wildcat I plan to get a second opinion.
So, my experience up to now has been bittersweet. Sex isn't any problem whatsoever, although I plan to try out different jewellery to see what feels the best. While I love having a hood piercing, it just doesn't look right. I may consider keeping it the way it is, depending on how it looks with a curved barbell. It may not have perfect symmetry, but it's mine & I've adapted to it the way it is. I still haven't completely made up my mind though, & may even go through this all over again if I have to.
For the moment I'm just going to stick to a jewellery change & if I need to get it redone then I will. I can't wait to change my CBR to "balls of steel."