MY VCH EXPERIENCE
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Myself Studio SUNY Purchase Location White Plains, NY
This is going to be really long, so if all you care about is the "shove the needle through" part, scroll down a bit.ABOUT ME:
To be totally honest, I am against DIY piercings... only because 9 times out of 10, people do them under poor conditions. I never EVER thought I would end up doing a piercing by myself, nor did I think I'd ever want a genital piercing. I am an 18-year-old college student, 3.8 GPA, double major, techie, tons of piercings already...
.. the thing is that most of my piercings are hidden. My ears are covered, but I keep them all at 14 and 16g with respectable jewelry. Even my rook looks classy and it fits in among my other piercings. I have had bosses and coworkers at office jobs compliment my piercings, rather than make me remove them. The only facial piercing I have is my nostril piercing.
THE IDEA:
I was always sort of repulsed by genital piercings. I wasn't necessarily afraid of a stranger touching my "goods" or anything. I just didn't like them. Just as usual, I woke up one morning with a strong desire for a piercing that I always hated. I always hated nose piercings, but I got one and I love it. The same goes for my navel piercing and my multiple ear piercings. The idea popped into my head - HORIZONTAL HOOD!
I figured I could wear a cute little CBR or something, but when I checked out my anatomy, I wasn't really fit for it, ironically. I was a little uneven, and the piercing would look uneven depending on how I was positioned (not to sound like a sexual maniac here, just trying to be descriptive). I didn't like the idea of a vertical hood because it looked just like a belly ring, only a few inches down. I really didn't want to have 2 vertical piercings. I don't know why, but that thought freaked me out. I need everything to be even and in a certain order or I can't look at it. OCD to the extreme, I guess.
THE PLAN:
Okay, a VCH it is. They do look ridiculously cute, and who can complain about a little added stimulation? But before I did anything, I ran the idea by my long-term boyfriend. I've been with him for several years, and I didn't want to do something that would gross him out. After all, he's the one who will have to look at it, not me. Realistically, if he came home with a huge barbell through the head of his penis, I'd be a little shocked. So we talked it over... "You're going to ruin your body!" he said. "There will always be a hole there now!"
.. he says this about every piercing I have. He thinks there will be a visible, gaping hole at the site of every piercing. I reassured him by showing him pictures and experiences of other people. "Where are you going to get it done?" he asked.
After reading experiences of other people, I felt it would be a wonderful experience to do this piercing at home with my boyfriend. I have always been against DIY piercings when they are done incorrectly. My boyfriend was nervous, but supportive. I ordered sterile 15g hollow needles, acquired an autoclaved 16g curved barbell, and ordered a tube of EMLA cream from bmeshop. I chose to use EMLA because I did not want to do the piercing too slowly out of fear of pain. I chose a 16g barbell because I am a super small person - barely over 5 feet and no more than 100 pounds - and my anatomy is quite small as well. I do intend on stretching to 14g or 12g after the healing process.
With my extra needles, I spent an hour or so "practicing" how to thread jewelry through a new piercing as quickly as possible. I pierced tons of inanimate objects as precisely as possible and threaded the jewelry through, just to make sure I wouldn't mess up. I watched a handful of VCH piercing videos as well, but they didn't seem to help.
THE PIERCING
I applied the EMLA cream to the top of my hood. I used a q-tip to get a tiny bit under my hood, but it really didn't work. I decided not to worry because the skin was so thin that the EMLA would most likely soak through. If not, I would redo it. I covered it with the plastic patch, and after 30 minutes I was totally numb. I joked around with my boyfriend that if he tried to give me an orgasm, it wouldn't work. The feeling was so strange! I was pinching myself and trying to feel something, but felt nothing! Just to make sure I was really numb, I pinched another area. Ow... yeah, that hurt. I was numb. I told my boyfriend I was going to try. I gave him a hug and he wished me luck. I went into the bathroom (which I had also just cleaned thoroughly because I was rather nervous about piercing myself) and asked my boyfriend not to say anything because I didn't want to feel pressured.
I thoroughly washed my hands with antibacterial soap and put on a pair of gloves. I wore gloves to feel cleaner - I know I was piercing myself and all, but I wanted to keep everything as clean and sterile as possible. I also made a last minute decision to pierce from the bottom up. I couldn't get a receiving tube to fit as I am a very small person with a small hood, apparently. It just didn't want to work. I also felt better going from the bottom up since I was totally numb. I was afraid I would puncture my clitoris and not feel anything.
I carefully marked my exit point and lined up the needle under my hood. I did not want to pierce it slowly as this would make me bleed and it would cause unnecessary pain later, so I did it just like a piercer would - almost. I was nervous so I got through the first layer of skin and stopped, wondering if I was really numb. I was. I applied pressure to the needle and saw the tip of it come out at my exit point. I gently guided it through - literally with no pain, thanks to the EMLA - and screamed "I DID IT!!!" so loud that my entire building could probably hear it. My boyfriend sounded relieved and asked if he could see, but I told him that the needle was still in. He wanted to see anyway, so I opened the door for him.
"I hope you didn't hurt yourself, baby," he said, when he realized that I had seriously done it.
"Don't worry," I assured him. "I'm literally in no pain. Would you like to watch me put the jewelry through? You look like you're going to pass out."
"I'M not gonna pass out... I'm worried about YOU!" He decided to stay to watch me get the jewelry in. I threaded it through just as I had practiced, but had trouble getting the top ball on. My boyfriend offered to try, but I really wanted to do this on my own. A few drops of blood came out, which made it a bit harder to get the ball on. I used a few q-tips to gently remove the blood and then I was able to get the ball on.
SUCCESS!!!
I had really done it. And I was very satisfied that I'd done it right. The experience felt so personal and intimate. Although I don't recommend DIY piercings, I feel that if you are a responsible person, you may be able to do it correctly.
Remember that boiling a needle will not sterilize it. Neither will burning it with a lighter.
Sewing needles are not piercing needles.
If you DO decide to self pierce, please do it properly. If you are under 18 and your parents won't sign for you, try to wait! If you absolutely can't wait (I waited until 18 and then got like 10 piercings... lol) then you should order the right materials!
Online websites don't check ID, and you can use a prepaid credit card (available at any drug store, like a VISA gift certificate) to order supplies.
It makes me worried when people self-pierce, but some people will choose to do it anyway. Please do so under the right conditions. You can order sterile, hollow needles from ebay, if you have to. Please be careful and please be safe!
NOTE - If you decide to pierce your genitals in any way, shape, or form... exercise extreme caution. This is your body, and it would be VERY embarrassing to admit to a doctor that you ruined your vagina when you tried to pierce it. By the way, look at pictures of your desired piercing before you attempt it - half the people who try have NO IDEA what a VCH is supposed to look like! Elayne Angel (google her) has a great portion of her website about VCH piercings and how they should be placed.
If you use EMLA cream for a VCH, either use a receiving tube or pierce from the bottom up, because you could accidentally pierce into your clitoris, and that would be a freakin disaster.
Thank you for reading my experience. I don't want to post my email address, but you can message me through BME (which will forward it to my email) if you have any questions. I'm very nice and I love to help people, so if you are considering doing a DIY VCH piercing, feel free to email me about my experience and I will answer any questions that you might have. Good luck everybody! I will post pictures soon.
* Healing is going wonderfully. I feel no pain at all and the piercing looks fantastic.