First of all: A warning. I do talk about getting certain piercings whilst underage. I do not condone this at all, and I hope that by telling other about my experience, others planning on getting underage piercings will change their minds.
At A Glance Author Surly Contact Surly@bme.anon When Two years ago Studio Wish to keep this private. ----
When I was 16, and stupid, I decided that, along with my two nipple piercings, I wanted something else erotic, different, and just that bit cool. (I know better now.) Deciding on a vertical hood, I went to the studio which didn't ID me and had a fake date of birth on record, not thinking about the repercussions could be if this procedure went wrong, instead giggling with my friend and wondering how much it would hurt.
Arriving at the studio, I was greatly disappointed and dismayed to discover that the person who pierced me was away, but then overjoyed when the man I was talking to said that he could do the piercing instead. I didn't really pay any attention to the fact that I'd never seen this man do a piercing before, never mind that I hadn't actually even seen him more than once or twice, and only when he was getting tattooed. I just assumed he was part-time or something. Maybe he was, to this day I still don't know who he is, not even his name!
So skipping the ID Check which I now know see as normal, and a very good, practice, I filled in some forms, pausing to work out what year I would have to be born in to be 18 (Stupid!!!), and then went into the piercing room, along with my friend, for moral support. To get it out of the way, I handed my money over – wincing at the thought of parting with £80 – and removed my jeans and pants. Feeling rather uncomfortable at this point, I lay down on the bed and waited nervously to see what would happen next.
The man – I do not want to call him a piercer, because that would be giving him too much credit – pulled on some gloves and gave my genitals a quick wipe with an alcohol pad and then began marking me up. I think the most embarrassing part was him and my friend both peering into my private bits whilst discussing placement between themselves, and leaving me just lying there feeling like a bit of meat. However, my friend quickly returned to the seat beside my head and grabbed my hand for the next bit – probably the only reason that I felt able to go through with the whole thing. The man then got a pair of clamps – not changing his gloves once, may I add – and attached them firmly to the most sensitive part of my body.
At once I squeaked from the discomfort, and actually asked if he had just carried out the piercing. He laughed, and when he informed me that he had merely clamped it, my heart sunk. Grabbing the needle, he then, with very little warning, aside from "don't kick me in the face, just keep your legs open", he shoved the needle into my skin. I only vaguely remember this part, the pain being so horrific, but my friend informed me afterwards that I was screaming and crying. It felt like an eternity, but after what was probably only about thirty seconds, I had a new bit of metal in me, and already the pain was fading.
I hurriedly got dressed again and dragged my friend into the nearest pub, where we joked over the whole thing, even though I still felt horribly shaken and quite sick.
The piercing itself seemed to heal without any complications and, although I couldn't compare it to before, when I lost my virginity at 17, I found the sensation of the piercing quite pleasurable, although I couldn't bear any direct contact on it – it was just too sensitive. Just a few months later – the piercing had been in for about 7 – 8 months now – I began getting a lot of discomfort, during any sexual activity, when walking, or even putting light pressure on it. I decided to persevere with it, and kept it in a few weeks longer – despite walking like John Wayne a lot of the time – until I finally took it out due to the unbearable combination of a urine infection and that. Immediately – although I was still in agony from the infection – I felt a great relief from my clitoral area.
Two years on, and a little bit wiser, I took a trip to a new piercing studio which I had heard a lot of brilliant feedback about. I had had my left nipple repierced (They began to reject shortly after I removed my hood piercing), and now I wanted my right doing, to match once again. I found the guy who pierced me to be fantastic, he changed the jewellery in my nipple from a ring to a bar so it could heal (Another mistake of my old piercing place), and while we were talking, I brought up the topic of my old hood piercing. He seemed horrified that – aside from piercing me illegally, which he was very angry about – the man had used clamps on my genitals. After a number of questions – which I didn't mind at all – we both discussed the likelihood of him actually clipping the base of my clitoris with the needle, which was the most probable thing that happened. All of the signs, and the procedure which took place, certainly pointed to nothing but that. My current piercer was amazed that I do still have feeling down there, and believes it's a one in a hundred chance that I actually have better sensation now.
Now that I am aware that the piercing shouldn't have felt like that, I am slowly starting to consider getting it redone: by someone who knows what they are doing! It will probably be quite a while until I can ever forget the sensation of a needle being jammed, in the wrong direction, in to my genitals, though. Not to mention that, although I have a better sensation, I am now very prone to urine infections (I'm not sure if that's connected), and I'm also quite a lot of discomfort whenever I need to urinate.
I wrote this story as sort of a warning, or advice, to people who would prefer to go to a less than perfect piercing studio as opposed to waiting a few years, or continuing with a procedure even though I felt uncomfortable. I was young, stupid and impatient – and I could have wound up being desensitized for the rest of my life. I could have got a nasty infection... In fact, so many things could have gone wrong that I don't even want to think about it! Don't be like me. It's a fantastic piercing, and well worth waiting for. I hope that someday soon I'll get over my horror at that memory, and can once again get this beautiful modification.