There are good days and bad days. On a bad day, sometimes you need something to cheer you up... a slice of cake, an overpriced pair of shoes, or, if you're like me, a new piercing.
At A Glance Author strawberry Contact strawberry@bme.anon IAM strawberry When A month ago Artist Myself My last very good day happened to be a Sunday, when I was stuck in my house in Italy, with no piercing studio or good piercer in a thousand miles radius. Not all was lost, I thought, when I remembered I had some needles laying around my drawer, which I got when I still working in a studio myself and which I'd kept aside for a rainy day. Sunday was that rainy day.
I'm not a very good piercer. I apprenticed briefly and didn't master the best technique. My house is no piercing room, and I have no autoclave. Before I tell you the story of my brand new addition, let me remind you that this is not the way to do things properly. I wouldn't probably do it again. Don't pierce yourself unless you know how to do it, and even if you do, be careful. I won't go on and on about it, but bear that in mind –under no circumstances I recommend you try this at home.
So I was at home, with needles and rings and I also happened to have some EMLA cream. Since I'm not a sucker for pain, I wanted something that would give me the vibe of a fresh piercing with none of the pain, and since I were to pierce myself, I knew I wouldn't be as fast as you have to be to put the needle in. I already have 6 inner labia rings, two of which were done with EMLA and I know they're relatively easy and with the help of the anesthetic, completely pain-free, so I immediately thought about adding two more rings to my collection. I checked my bits for a suitable placement and to see if there was room enough (I never really thought about getting two more rings until then, and had little idea how much space there was left for new piercings and no, I'm not very much in touch with my body) and there was. I washed the area with a mild antiseptic soap, towel dried it carefully and applied some EMLA. It tingled and there was a slightly burning sensation afterwards, which lasted for about 2 minutes, then I could feel my labia get hot and slightly swollen but not unpleasantly so. While the cream did its trick, I cleaned two 10 ga circular barbells as best as I could (I used a strong floor disinfectant with chlorine which can be used, diluted, in very small doses, to clean water and vegetables, too; in this case I left the circulars in a glass with the disinfectant in its pure form for about ten minutes) and decided to use a 10 ga needle. I like bigger gauges especially in genital piercings and since my hand isn't too firm, I know that the bigger the better, because it'll take less fiddling with the balls and to insert the jewelry, too. Since I the EMLA was going to numb everything, I could make my life easier.
I washed my hands with Provon soap, dropped my pants, then touched my labia to check if they were numb, and everything seemed perfect. I could hardly feel anything. It was now or never, as the cream's effect does fade fast. I put a clean towel on my bed and sat on its edge, in front of the window, to have as much light as possible. I lined up everything I needed next to me, and was ready to go. I breathed in, then out, and pushed the needle through the top part of my inner labia. There was quite a bit of blood, but I couldn't feel a thing. There was little pressure and the needle went through in a split second. I could feel the warmth of the blood, but that was it. So I gently removed the needle from my left labium, and quickly inserted the circular, which was huge. I did the same with the other labium, then closed the jewelry and cleaned some blood away with the towel, then with some toilet paper.
I was very happy but a bit dizzy for the excitement and sat down for a little while. I had some candy for a quick sugar fix, too.
Ten minutes later or so, the bleeding had stopped and I got dressed up again. I wore a pad and large, comfortable knickers and baggy jeans and left home to go to class. There was some pain at this stage, but nothing too bad. A bit of burning and stinging which stayed there for a couple of hours, but I could walk without any problem and unless my knickers got 'twisted' in some unusual way, I was completely unaware of the piercings for the for whole afternoon. I had a bit of a problem crossing my legs, though.
On that night, I checked the piercings once I got home and they were quite swollen but the soreness had gone already. I cleaned them with some warm water, made sure I peed on them as much as possible, since pee seems to be an effective aftercare for genital piercings, and made sure I wore extra clean, cotton PJs that night to avoid any source of irritation.
I didn't do much more to my new pair of labia rings. I showered as usual making sure there was no soap left in the area afterwards, I kept things as clean as possible, sometimes changing my knickers twice a day if the piercings had bled a bit, and avoided touching them as much as possible. I'm single at the moment, so I didn't have to worry about avoiding sex or contact with a partner.
After one week, I happened to be in London and went to my usual studio in Camden, Cold Steel, where I purchased two small titanium captive bead rings that were more comfortable than the big circulars I'd used.
Now, about 4 weeks after the piercings, there is no swelling, no pain and I have had no problem at all. Labia piercing heal fast.
While I do not suggest I did something amazingly clever, it's been thankfully a good experience. If you plan to do it, go for it, but do your research first, on BME or at a studio you trust. And always be careful with anesthetics. If you feel like asking me something about my labia experience, please don't hesitate to do so.