As with Part 1 of my experience, I must stress that the following healing procedures are what worked best for me through trail and error! Remember to always consult with your piercer for all healing procedures of any modification. I am very jabbery and of course this experience will be long like Part 1. I know some of you are thinking, why is there a part 2. This certain piercing has been a great eye opener in regards to healing and emotional/physical aspects of my life that I would like to share. Honestly I thought it would be like my other piercings in which it only took a week to feel better. This was not the case; it was a very long painful 3 wks.
At A Glance Author piercednpainted Contact piercednpainted@bme.anon IAM piercednpainted When A month ago Artist Leon Studio ArtKore Location Normal Illinois When I left you, we were at day 6-7 of healing my 6ga outer labia piercings. I thought they were healing up just fine, but days 6-7 were very deceptive in regard to the healing of my outer labia piercings. Usually with most of my piercings, by day 6 the "settling" has evened out. What I mean by "settling" is that I can feel my body trying to adjust and throw out the jewelry. The area will be warm, slightly swollen, itch and sting immensely. One must remember that this is really not a bad thing. This is very common, as with any foreign object (jewelry), your body will try to throw it out. Typically with most piercings, after the first week the piercing will settle down.
The left labia is very short almost non existent. Leon had to set it deep and it is sitting very well. The right labia is very short also but totally shaped different. But this one was so deceptive that when he got into it he couldn't pierce it deep like the other labia. Now right one is bugging me more and I think it may be trying to migrate out. I've got my fingers crossed that it doesn't. Stay right labia piercing, stay! You never realize how different shaped you are until you get these piercings. I think the goddess gave me two different people's labias.
Most the time during the daytime hours it really didn't bother me much. I am guessing the piercings are not bothering me because I am busy running around taking care of business. But nighttime hours, when all is quiet and I am relaxing, the piercings were painful. The stinging and throbbing had gotten to the point that I had been eating ibuprofen like a fiend. I will not lie to you; this has been the most painful piercing I have dealt with. The first week was spent finding and eating any and all kinds of painkillers to reduce the intense pain of healing these piercings. Yes I am a wimp! It seems as my body gets older the harder it is for me to deal with pain. Take for instance; when I was 25, I was able to sit 6-8 hours at one tattoo session. Now in my 40s, I am lucky to sit 3 hours. But I transgress, sorry but it happens at times when you are older, back to the matter in hand, my outer labias! Hey wait, get your hands off my outer labias.
Shaving was another problem that I had encountered about day 6. You will notice if you do not keep up the shaving you will have some intense itching of the hair growing out along with the pain of the fresh piercings. Just how do you shave down there when you have very fresh piercings? Just shave very carefully is my only suggestion. I usually start at the top and shave to the piercings with no problem. Now this is the tricky part! Very gingerly and carefully lift the clean rings and shave below the piercings. I try to cover the piercings with one hand to protect them and shave below with the other hand. Try not to tug or pull on the fresh piercings. Last but not least, very carefully shave directly around the piercings. If you miss a few hairs it's no big deal.
Okay this is day 8 in the healing process; unfortunately the morning came with a vengeful throbbing sting. In the mornings the piercings are usually calm from a night of rest, but on day 8 I woke up really hurting. It seems that in my sleep I may have ended up digging down there. I didn't mean to, but sub consciously it must have been hurting me so bad that I was trying to adjust the rings in my sleep. Sleeping can be a real problem. Since the piercing of my outer labias I have not slept well. I sleep on my side. This causes pressure on the piercings from my chunky thighs mashing the piercings. I have found that if you put a pillow between your legs it can reduce the pressure greatly. Of course the most comfortable sleeping position is on your back, which is the best position for sleeping. Sleeping on your tummy is another comfortable sleeping position but it is not good for your back or neck. So pick your position and poison!Another trick that I have found out is the wonders of a small water bottle. I keep a small water bottle at work. This is very convenient if you do not have a bathtub to soak in. I fill it with warm water and every time I pee I rinse the rings very good getting off all the crusties that have accumulated since the last time I peed. Please remember to always wash your hands before dealing with the cleansing of your piercings. The crustiness is dangerous to your piercings that you are trying to heal. The rings may slip a bit and the hard crustiness will end up tearing what you have been so diligently trying to heal. I believe the correct term for the healed hole is fisula. This is a tunnel of skin that heals around the jewelry. All I know is that they always feel better after a good rinse.
Everyone expounds on different solutions to use during the healing process. Believe me it is very confusing even to me, who has been into modifications for over 25 years. I was on IAM asking anyone and everyone about any type of healing suggestions. Old school bactine, lavender water, tea tree oil, sea salt soaks are just a few. I was so desperate and in so much pain that I tried all of the above. So one day I would try one thing and the next day jut a plain hot water soak and then the day after that another solution. I found that every single one of these solutions just irritated my piercings more. So after trying this and that I found that just a good hot soak in a tub, a gentle cleansing of anti bacterial soap and a good rinse is the only thing that did not make the irritation worse. I am a firm believer that you really don't need anything. I guess you would call us minimalists. In other words, your body is going to heal no matter what just make sure that you keep them clean and watch the crusties!
All I can say is between days 8-12 was the most uncomfortable days of the healing process of my outer labias. These days were even more uncomfortable than say day 3-5. At night on days 8-12 I was in tears laying in the recliner, legs spread wide with no undies. My poor coochie hurt so bad I was actually crying at night during days 8-12. I honestly thought am I going to make it through this healing process. The pain reminds me of the intense stingy ache that I got when I slept on my new conchs. I think most of it is due to pressure and settling not the actual open wound. I noticed I was in a routine of wearing panties in the day to stabilize the piercings while I was active and running around. At night I took the panties off and went commando because lying around with the panties on caused too much pressure. So yes the routine was panties during the day and no panties at nights.
The number 13 has always been my favorite and luckiest number. And on day 13 I woke up and could feel a big difference. My labias were finally healed to a point that I was not eating ibuprofen every few hours and wanting to cry from the stinging pain. It was with the greatest sigh of relief that day 13 was passed with not much pain even in the evening hours! And yes the night of the 13th day I finally slept through the night without much pain.
I know I have been going on about how bad it hurts and probably too much whining. Everyone has been telling me that I should have used ti curved barbells to heal with. I know this would have lessened the pressure and reduced the weight of the jewelry. I definitely know all this from being in the circuit for over 25 years. But one of the reasons I wanted the outer labias pierced was that I wanted the weight to lengthen my non existent labias. I wanted to feel the weight and heaviness of the rings. And I am an old fashioned bull head and feel if I can't heal them with the ss rings then I didn't need to have the piercings. And so my bullheadedness decided to just try to heal with the rings. So yes most the extra pain may have been from the weight and pressure of the 6ga ss rings.
But here I must say it is not all bad and pain. Remember in part 1 I mentioned that since my hysterectomy (what I call forced menopause), that I have "lost" my womanhood. I just don't feel like a woman since that awful surgery. I have no sexual drive and no urges down there. That is until now. I noticed that I was thinking about sex and that I was having the warm feeling down there that most women get when they are sexually excited. I do not know if it is truly helping me feel more down there or if it is just the blood rushing down there to heal. All I know is that I had not had this feeling for almost 10 years. I really feel that this has awakened my sexual drive again. I feel like a woman!
So here I am having those thoughts and feelings that I've not had in 10 years. And here I can not have sex until month 3. Grrrrr! This is a very wonderful thing to happen to someone who doesn't really have much of a sexual drive and finally is feeling something. I am thinking an orgasm would be good but it is only day 14. So I cheated kind of. I had a little visit from my friend, the vibrator. I cleaned him very well with an antibacterial soap and then very gently and gingerly I tried the vibrator down there. It was a wonderful orgasm that I had that day. It made the rings buzz and feel quite delightful to say the least. Darn I can not wait until I can have sex! Is it three months yet?!
By the third week (days 15-21) the pain has reduced greatly. I can now sit down and walk normally without pain. I can even cross my legs again! I am now able to wear pants again. Just not brave enough to try jeans, maybe next month. The crustiness has reduced greatly so I am guessing the fistulas are healing up just fine. I am now sleeping through out the night without pain. I have also noticed since the pain has receded that when I walk or move the weight of the labias rings are quite delightful. I am so excited that I now feel something down there. It has been a great awakening of my mind and body. Something I have longed for 10 long years. And (shhhhhhhh don't tell Leon ~ my piercer) I am thinking about having sex. Yes I know you are supposed to wait 3 months. I have talked with many girls who have had the outer labias pierced and typically they wait about a month. They just said they were very careful not to knock the labias and washed up afterwards. And of course if you are not in a monogamous relationship you should always wear condoms whether you have fresh piercings or not. It is now the beginning of week 4 and I will be back in an hour or so!
Well I am back and that was different feeling! I just had sex with my hubby for the first time at week 4 of the healing process and I could feel the rings moving in between us. It was very stimulating. My hubby was very careful and quite paranoid at first because he didn't want to hurt me. But it really didn't hurt at all. Afterwards I went and soaked in a hot tub and cleaned everything very good. I was just slightly irritated but not much at all. Yes it was definitely worth all the pain I have been through the past 4 weeks. Just remember I guess what i am trying to say here is even though the pain at first was so intense, it was well worth it all. So don't give up girls if it hurts badly the first 4 wks. Because having sex with outer labia rings is such a wonderful, stimulating feeling that I know I definitely will be getting two more sets of outer labias ring very soon! Yes definately worth it!