It's been several years since I saw a triangle piercing for the first time. It has appealed to me since then, but I've also heard several horror stories about them going wrong, and the only person I said I would trust is Elayne Angel at Rings of Desire, who has more experience doing triangle piercings than anyone else. This year, for my birthday, my boyfriend took me to New Orleans, and it was time to put my resolve on the table and get it done.
At A Glance Author Juniper Contact Juniper@bme.anon IAM juniper When A month ago Artist Elayne Angel Studio Rings of Desire Location New Orlenans, LA The consultation:
As we ascended the stairs to the studio, which was on the second floor, a strange sense of calm overtook me. The entire studio was in tones of purple, with various pieces of artwork on the walls and a really classy jewelry counter. Elayne was behind the counter, and I introduced myself as the woman who contacted her via IAM to ask a few questions about a triangle piercing. She seemed to recognize me (though this may have just been good customer service), and asked if I wanted to get checked out to see if the piercing was possible.
Up until this point, I had been fairly certain that I was an ideal candidate for a triangle piercing. While I'm not giant-vulva-woman, the right stuff seemed to be there. I was able to pinch the skin behind the nerve bundle of my clitoris and lift it up and away from my body, which was the main point of the piercing. In fact, I'd often pinched myself there behind the nerve bundle to see if I could withstand more pressure or pain.
So I hopped on the table, took off my pants and panties, and Elayne put down some paper and snapped on some gloves. I scooted my butt down the exam table and she took a first look and said, "this may be a moot point." I was completely crestfallen. She poked and prodded a bit more, explaining how important the placement was (this I knew), and finally her expert fingers found the nerve bundle. Up it went, pulled slightly away from my body, a familiar feeling that said "I can do this, I've been preparing for this." She smiled and told me that I am built kind of small and very vertically, but I do have a hill there instead of a valley so it could be done. She also mentioned that she would be able to do it in a 14 gauge instead of a 12 because I was so small there and I could stretch up later - but I told her that I really preferred the larger gauge. She would custom-bend a curved barbell to suit my anatomy and go from there.
Then she asked why I wasn't considering a vertical hood. To be honest, while they appeal to me, I didn't think I was built for one. I had tried the q-tip test, with hopelessly failing results. My hood is very long (I guess this is what she meant by my being "built vertically" and my clitoris is really tucked deep in there with not a lot of room between them. I asked her if that was really possible, and she said that it definitely was. Figuring she was the expert, I asked her hopefully, "could I have both?" She said yes, of course, and I sort of made a comment about getting them both done by her at the same time. While it would be possible, she said, she didn't know if my body would really appreciate that very much. She'd do the triangle first and see how I was doing from there.
With the okay from the expert, I hopped down from the table, put my panties and pants back on, and went out to the lobby to look at jewelry. I had my choice of lots of different ends for the CBB, but in the end I decided on classic steel balls, silver all the way. I can have ornamentation later, but for now, I want the "classic" look of steel in my piercing.
She proceeded to tell me about the wonderful healing experiences she and others have had using emu oil for aftercare. I was dubious, but I considered it. I'd have a few days to make up my mind.
I was ready to make my appointment. Since my boyfriend and I were staying for a week, I wanted to get pierced on my next-to-last day, to allow myself plenty of comfort to explore the city and not worry about a piercing. She checked out her calendar, and lo and behold, that was not going to be possible. The studio is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and she'd be out of town that Thursday and Friday. That left Monday - the third day into our trip, and the day before my birthday. I was a little bit disappointed at the imminent lack of sex that was going to be necessary on my long-deserved and awaited vacation, but I agreed, and 3:00 Monday was pencilled into her appointment book. While it wasn't set in stone, it was there, written down, my name, with a triangle drawn next to it. I was really doing this, after years of psyching myself up.
The piercing:
I woke up Monday morning giddy and full of anticipation. Since this is the first piercing I had planned well in advance, there wasn't the usual "woke up this morning, knew I needed x pierced" feeling gnawing at my brain. Surprisingly calm, my boyfriend and I wandered down to the French Quarter to eat something - a light meal of ceasar salad for me, as I didn't wish to feel heavy. We made our way over to Rings of Desire around 2:50, and I had some candy on the way - partly I wanted some sugar, and partly I just wanted some candy because I was about to go through something (theoretically) traumatic.
When we arrived, Elayne greeted me, and confirmed that I was in for a triangle piercing. She had me fill out the standard paperwork, copied my ID, and rang up the piercing, plus the jewelry and a little bottle of emu oil. I was a little dubious when she suggested it on Saturday, but with all of her experience behind it I decided that it was worth a shot. I paid for the piercing and the emu oil, and my boyfriend paid for the jewelry as a birthday present (my birthday was the next day). I signed the credit card slip, imagining something dramatic happening... the slip to catch fire, or the pen to turn into a quill, the signature to scorch the paper. Instead, I signed with little fanfare, and Elayne cheerfully lead my boyfriend and I into the piercing room.
She instructed me to remove my panties and hike up my skirt, and sit down on the table, scooting my butt forward as much as possible with my legs spread. The piercing room itself was wall-to-wall mirrors, and Elayne rolled over a little cart and placed on it a purple sterile sheet and all the instruments necessary for the piercing. Everything was wrapped in autoclave packets, and I saw on the table a little needle, a clamp, a cork, some lubricant, and my jewelry. With everything prepped, she picked up the jewelry with a gloved hand and presumably did a size-check - holding up the CBB to my vulva and nodding, making positive nonverbal noises. "Just right," she said, cheerfully, "so I'm going to prep you now."
I placed my hands on my thighs as she wiped down the area with an alcohol pad, talking to me the whole time. The topics were generally horror stories of people who had triangle piercings gone wrong, done by people other than herself. For whatever reason, this calmed me, knowing that mine was going to be done right, by the expert, and I had nothing to worry about. "I have to find the right placement," she said solemnly as she started poking around for the nerve bundle of my clitoris, which the piercing would slide under. A few seconds of fumbling commenced, and then the familiar tug on the right place. "There it is," and with that she took out a new sharpie marker and placed the dots on both sides of my clitoral hood, checking for vascularity and symmetry.
Obviously, this is the point where I should have been getting nervous. She started pulling at the nerve bundle, explaining that she was lifting it to separate it from my body to make it easier to pierce. I was not shaking, and she said I was doing just fine, to continue breathing in and out, look at the ceiling, and suddenly - BAM. A sharp pain for a moment, a yelp, and then a dull ache. Angel pushed back her stool and smiled at me. "That's it, you're done."
Right then, I understood what she had said on Saturday to allay my nerves - "It's just a moment in your life, there will be plenty more."
The needle had gone through with little fanfare - no counting to three, no warning, she could see that I was as relaxed as I was going to get as just went for it. The care with which the piercing was executed was tangible. I started to articulate the aching, it was a burning sensation more than anything else. She placed a cool wet washcloth over my vulva, which caused the burning to fade into nothingness. I laid back, contemplating what so many on BME have described as the worst pain of their lives. My boyfriend, who had watched my nostril piercing and characterized it as brutal, was relieved by this piercing experience. His description was that the needle seemed to slide through effortlessly, like a knife through butter. He used the word "nurturing" to describe Elayne.
After a minute or two of letting me lie back and have some water, she asked if I was ready for the jewelry placement. I agreed, and she went back to work sliding in the 12ga curved barbell and tightening the tiny balls on the ends. This felt like pressure, and a bit more burning, but not pain - she put the washcloth back on and everything was instantly soothed. It was time to talk aftercare.
I had already told her that I was a proponent of sea salt soaks for healing, which she supported but warned me not to overdo it with the salt in the genital area - it can be overdrying. The most important thing, she emphasized, was to keep it clean and away from irritants. Several of the measures she suggested for this were to always sleep with panties or boxers unless the sheets were immaculately clean, never put on a pair of panties that were on the floor and make sure to put them on without sticking my foot in the crotch area (harder than it sounds!), be careful of pets, and don't touch it unless my hands are clean. It was not necessary to rotate the ring, and I could expect moderate crusties which is normal. The emu oil can be applied 2-3 times daily, dropping it on the holes and over the bridge where the jewelry is, rubbing it in with clean hands. Much to my surprise, she said that there was no abstinence requirement, but that body fluids touching the new piercing were a no-no so condoms were required, no oral sex, and to listen to my body in terms of comfort.
I rested on the table with my legs spread for another few minutes, then got dressed, put in a pantiliner that Elayne gave me (and showed me how to put in, making sure not to touch the part that would touch my vulva and new piercing), and went outside the piercing room where Elayne was waiting. I tipped her for a job well done, and went to rest a bit on the comfy couches that were set up near the entrance where I used my "new" sharpie marker to write in my trip journal about the experience.
After the piercing:
After resting for another 15 minutes, I felt well enough to walk around but definitely in need of some sugar. We hopped over to Cafe du Monde and had beignets (my first), celebrating my new piercing. We toasted with iced chicory coffee, to holey vulvas and emu pussy. I was well enough to walk around the French Quarter all day, and in fact through the rest of my trip with very little pain.
The next morning I noticed a bit of blood on the pantiliner - about a quarter of a teaspoon, not much. I soaked it, and the dried blood sort of swished around the shot glass filled with sea salt and warm water, effectively cleaning and soothing it after my first night sleeping with something new between my legs. A lukewarm shower later, I was good to go - and continued to be so for the entire trip.
The emu oil really is awesome stuff. Three drops twice a day has allowed my jewelry to move freely in the piercing with no pain whatsoever, and the skin of my vulva is clean and healthy. One of my major worries was that I would experience dryness in the vaginal area which would cause chafing around the new piercing. Fortunately, this has not been the case and I suspect the emu oil is the reason. I have noticed an increase of vaginal discharge, but I suspect that it caused by my body simply getting used to something extra being down there.
It has been a little over three weeks now since I got pierced, and while I am keeping up with the aftercare and the emu oil, I already feel as if I've had this piercing for years. It is completely comfortable and integrated with my body, and it looks awesome.
Suffice to say, I would recommend Elayne Angel at Rings of Desire to any woman who wants a triangle piercing. Not only does she know what she's doing, she is calm, nurturing, and gentle. The entire experience, from appointment making to piercing to aftercare, has been a pleasure.