I'll start out by saying I have only been getting piercings for two years. Yes, I got my ears pierced at a mall with a gun when I was six, but I don't really count that. Two years ago on a whim I got my tragus pierced and have not stopped getting piercings ever since. This particular story, however, is about my triangle piercing.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact e_intfen@yahoo.com When Three months ago Artist Joe Studio Irezumi's Location kansas city, MO First I feel that I should give a little background as to why this piercing was so pivotal in my mind. When I first started getting into piercings, I swore to myself there were some piercings I would never get. Genital piercings were included in this list, but I am a curious person, and eventually, about six months after this vow, I began reading BME experiences and about and looking at pictures of various genital piercings. I was immediately fascinated by the pictures of triangle piercings and knew I wanted one. Unfortunately, at the time I arrived at this conclusion, I was in Vermont, which was nowhere near the piercer I used in Kansas. Over winter break I asked my piercer, Lance, if he would give me a triangle piercing, and he informed me that he did not have enough experience with them and was not comfortable with that piercing. Boo. I ended up getting a vertical hood instead, which only affirmed that genital piercings were nothing to be afraid of, and made me want a triangle piercing even more.
Fast forward eight more months, I had temporarily given up on getting a triangle piercing, having no real desire to go to another studio and get my girly bits pierced by someone I didn't trust. Then, in November, for some reason, my desire to have this piercing came back full force, and I decided to do some research and try to find a shop around Kansas city that had a piercer who was willing to do triangle piercings. When I called Irezumi's, the woman I talked to told me she could give me a triangle piercing and I was delighted. I went into the shop later that day only to be told that she wasn't working, but the person who was working at the time, Joe, was capable of giving me the piercing I wanted.
I was nervous when I went into the studio, I had read a lot of stories relaying the pain of this particular piercing and I was jumpy about the idea of being pierced by someone else. Joe assured me that he had been piercing for eleven years and had "done tons of triangle piercings." Feeling a bit relieved, I followed him into the piercing room and he shut the door. I hopped up on the table and looked around the room, stalling for time (maybe thinking that if I put it off it would hurt less?) Joe made small talk, I really don't remember what he said, as I sat on the table and pulled my pants and underwear down. After a moment of study, he announced that I should be all right anatomically for a triangle piercing. I closed my eyes as he readied the needle and as he drove it through I did something I have never done before while getting pierced. I yelled. I yelled loudly and with as many obscenities as I could think of. Now, I have a pretty high pain tolerance, and I had gotten two genital piercings before, but nothing had prepared me for the intense stabbing sensation that met my genitals. Joe followed the needle through with a fourteen gauge circular barbell and I looked down to admire my new piercing. It was shiny, and pretty, and exactly what I wanted...but my clit appeared to be missing. I poked at the piercing a bit, confused, and Joe told me to stop poking at it. I decided after the trauma, my clit was probably just in hiding and would be fine. I put my pants on and walked out of the shop still shaking.
My piercing bled on and off for about four days, another first for me, as I have never bled from a piercing before. A week later, my clit was still missing in action and I was starting to get worried. The piercing was much more painful on the right side and hung crookedly, but it was still too painful to touch to examine. After two weeks I was able to touch the piercing and made a startling discovery. If I pushed my hood up, I could see my clit, it was still there...with part of the barbell sticking through it. I knew immediately that this piercing had gone seriously wrong. Triangle piercings are not clitoral piercings, and the angle of the jewelry was putting pressure on the piercing and keeping it from healing. After a month I decided no piercing was worth not having a clitoris and took the piercing out
Moral of the story? There is no such thing as too much research! If you really want a piercing, don't settle for the first person that tells you they can do it, get other peoples recommendations and ask for pictures of healed piercings. I wish I had not been so eager to get a triangle piercing, then maybe I would have been more careful about whom I let jab a needle through me