To cue you in a little on my previous piercing experiences, I've my ear pierced, my frenum, and my tongue. I had pierced my lip with an airbrush needle 5 times during my teen years, but that didn't prepare me for what my future had in store.
At A Glance Author Anubis Contact Anubis@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Jesse Sena Studio Hart and Soul Location Idaho I approached Jesse a couple years back about getting a corset piercing done, as I liked the look of it, and have something of a back fetish. We had a nice long chat, and I looked at some pics of his work. I was overall very impressed, but time nor money permitted me to get the work done. I'm actually quite glad for this.
Fast forward to January of this year. After a "siesta" in Washington, Jesse had re-opened another studio in town with his brother. About this point in time, I've decided to get my frenum pierced. Jesse was the only guy in town who'd do any genital piercings, so I naturally went to him. During my frenum piercing, we discussed the idea of suspensions and I told him that I still wanted to get some rings down my back. Only I had changed my mind about the "magnitude" of the rings. I thought it might be cool if I had some permanent piercings that I could suspend myself from. I had looked online for anyone who'd attempted this sort of thing, but hadn't found a single word on the subject. Considering it wasn't a "usual" type of piercing, it was right up my alley, and Jesse's it would seem.
After much deliberation and swapping of ideas with others in the field, he ordered my first set of jewelry; 10g surface barbells around 1 1/4" in length. We obviously had to have them custom made, and lemme tell ya, they are first rate!
He decided to stage each pair of piercings to minimize overall trauma, and to allow me healing time, so I can shift impact to the healed areas while the fresh ones will have more chance of keeping.
The current plan is 6 pair of rings down the back of my body, starting at the shoulders and ending at the calf.
There are few things in life that can prepare a virtual piercing newbie to the process of having their back run through with a large gauge needle. The amount of prep involved in the first set was astounding, and pain was enough to send this little masochist into a state of complete inebriation. Jesse made some sort of "guide" on each needle for the barbells when he did the first set. This helped him with the transitions. The second time around he decided against making the guides. This wasn't an issue as far as I was concerned. I wasn't, however, prepared during the second set. I tensed far too much during the first side, and good hell did it hurt! The second was easy as pie, and I didn't even feel the transition! I'm gonna say that 90% of the pain was mental, but I did have a pretty decent amount of swelling on that side, to be a reminder of my need to relax I guess.
The symmetry on my piercings is nothing short of awe inspiring... This guy should be a plastic surgeon! I am now 2 weeks along, and have 4 surface barbells down my back, giving me something of an alien spine look when I'm wearing a shirt. The 3rd set will be put in place after this week, above my belt line. None are showing signs of rejection or migration.
Aftercare for these types of piercings is labor of love as far as I'm concerned. My daily regimen consists of 2 salt bath soaks, a large quantity of vitamins, and regular doses of H2Ocean. Along with 2-3 clean shirts a day and clean bedding every night. I can't sleep on my back in any sense of the word, and heavy coats are basically out of the question. Driving and sitting on the couch have taken on an entirely different meaning lately as well. Have you ever imagined what it's like to drive a car without the back of the seat? Well, that's my usual day now. Of course, all this care and healing is so temporary compared to what I get to look forward to. It's really a small price to pay for the whole experience. The ball ends on the barbells are quite obvious through my shirt, so I get a lot of strange looks just walking down the street, which is quite fun.
As for problems, we've had only 1 big one. There was a hanger on one of the first barbells, and this caused an infection within a week. I've since gotten over it, and it's healing quite nicely. There are issues with the curvature of the back that we're working through, but none of them has caused any major problems. The whole crew at Hart and Soul is very helpful, and Jesse's care for my piercing procedures and overall health is second to none.
With a little luck, and some careful healing, I should be able to taper to an 8g ring and suspend by late summer of this year. I will, of course, keep you guys updated as we go along.