Seems that I wanted to combine my foot fetish and my interest in piercing for a long time. Thus I have tried several temporary foot related piercings a long time before I found the bme-site. Beside of toe and toe web piercings I always was fascinated by the heel. So I once tried myself a long heel piercing from one side of the foot under the heel sole to the other side with a long custom made steel bar and two screw balls. This lasted about six hours when I had to take it out because the pain was unbearable. I also tried two 2 cm long piercings on each side of the heel exiting under the heel sole. Again these did not last two long because the bar was to stiff and irritates the tissue.
At A Glance Author Anonymous Contact Anonymous@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist myself Studio at home Location Germany Then some years past and the idea of piercing the heel came back to my mind. I have to add, that I have already performed a double navel project a frenum with a PA exiting right under the frenum on myself. These were "uncomplicated" regarding the tissue, its movement and the exposition to pressure. But sole piercings are definitely not easy to maintain if you consider that you have to walk on them. I had found out that a thick (1-1,5 mm) barbell made of any stiff material will cause major irritations, pain, pus and maybe rejection.
So I was looking for any appropriate material which I could use as a bar. By incidence I found a little piece of soft and smooth plastic string with a diameter of 0,5 mm. I know that such thin piercings are not recommended, but I never read this related to a foot sole piercing... I decided to plan the double piercing from the side of my right heel to the sole again. Ok, I am still fascinated by a long under-the-heel-sole-piercing entering on one side of the heel, passing under the sole skin and exiting on the other side, but I wanted to restart with something easier. Now the problem was, how to fix a piece of that string in the planned flesh tunnels. I found out that I could burn one end of the string and press it onto a smooth surface so it would form a disc with 2 mm of diameter. This would be the end for the sole exit. I decided to make the string some mm longer than the piercing would be, leave it like that for the beginning and see how things develop.
The next step was to mark the exit points. The piercings should be symmetrical on each side under the heel and exit on each side about 1,5 mm above the sole. I bought some hollow needles from the chemistry and desinfected everything around, including string, foot, hand and my plier. I began with the top spot on the inner side of the right foot, pushing the needle slowly under the skin downward to the mark on the sole. I was careful neither to lead the needle to near to the surface nor to push to deep and hurt the tendons or anything else important. I tried to stay within that soft tissue and it worked. The not amusing part was to pinch through the sole skin as it is very thick. I grabbed the needle with the plier, to finish that. When I had the needle pushed through I inserted my string and pulled the needle back, leaving the string in the tunnel. Then I did the same on the outer side of the foot...
I found out that I could gently lift the surface skin of the sole around the exit hole and push the plastic disc below it. So the exit hole is covered completely by skin and the string can't move. I used needles to do this. I covered the top holes with some medical plaster. The fist week, walking was no fun. I limped a bit, trying to take the pressure from the heel. The day after the piercing the flesh around the piercing became hard, red and swollen and the heel hurt terribly when I touched it. I wanted to take the strings out, but I didn't want to loose the piercings, too. So I pinched two holes into the top ends of the strings and inserted a very thin synthetic yarn, after desinfecting everything. So I could pull out the strings and leave the yarn in the tunnel. I pushed against the flesh and out of both holes came a lot of pus. I did this on both piercings. At first, pulling the strings back was not very comfortable, but the pressure was gone and I could stand an walk on my foot.
About ten days after the piercing I only had to take care of the top holes. Two times the piercings festered again. I carefully changed the string every few days, because I did not know how the body would react on it when it stayed too long. Of course I was prepared to take them out at any time, when my body would show me that he did not like the piercings. My aftercare was pretty simple. I took my shower every day, always wore socks and normal shoes. Of course I kept everything as clean as possible. No bare foot walking outside.
After this time my body got used to the piercing. The pus stopped and normal walking did not hurt anymore. Of course long distance walking was a bit painful and caused some irritation and pus. Changing the strings was no problem as well, but I had to redo the skin lifting round the bottom holes as the skin grew out within a few days.
Then, three month after piercing the heel I walked normal again. I don't know if I could do a marathon at this time, but the piercings did not hurt anymore. I found out, that the tunnel itself is not straight, but has a multi curved shape, due to the movement of the heel while walking. The wound was not healed completely then, but I didn't expect that anyway. I noticed that the top hole on the inner side migrated 3 mm downwards. I decided to repierce that hole again, pushing the needle under the little scar, exiting right above the initial hole. So did I and it was very hard. I also replaced the soft string on the outer side by a 1 mm nylon string to see what happened. I wanted to stretch both to 1 mm when the tunnel was healed and then try a metal bar again.
But this was not the outcome. The repierced hole was irritated just like the first time and the flesh hardened and fested. Taking the string out felt much more uncomfortable than the first times. The stretching lasted only one day as well, when it started to hurt. I had planned a longer trekking tour which I couldn't cancel. I could have taken out only the repierced inner string and replace the outer one. But I am a friend of symmetry and I didn't want to have only one side pierced. So, very sadly I decided to take both strings out and let the heel heal. This was a strange feeling. For the foot it was ok and the relief came suddenly. But having cared for these holes for about three month and seeing that at least one of them had healed very good made me a little bit sentimental as I don't know if I ever will have the courage to go through that again. And I knew that it was only me, who was not strong enough to go through the initial discomforts again... This was one week ago. There was some more pus coming out of the inner hole for two days but now everything is healing. I can still feel the surface tissue in my heel, which had started to develop in the tunnels. I'm curious what will happen to it.
At the end I have to say that I don't recommend this piercing to anyone. I only describe what I did and everyone is right who says this was dangerous. This was an experiment, as there are not to many experiences regarding piercings passing the foot sole, except of toe webs. You may hit some tendons or any other tissues which are important for a sane foot. Then it requires a lot of care (and ignorance), to perform a piercing at home in an non professional environment with a non professional equipment. Be aware of possible complications and avoid unnecessary pressure/walking and swimming. You have to listen to your body and be prepared to take the piercing out immediately.