My friend and I just spent about 4 hours in our piercer's studio, getting play piercings done for a photoshoot. My friend went for a back corset and I got a suspender belt piercing. We'd been planning it for months and our piercer Darryl very kindly agreed to come in on his day off so we could get it done. We've both been going to him for years and I think he was as excited about the prospect as we were.
At A Glance Author Mel Contact Mel@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Darryl Studio Retro Rebels Location Aberdeen, Scotland We had to go in on the Friday to get measured up for the jewellery because Darryl makes his own PTFE bars and he had to do that before we went in on the Sunday.
We went in about 12.30 on Sunday after eating the large breakfast Darryl had demanded we eat. We'd also been forbidden from alcohol the night before, which I'm glad of, because I don't think I could have coped with feeling even a little bit rough. We went into the studio and my friend went first. I got really nervous as he marked her back up, but as soon as the first piercing was done on her I became excited again. But I won't write about her experience because I'll leave that to her if she wants to.
Anyway, her's took close to two hours and then it was my turn. I lay up on the table and Darryl marked up my stomach where the two front piercings were going. He clamped me up, told me to take a deep breath, as he does with every piercing he performs, and as I did he pushed the needle into my skin. He told me to let my breath out and pushed the needle all the way through. The pain was pretty minor. It nipped a tiny bit but compared to some of my ear piercings (conch and anti-tragus mainly) it didn't hurt at all.
Getting the jewellery in was a tiny bit uncomfortable because he had to pierce me with a 1.2 and put a 1.6 PTFE bar through. He'd got us little gemstone balls to put on the bars, which we could attach, hoops to. After that first piercing I felt really alert and excited.
The second one hurt even less than the first although I had to call out for sugar after it was done. I got up and looked at them and then lay on my front to get the back two done. This is where there was a problem.
On Friday Darryl had managed to clamp the skin on my back relatively easily, but come Sunday, my skin just wouldn't go into the clamps without making a concertina. I was feeling a little dejected and ready to go home with just the two piercings when Darryl suggested that we do a double front suspender belt.
I became excited again and got back on the table. He marked me up about an inch away from each of the first piercings and got back to work. The third one hurt a lot, but that was because I'd had a break and my adrenaline was starting to go back to normal. The fourth was less of a problem.
He finished and attached all my hoops and I was ready to go. I laced the hoops with black and red satin ribbons and criss-crossed them before attaching them to my stockings. They looked so pretty. I even managed to get pictures of me tugging on them, so the skin stretched without it hurting or bleeding. In general I didn't really bleed except for a little bit on the third one that was done.
I kept them in for one night after the photoshoot, but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep them in permanently. Even by that night I was wishing they were out because things like sitting, bending to pick things up, etc were difficult and painful.
I went back to Darryl the next day to get them taken out. He looked so sad at having to remove them because they were already pretty settled but we both knew it wouldn't be practical for everyday living. After he took them out he used a syringe to squeeze saline solution through each hole, which was a bizarre feeling in itself.
They're starting to heel really well, although my skin is quite bruised on the right hand side, which is the side I sleep on. Other than the bruising I just have 4 tiny red dots on my stomach and I'm sure the scarring will be minimal.
My friend and I bought Darryl a bottle of really nice whisky to say thanks for him coming in on his day off, and he's insistent that we come back to him any time we can think of other unusual piercings. I can't wait for my next play piercing! I'm thinking corseting down both sides of my stomach, just above where my suspender belt went.