GUICHE (RAPH PERINEUM) & HAFADA (SCROTUM) PIERCING AFTERCARE

GUICHE (geesh) PIERCING HISTORY

The word "Guiche" is supposed to mean an opening in French, the actual translation is "window". This piercing is supposed to be a Samoan puberty ritual, but Derek Freeman Professor Emeritus of the Anthropology Department of The Australian National University, one of the world"s foremost authorities on Samoa informed me that he had no experience of this practice in Samoa. The puberty ritual practised in Samoa is subincision, this is where the underneath of the foreskin is cut down to the fraenulum. Professor Freeman stated that this practice has never existed in Samoa, and if it had in the past he would have been aware of it.

Doug Malloy Travelled to Tahiti just before WW2, where he met an Australian sailor who had jumped ship named Reggie Jones. Reggie told Doug about the piercing, and performed the piercing for him.

Doug Malloy said that this piercing originated in Tahiti, the piercing was done at age 12-14 and a leather thong inserted into the piercing, a small weight either a rock or a shell was hung from the thong once the piercing was healed. The procedure was performed by a MahuŒ, in Tahiti a Mahu is a transvestite male who has taken on the role of a women, they are highly respected members of society, and they were said to possess magical powers by adherants of the ancient Tahitian religion. However, again I can find no evidence of this practice in any literature about Tahiti.

The ancient Polynesian mariners used to judge their direction by the movement of the waves, the best way to do this was to squat down and feel this movement through the swinging of the testicles. The Raphe Perineum where the Guiche piercing is done is the site of a large amount of nerves, and having a weight hanging from the piercing could possibly have helped the ancient mariners derive their direction, but this is only speculation on my part.

HAFADA (SCROTUM) PIERCING

The Hafada piercing is a scrotum piercing on the side of the scrotum, where there is a crease. It is supposed to have originated in Arabia and spread through Northern Africa and the Middle East. The piercing is carried out as a puberty ritual, it is generally done on the left hand side. The piercing was supposedly bought back to Europe by French Foriegn Legionares when they were stationed in what is now Lebanon and Syria.

Scrotum piercings aren't practised by any primitive tribes, at least I can't find any evidence of such practices, it's really a modern western invention. Some people have an incredible number of piercings through their scrotum, Sailor Sid one of the early piercers had 120 scrotum piercings at the time of his death, and he planned to have more.

PLACEMENT

The Guiche piercing is done through the ridge of skin that runs between the base of the scrotum and the Anus. This site contains a very large group of nerves and is very sensitive, in men pressure here stimulates the prostate gland, but even in women the piercing is very pleasurable when it's pulled on.

Hafada piercings are done on the upper portion of the scrotum where there is a crease of flesh, scrotum piercings can be done anywhere on the scrotum but are usually done along the crease of the scrotum.

JEWELLERY

Both piercings are usually done using ball closure rings, however they can be performed using barbells. Some piercers recommend that Guiche piercings be performed using a banana barbell as this makes healing easier. After they are healed a variety of jewellery can be inserted, most people find that it's very pleasurable to hang weights from these piercings especially the Guiche piercing.

HEALING

Both of these piercings are notoriously hard to heal, the groin is very moist and prone to bacterial and fungal infections even without the piercings. Another reason for the poor healing is the constant movement to which the piercings are subjected, it must be remembered that both piercings originate in areas where men wear very loose clothes and the weather is warm all year round.

The Guiche is one of the hardest piercings to heal and is notoriously prone to migration

DO's & DONT'S TO HEAL YOUR GUICHE & SCROTUM PIERCING

THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR INFECTION IS TOUCHING AND PLAYING WITH THE PIERCING, ONLY TOUCH THE PIERCING WHEN YOU ARE CLEANING IT!

• DO remove the bandage after 4-5 hours, there may be some coagulated blood, don't be alarmed this is normal and will wash of easily. Have a shower after you remove the bandage, cup your hand under the piercing and soak it with water for 3-4 minutes, or have a good soak in the bath. Don't use the cleaning solution for 24 hours.
• DO use a mild antibacterial soap (containing Triclosan), in the shower (once a day only!). Cup your hand under the piercing and soak it for 1-2 minutes, then put 1-2 drops (no more!) of the cleaning solution in your hand, lather it and apply gently to your piercing. Leave the lather on for 1 minute, then soak the piercing once again and wash thoroughly to remove all the solution. Leaving the solution on the skin can cause irritation!
• DO make sure when washing to remove all the crusting, if it's not cleaned off properly it can concrete around the ring and tear the inside of the wound when the ring moves, this can be painful and lead to inflammation and delayed healing. Secondly, if it's not removed bacteria can feed on it and infect the wound.
• DO use salt water baths as they are very effective for healing, or you can use Saline solution (available at any chemist),wash with fresh water and dry thoroughly with a clean tissue afterwards.
• DO continue to use the cleaning solution after your free bottle runs out , we can sell you a replacement bottle for $3 or you can use "Physohex" available at any chemist or supermarket. Neglecting to use the cleaning solution for the full healing period will result in infection.
• DO make sure that you dry the piercing thoroughly after cleaning, this should be done by patting (not rubbing) dry with a paper tissue as towels can harbour bacteria.
• DO use pure essential Lavender oil as it's very good for healing, and is a mild natural anaesthetic. Apply 1-2 drops (no more!) every second day after a shower to promote healing. Let the Lavender oil soak the piercing and remove any excess with a tissue. Excessive use of Lavender oil may result in skin irritation.
• DO Continue to apply a drop or two of lavender oil once a week after the piercing is healed or the wound can become tight and dry.
• DO use the cleaning solution after going swimming in the ocean or public pools.
• DO make sure that you wash the piercing carefully after exercising or sweating a lot, as sweat acts like acid and can cause the wound to become aggravated.
• DO take multivitamins with a Zinc supplement as this helps promote healing.
• DON'T allow your partner to play roughly with the piercing for the first 2-3 weeks.
• DON'T turn the ring in the piercing for the first 3-4 weeks, move it very gently and only enough to remove the crusting, after that you can turn it enough for cleaning. Moving the ring constantly aggravates the wound and delays healing.
• DON'T pick at the scab as this will cause excessive scar tissue formation and lead to infections.
• DON'T use Methylated Spirits, or alcohol on the piercing as they are very astringent and can damage the wound, don't use Hydrogen peroxide or Betadine because they destroys the cells that form scar tissue, Don't use creams or ointments as they keep the wound moist and hamper the healing process.
• DON'T remove the ring because you will lose the piercing. Don't replace the jewellery with a sleeper because the sharp hinges can tear the inside of the wound resulting in infection, and it increases the chance of the piercing growing out. Silver sleepers are especially dangerous, as the silver oxidises in the wound which can cause allergic reactions and "Argyria" a permanent black mark inside the wound.
• DON'T try to remove the ball from the ring yourself, you need a circlip plier to do this and if you attempt to do it yourself you will probably damage the ring or not be able to get the ball back in the ring. If you wish to change the jewellery see me or another piercer to do it for you.

SEXUAL EFFECTIVENESS

Of the two of these piercings the Guiche piercing is the more effective of the two providing a very nice degree of pleasure if it's pulled on during sex, if it's pulled on just prior to orgasm it heightens the degree of orgasm. Scrotum piercings are supposed to be quite pleasurable when they are played with during sex, however both of these piercings shouldn't be pulled on until they are fully healed.