First off I would like to state that this experience is about something that happened when I was very young and had little to no idea what I was doing or what safety measures to take. Please do not try to repeat what I did. I lacked the resources to learn about body modification. The very fact you are reading this means you have access to an enormous amount of information and are able to do your research.
At A Glance Author Uberkitty IAM Uberkitty When Ten years ago or more Artist I was
When I was 7 or 8 years old my family had an in ground pool put in our backyard. About a week after the construction finished and it was filled with water I was running around the pool faster than I should have been and I ended up slicing my right big toe on a jagged piece of concrete. I remember stopping a moment to watch the blood seep into the pretty white concrete before limping into the house to tend the injury. As was typical for me at that age I didn't tell my parents I'd been hurt.
Looking back I really have no idea why but a day or two later I decided to "explore" a little. I took a knife (I think it was a steak knife) from the kitchen and a bottle of rubbing alcohol into my room. I cleaned the knife with rubbing alcohol under the false impression that would sterilize it before carefully recutting the wound and then, with a pair of fingernail clippers, removed the skin at the open edges. It hurt. I remember not liking the fact it hurt the first time, but I also remember being very satisfied with the progress I made. I then looked to my other foot. It just didn't seem right that I would do such a thing to only one side of my body. I finished up for the night by making my toes match by doing the same cutting and clipping to the previously uninjured toe on my left foot.
That's how I got started. From there it became a nightly ritual for me. For several weeks I would retreat to my room to reopen and agitate the wounds I'd created on my toes. I used the same knife and nail clippers, cleaning them a little each night with rubbing alcohol. At some point I decided to pour the alcohol over my toes as well and would savor the pain that came from it. Each morning when I put on my socks and shoes my tender feet would feel sharp pain. Throughout the day I felt what I had done with every step. I have no idea when it happened but at some point it was clear that I had started to enjoy the pain. I would smile to myself at the very thought that I was carrying the secret of my ritual.
After some time I was unable to keep up with my body's natural ability to heal and the cuts on my toes closed up completely. But that didn't stop anything. I decided to try something different. I fetched several sewing needles from my mother's sewing kit and cleaned them with alcohol as usual. Starting from the left side of my right big toe I lined the needle up and began to push with constant pressure. It cut through the skin easily. For a certain distance I could see the needle under my skin. Then it disappeared. The stinging pain started now that it was in the fleshy, live part my toe pad. I continued pushing. I was able to see the needle again before it exited through the middle of my toe. Success! I loved the way the process had felt. I left the needle in place and admired it for a minute or two before removing it, wiping the blood away...and repiercing. After removing the needles I cut as usual, this time over the area that had just been pierced.
Over the next few years I would pierce, cut, or peel skin from my feet. Usually the big toe, though sometimes the smaller ones, the heel, or outer ridge of the foot. Walking would be painful for about three days. I would give it time to heal only to do the same again. I never went more than a month without cutting my feet until I stopped at age 11. By then it had occurred to me that what I was doing was probably unsafe. It wasn't until years later when I found BME that I developed some idea of exactly how dangerous what I was doing had been. I'm still surprised that over the years of foot torture I hadn't experienced any problems worse than the occasional time I accidentally cut or pierced too deep and had to suffer through extended healing times. After all I'd been using dirty instruments to wound a part of the body that comes into contact with a lot of bacteria. I considered myself incredibly lucky and while I believe it was a positive experience in my childhood I wouldn't risk it again.