Piercing Experiences Genital Hood PiercingSo, this was my eighth piercing. 16g eyebrow, 16g rook, 16g daith, 16g tragus, 14g conch, 14g navel, 10g frenulum (tongue web). None of these are in a spot that is, to me, such a sensitive spot. So, why my hood? Every piercing, for me, gets to be a little more interesting, and somewhat more shocking. People say, "So, do you have your tongue pierced?" "Well, not exactly," I say, and then I lift up my tongue and show them my frenulum. Shocking for people that have just been talking to me for ten minutes and haven't seen it. "That must have hurt," they all say. I try to explain that I couldn't even feel it (topical anesthetic(sp?)- not my choice) and they still give me a look like I'm crazy. Now they say, "Do you have anything else pierced that I can't see?" "My navel," I tell them. "Oh, and my hood." Confused looks. "My clitoral hood." Scared, oh my God, who am I talking to, what a freak looks. Anyway, explaining why isn't so important. Let's get on with the story..
After about a month of piercing withdrawal, I decided a vertical hood and called Rob (my piercer) to see what he thought. He said, "sounds good" since we had already talked/joked about it before, and that Tuesday at 3:00 sounded great. I went to get a wax that day (assuming that Rob would have a better time that way) and decided after waxing that I didn't think it was such a great idea. My wax hurt so much that I decided I was too much of a wimp and probably couldn't handle a very large needle poking through very sensitive tissue. After thinking it over again for another day, I decided I'd have to do it.
I showed up at Bee-Cool at 2:00 (an hour early - as usual) and got talking to Rob. I told him that I didn't think that I was ready for it yet, and he told me to take my time - we'd do it when I was ready, and if I needed more time, we could always do it another day. After humming and hahing and peeing about 18 times because I was so nervous, I finally said okay. By this time it was 5:30. We had talked about it during those 2 hours or so, and he let me know what it should feel like, and what to expect.
I walked into the back room shaking like crazy, and had a seat on the dentist chair. I immediately crossed my legs and stared at the wall. Rob came in behind me and told me to calm down. He asked my why I was so much more nervous this time, over my previous nervousness with other piercing's. So, I finally explained it to him. Rob had done 5 out of 7 of my other piercing's and I spend a lot of time at Bee-Cool just hanging out and talking to him and the other staff. Rob has become more than just my piercer that I see for 20 minutes once every few weeks/months. He has sort of become my friend, I guess. Having your friend down your pants can be a good thing, but not in a situation like this. I told him that I was embarrassed and was kind of uncomfortable with him being down there. You know what he told me? He said that he sort of felt the same way. He said it was different than just anybody because we know each other, but when the gloves go on, he is a piercer and it is strictly professional. Funny enough, it made me feel more comfortable that he was uncomfortable. He gave me a little glass of water, because I felt like crying, and told me not to worry - it's just another piercing.
He turned around to get things ready and told me to take my pants off. I finally (after about 5 minutes) got my pants off and sat down. Surprisingly, once my pants were off, and I knew there was no going back, I calmed down a lot. He told me he was going to make as much eye contact as possible and only look down when he had to, to make me feel more comfortable. Sounded good to me, so he explained the procedure again, and went to it. He said that he wanted the ring at least 3/8 of an inch deep, so as not to irritate the piercing. Rob pulled out one of his gloves and put it around the receiving tube. He told me that that is sort of what my hood would be like, so there was no missing with the needle - good idea! I asked if a hood could be too short, thinking that mine might be and he said sure, but when he saw it he said mine was actually quite long and perfect for this piercing. That made me feel a lot better. He made his mark with a sharpie (which I got to keep - I had been waiting to get one from him for a long time) and asked if I wanted to see it. I said I'd pass, and he said that it was time. He lined it up with the receiving tube and pierced..
IT HURT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My eyes welled up with tears and I said this little, "ouch." He asked if I was okay, and I nodded my head. Then I shook my head. Then I nodded it again. It stung like crazy. It was a sharp, sharp pain in a place you should never feel pain like that. He said that if I was okay he would leave the room and I could get my pants back on when I was ready. When I was ready, I finally got up, and got dressed. I walked out of the room like I had been riding a horse all day, all embarrassed again. I asked Rob to come outside and join me for a smoke, and as we were talking outside I suddenly realized that I couldn't feel it anymore. Not only that, but my conversation with Rob wasn't at all awkward. It was my normal everyday talk with him. It was great.
It's been 3 weeks to the day since I got it done, and it feels great. I have to say that I love bumpy car rides, along with many other things. So, the moral of my story is, GO FOR IT! Sure it hurts, but isn't part of the reason we are all doing this stuff to ourselves because of the pain? I love it, and guaranteed you will too! If you ever happen to be in Calgary and feel the need for a hood piercing, or a piercing of any sort, go see Rob. He makes you feel really relaxed and comfortable, and does a pretty good job of the piercing too. And, he thanked me for waxing.
-Bryna
