My shower looks like something out of a Hitchcock movie. There’s a thick coating of blood, some of it coagulated in ropes, and spatters on the sides. A blue latex glove full of blood is threatening to tip over. I am squatting, trying to clean up the mess with the shower head, and more blood is running from me in a steady stream.
Maybe I should back up.
We started the day with breakfast at our favorite place, and then went for a leisurely hour of paddling our new kayaks on a local lake. After that, it was time for groceries, and then the lawn needed to be mowed.
And only then was Bear ready to get into the car with me and make the trip to Piercing Emporium, to get the PA we’ve been talking about. The place comes highly recommended, and I wanted to get the piercing there rather than at a closer studio without much in the way of recommendations.
I had spoken with Marc, the piercer, on the phone a month or so ago, to get advice on what to do and bring on the day of my piercing. Which boiled down to be hydrated, have eaten a meal, wear supportive underwear, and bring a maxi pad or two.
Intake is simple: I got a choice between circular and captive bead barbell, and 10ga or 8ga. Marc will not pierce at anything larger. Bear chose a plain circular barbell, and I chose 8ga, since that will heal more quickly than 10ga. I was also handed a bottle of wound wash.
Marc changed the choice of jewelry to a curved barbell instead, which I didn’t even fully realize until three days later. I think that was a good call given that I am uncircumcised. The curved barbell allows the foreskin to stay in place as it has before.
Marc has an extremely professional manner and engaged me in small talk to take my mind off what was going to happen to my dick. He marked the insertion point, and told me why he had chosen that point: There was more room on the left side of my frenum for the ball of the jewelry to rest than on the right side.
He told me he’d put a receiving tube into my urethra, and that this could be uncomfortable. It was unpleasant, and I went “ouch” at one point.
He told me to breathe steadily and, after telling me to take a particularly deep breath, inserted needle and jewelry on the exhale. The pain was intense, “jeebus is this done yet” level, and lasted for maybe two seconds. I tensed up all over, and was glad the piercing itself didn’t last any longer than it did. Marc told me to relax. I took me a few breaths to be able to do so.
Marc told me the jewelry was made of “implant-grade” titanium, and that I did not need to remove it even for an MRI, as it was non-magnetic. Good to know, though I hope I won’t be in a situation to need an MRI while this is still healing. For aftercare, I am to drink a lot of water. The urine will help with wound care. And I should use the wound wash, which is just salt water, twice a day externally.
Even right after the piercing and with my penis bloody, I already loved the way the piercing looked.
He advised against soaking the piercing in salt water. This would make the cells swell and delay healing. That contradicts advice I have seen online. I will listen to my piercer for proper wound care.
By then, the gauze he had applied to the tip of my penis had thoroughly bled through. He offered me a “chicken comb,” a latex glove with some gauze pads in it that goes over the penis to catch blood.
By the time we were home an hour and a half later (it turns out we needed to pick up dog food and mulch on the way back), I had bled through my maxipads, and through my shorts.
Which brings me full circle to my attempt to clean up in the shower. I knew PA piercings bled. I hadn’t expected it to bleed quite this much.
I removed all of the coagulated blood, and used the saline spray. By the time I was done, I had a full erection. Which didn’t help the bleeding any. On the upside, becoming erect did not hurt at all.
I changed the dressing two more times that evening, in between watching the Patriots find their feet against the Saints. It was a bloody mess of gauze every time.
Around 4AM, I woke up with a morning erection, and with thoughts of the bleeding having stopped in my head. Which turned out to be wishful thinking. It took another two full gauze rolls before the bleeding was reduced enough that I could go back to bed.
I woke up for good around 7:30. This time, the bleeding had stopped. I could pee, and it wasn’t a river of blood. I used saline spray and manually removed coagulated blood. After the cleaning I just had a few drips of blood from the penis, not a steady flow. So little I could stop it with some tissue.
So far so excellent. A good 12 hours of bleeding, but now that’s done, my clothes and the bathroom rug have been stain treated and washed, and all I have to worry about now is to drink water, keep the wound clean, and keep wearing maxipads for the “spotting” of blood that still happens.
Congrats on the piercing! I almost fainted reading your discription, but that’s just me. I once fainted at the doctor’s office when I had to get a tetanus shot and got a look at the size of the needle. True story. I now always tell them not to show me the needle whenever a shot is required and they are always very understanding. (Well, at least to my face).
If I ever did this, I would have to have someone do all the aftercare, because I would definitely faint at the sight of that much blood. I am so impressed by your dispassionate description of the events. Good for you, and good luck with the healing process!
I hate needles myself. Fear them, ever since childhood dental surgery that took so long they couldn’t add more sedatives, and had to sew it shut with the sedatives wearing off. Not. Fun.
I kept my mind away from needles, that’s all. Just tried to keep it blank and focus on breathing, and not think about what’s going to happen. That worked to a degree.
So if I am dispassionate in my description, it’s because this is how I deal with being really rather freaked out: I compartmentalize my emotions and retreat.
I think I’d be really worried about you fainting if I were the one to provide wound care. You could hit your head! And have a serious injury, rather than just a tiny hole in your dick. That’s scary.