What's that peeking out of my penis?

At A Glance Author Axel Contact Axel@bme.anon Artist Tom Studio Stainless Studios Location Toronto

I saw my first PA while on a nude beach in France in 1984. Oh the curiosity! What's making that guy's penis glint in the sunlight? It's a metal ring, but how does it stay there. Must be an extra hole, but how would you get a hole there? Certainly wouldn't be from one of those ear stud staple guns, maybe it's a homemade job, like my East Indian friend's nose stud... but the urethra isn't as easy access as a nostril, is it? Can he pee O.K. with it in there? Does it feel good to have a ring swinging around with all the nerve endings in that area? I bet it does, but what would people think? And, of course, would it hurt a little, like getting an injection, or a whole lot more?

Well, I had 16 years to get those questions answered, (and many more). When I had a nipple pierced as a rebellious response to a birthday, it seemed like I had unwittingly joined the "secret society of the pierced". Anybody with more than an ear-ring was more than willing to talk about, show, and let me examine their piercings. Interestingly, I noticed that any guy with what I came to know as a P.A., was more proud of, and happy with, the ring in his dick than any guy I'd known with an expensive sports car was of his vehicle.

A week ago today, standing in a bar talking to four other guys, the subject of piercings came up. I mentioned that I'd had a nipple ring for several months which I personally found to be decorative, but neither practical nor pleasurable, and later removed. I didn't get any consensus from the guys on that, but when I mentioned I had gone to talk to a piercer about a P.A., and was seriously considering one, well talk about encouraging words. They ALL had one, and all had stories to tell. By the end of the evening I was over the first hurdle. I had MORE than enough first hand information about everything P.A. I got good feedback on where to get pierced, and who to choose to do it. I also got over the pain issue when I observed that the guy who wouldn't get a flu shot because it might hurt had the closest thing to a chrome horseshoe dangling between his thighs.

The next morning I was up and ready to go, wearing my best supporting but non-constricting underwear and loose pants as I looked up the phone numbers of the studios that came recommended. It was a Monday, and one place was closed, but the other would be open at one in the afternoon, and there was no need for an appointment. I thought one o'clock would never come! Although one of the guys had offered to accompany me, he was at work, and I was eager rather than nervous.

Finally, there I was going up the stairs and into a large room with some comfy chairs, tattoo art samples on the walls, and a glass topped counter displaying lots of different shiny beads and rings and other things. Behind the counter was a friendly young woman with an appropriate look and demeanor (driving over I had been wondering how odd it seemed to walk into a strange place and essentially ask to have a hole poked in my penis).

"I called this morning about getting a P.A." I said, noticing the best piercing studio awards from the local alternative press on the wall behind her. "Read this carefully, answer the questions, and fill out the identification section, and I'll go tell him you're here". She went into the back, and later out came Tom, looking both personally knowledgeable with piercings, and reassuringly sane. We discussed jewelry type, gauge and diameter. I had been told that 10 gauge was a better choice than 12, and that was his recommendation for starting a P.A., so I selected a 10 gauge stainless CBR with a hematite bead for contrast. Diameter depends on both your personal dimensions and preferences he told me, and I ended up with a 3/4" ring. Paid the bill and we were off.

Back we went into a white room with a curtain that was fastened closed after he said to have a seat on the paper covered dentists lounger. My momentary dilemma was whether to take my pants off, just pull them down, or just sit and wait for direction. I picked the middle route and sat on the chair with my pants and underwear down at my knees. As he put on the first of many pairs of gloves, he asked how much I knew about the procedure, and commented on my good choice of underwear (all my questioning the previous day was now paying off).

He carefully examined my surprisingly shriveled dick (it wasn't cold in that room, and I wasn't thinking castration anxiety at all), concluding that the hole should go left of centre and slightly below the head. That was the same spot I had been looking at when I checked out the details of my penile geography that morning. He used a round toothpick with a speck of blue dye on the end to mark the point, wiped me down with Betadine, and regloved, and applied some lube to the receiving tube. From previous medical experience, I knew I wouldn't be liking something pushed up my urethra, so I rested my head back on the chair and concentrated on steady breathing. A little discomfort and the tube was at its destination. "You're going to feel a sharp pick now" he said, and I concentrated on staying relaxed. I was rather underwhelmed by the piercing pain, and I'm not complaining. It was comparable to trying on a new dress shirt having missed one of the straight pins. Ouch and it's over. I had been told there usually wasn't much pain with a P.A., now I know that the zipper on pants is a bigger pain threat to the penis than a P.A piercing.

He reaches to the side table, I feel a little movement, and I'm told the ring is in (I still haven't looked...maybe some body memory about not moving your head when in a dentist's chair). I can see him reaching over and unpacking a large forceps-like tool that was used to close the ring onto the bead. When he said "you aren't bleeding at the moment", I looked down and saw a shiny steel ring arching out of my pee-hole, through a little blue-black bead, and entering a new opening in my non-traumatized looking flesh. My automatic reaction is a big smile, the words "I like it" and a full body rush.

Alas, my joy was to fade as he made me look very foolish by taping a gauze filled latex glove over my newly adorned appendage. A short discussion on why he recommended one brand of anti-bacterial soap, the likelihood and acceptable amount of bleeding to expect, the pro's of good twice daily washing, clean hands, buying a few maxi-pads, and lots of non-acidic fluids, and the con's of ointments, disinfectants, and other people's grubby hands, and I was on my way out.

A quick trip to the pharmacy across the street for supplies, and I was on my way home. Not much later I was debating how badly I needed to pee, but it had to be done. The handy tabs he put on the tape made it easy to get the glove off, and there was no more than a penny-sized blood stain on the gauze. The initial flow of urine stung sharply as it dislodged a little glob of congealed blood, but by mid-stream, it was feeling OK, and there was only a slight pink tinge in the toilet bowl. Peeing discomfort over, I was seeing my new PA in my own home for the first time, and again there was an automatic big grin followed by the words "I like it".

Wrapped it up in a maxi-pad (strange, but the adhesive on the back and "wings" made it easy to adapt into a penis wrap, and I did appreciate the stay-dry covering when it came time to take it off again...doesn't stick). Kept it wrapped and gloved until the next morning, when peeing was much easier, and kept it wrapped and immobilized in underwear until the day after when there was no more blood spotting and I decided to go with just the underwear.

Two problems on day three. Early in the healing there is just no suitable undergarment that doesn't give either a pinching or a banging around feeling, so I let it swing in the breeze around the house as much as possible, and that problem faded in about two days. Secondly, the start of each flow of urine hurt like hell, and I was beginning to think there might be infection. Luckily I noticed that the "gentle" antibacterial soap, was making my hands very dry, and I thought it could be irritation from the soap. I switched to my usual hypo-allergenic, non-soap cleansing bar, drank more water, and the irritant soap was soon flushed clear. A bit concerned that I was giving up the anti-bacterial action of the soap, and having been warned not to goop the piercing up with ointments, I decided to give the little bottle of non-prescription antibiotic eye/ear drops sitting in my medicine cabinet a try. Just takes a single drop, gets into the piercing well, dries up after a while, and caused no reaction at all for me. Been using it for the last four days, and things have healed remarkably well. When I showed a fellow P.A'd friend yesterday, he said it had taken him a month for his piercing to look as well healed up as mine. When I told him I'd masturbated without incident on day three, he didn't believe me.

So , one week later, I'm wondering why I waited so long to get this, I'm thoroughly enjoying the look and feel of it, I'm bemused by the curious lingering looks it gets in the locker room, I'm eager to for the two week mark to give it a condomized test run, and I'm counting the days until I can get an 8 or a 6 gauge ring installed. I've even learned that by giving my dick a half twist, gravity controls the dribbles and lets me use a urinal.

Asking lots of questions allowed me to get the P.A with confidence, now I've got my questions prepared about changing to a bigger gauge (why isn't there more on that experience on this list?).

I'm looking down now and "I really like it".

Still Smiling