When I first considered getting my Prince Albert, it was more for the sake of sex than anything else, let alone something far more spiritualy profound. I'll get to that later, though.
At A Glance Author Peter Contact Peter@bme.anon IAM Amber Strain When Three months ago Artist Blair Studio Reactive Ink Location Toronto, Ontario When I first joined IAM, possibly one of the first pages I visited was mal's. I mean, an avatar that was a penis with a 0ga PA is pretty damn neat, if I say so myself! Anyhow, aside from the general intrigue and enjoyment of reading his page, I found myself thinking about whether a PA would be right for me.
Sure, it looked like fun, but what of all the urban myths surrounding the Prince Albert? When I mentioned to a few people that I was considering this, they would come at me with a plethora of ridiculously asinine questions and comments such as, "You can't wear condoms with a PA", and "Won't you become impotent?" Now, I'm no professional, but I highly doubted either of these theories were possible. Regardless, I did my research, and obviously disproved both allegations, and came out wanting the PA more and more.
After deciding that this would indeed be the next addition to my body, I set out to find a reputable piercer in my area.
Now, I could have just gone to whomever charged less, but that's painfully ignorant, especially since the last thing I wanted to have to deal with was some hack-job of a piercing, all for the sake of a couple dollars. So, I checked out some portfolios, read experiences on BME, and asked the opinions of people I trusted. I focused on Toronto-area piercers, and had narrowed my selection down to two piercers, John from New Tribe, and Blair at Reactive.
As far as ability, both seemed to be extremely competent in their work. It seemed pretty much neck and neck up until I(for the lack of a better word) experienced Blair.
He really gave off a confident vibe. I know it sounds a bit awkward to simply see a person and feel their vibe, but it's pretty much always worked for me, so I went with it. A few days later, I contacted his studio, Reactive Ink, and was told to call back when he'd be in. Fine enough, so I called the next day, and spoke with him. I knew without a doubt that I wanted him to do it. I set the date for the coming Saturday, as my girlfriend was going to Greece the next day for 5 weeks, and it meant a lot to me that she was there with me.
So, I anticipated the day. All week long, I was completely preoccupied with getting my PA done, which was a relief from the impending sadness resulting from my girlfriend leaving for a month-long vacation.
Finally, Saturday arrived. I was beyond excited, and couldn't wait for my 3:30pm appointment. My girlfriend and I spent quite a bit of time trying to find the studio, as it is in the middle of Kensington Market, and that's enough of a maze on a normal day, let alone when you have an appointment you don't want to miss!
When we got there, we sat down on the couch, and waited for Blair. He was backed up with another client, so we had time to rest from walking around in the middle of a July day. He came out, and we met formally, chatted a bit, and just got comfortable. He apologized for being behind schedule, but I assured him it was more than okay.
My girlfriend and I went to his room with him, which was extremely well decorated. Pictures of Tribes on the walls, various crafts around the room, and making me smile was the Aphex Twin disc that he had sitting out. Just from being there, I'd met a man who obviously loves the art he provides people with, without him saying a single word about it. It was also reassuring that Blair grew up in the same area as I did, proving that not everyone in the area will wind up being stuck there for life.
So, finally, we got down to the piercing. Blair made the procedure very clear, from what he'll be doing with the Xylocaine Jelly to showing me the equipment he'd be using on me. He answered every question I could possibly ask him, and really got me comfortable. He had me up on the table, where I got a bit of nervous laughter once I dropped my bottoms. He checked out the situation, decided which side he'd pierce(he chose the right-hand side), and marked it.
He prepared the Q-tip with the Xylocaine, which he inserted into my urethra. Having never had something placed within my urethra, it was an interesting feeling. He left it in, which gave me a laugh from seeing my penis with a Q-tip sticking out of it. The Xylocaine had kicked in, and my glans was completely numbed. Blair placed the receiving tube in my Glans, matching the tube with the black dot of where the needle would enter.
He showed me the needle. He had earlier explained why 8ga needles were his starting gauge of choice, being that the were small enough to not leave the little flap of skin, and large enough that if it got pulled, I wouldn't be receiving a home-meatotomy!
As he stood over me, needle in gloved hand, my girlfriend holding my hand(the poor dear's hand must've been crushed by me!), I went completely red. My girlfriend said that my eyes literally bugged out. When she looked down, thinking the needle had been put in, Blair had merely put it just lightly on the dot.
"Uhh, just let me know when you want me to put the needle in." Blair told me. I think I kind of waved a go ahead, and braced for it.
To be quite honest, if I had known it would hurt that little, I would have stretched out a bit. It wasn't the most pleasant feeling, but I would have to consider it as the least painful piercing I've experienced.
When Blair told me that the CBR was in, I sat up, took a look, and just fell right in love with it. Aside from the rush and thrill of it all, I just felt wonderful.
I thanked Blair(profusely), paid him, and went out for Thai food and so on. There wasn't any real bleeding throughout the day, which I would assume was from the bit of swelling. When I got home to shower, I noticed the swelling had lessened just enough to bleed all over my pants.
I had to pee, so I did that with a great deal of agony. The pee pain went on for about a week and a half. Afterwards, I ran the water, and hopped into the shower. That was quite an experience in itself. My first shower with my PA proved very difficult. In the 30 minutes I was in, I'd whited-out three times. It wasn't painful, just extremely awkward. I managed to keep myself conscious(go on, I'd like to see you try explaining to mom and dad why you have a ring in your glans that is bleeding, as they make sure you're not dead in the shower!) and clean up the piercing. I got out, dried off, and hoped that the next shower would be slightly less dangerous.
I was excited to finally get to show my girlfriend my PA when I got to her house. I dropped my bottoms, and where a clean, slightly swollen PA was, a blood-dripping, slightly swollen PA appeared. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly the greatest first impression of the Prince Albert that she had. What was worse was that it would be the strongest image of my penis she'd have with her in her travels to Europe in the coming five weeks.
In the coming days, I realised that my PA was far more important than I initially believe it would be. Before, I had a problem with my body. I always felt completely awkward, even on my best days. Possibly this was from my good Roman Catholic upbringing. After years and years of being told that my nude body is sinful, and that nudity in general should be frowned upon, I finally shed that belief from my mind. Physically, I feel that I look great, which is something that probably surprised me the most. Spiritually, though, my body truly became that - mine. I really became at ease with myself, and stopped fearing that my naked body was some evil thing that will just lead me into something awful and wicked.
Anyhow, as far as healing went, I'd say I had zero problems. Blair recommended Spectro-Jel for cleaning. I have to say, it is without a doubt in my mind, the best product I've used. Aside from Spectro-Jel, salt soaks at night worked wonders for me.
(note: if you don't want to know about my sex life, skip this paragraph)
He said that sexual contact should be left alone for preferably six weeks, with a minimum of two weeks. Thankfully, my girlfriend was gone for five weeks, giving ample time to heal. After about three and a half weeks of being rather virginal, I decided to try masturbating. It was extremely sensitive. It stung a bit, but overall was amazing. The next week, I tried again, but it actually hurt much more this time. I left it alone till about the fifth week, when it didn't hurt whatsoever, and felt even more amazing. When it came to sex, the only issue was the not-so-good sensitivity of having the CBR under vaginal pressure(again, for lack of a better term). Now, four months after having the piercing done, sex, in my opinion, feels much better.Overall, my Prince Albert helped me more than I ever thought would be possible. It helped me be happy with myself, and toss out those falsely learned beliefs that your body is something to hide and be ashamed of. In fact, your body is beautiful. Don't listen to anyone who would say otherwise, because morality, for the most part, is just a popular opinion.