no more gross than the hairdo thread...

[spokes]

...and after that discussion, i almost feel i am more acquainted with the bodies of the ladies on this forum than i am with my own! and it was one of the more informative threads i've seen .

in the spirit of 'no question is too stupid/trivial/personal' i have a personal question-- cycling related, of course.

i celebrated my first month on the bike, in june, by piercing my tongue. i would like to reward myself for my biking progress so far with a genital piercing (hoop through the inner labia). anyone have one? does bicycling irritate it, after the healing period? i'll only get one if it doesn't interfere with biking!! thanks for your input, ladies. (i'd ask my biking guy, but he's not a woman, and i doubt he bikes...) sorry if this crosses your disgust-o-meter, but i warned you! (please be gentle with any "are you a moron" responses, i'm generally a very private person with things like this. )

[Irulan]

I've considered it more than once but I don't know anything about the cycling aspects of it. I've done a lot of web surfing educational purposes, (really ) and if you are discriminating there are some very informative sites out there. Theses site discuss pro/cons, how to find a good technician to do it, differnt types of peircings and so on.

good luck, and no you aren't a moron. ;-)

Irulan

[MightyMitre]

Hi Spokes - not a stupid or gross question at all - very sensible to ask...

Personally I'd probably steer away from piecings in the 'saddle' area, purely because even when it's healed (which can take up to 6 weeks) I'd be concerned about getting knocks or squashed by the saddle. I don't know about you but I can get pretty warm in my shorts, and along with chamois butter etc I'd wonder if it might not be the nicest enviornment for a fresh piecing.

Have you considered belly button, nipple or some other area?

After saying all though, that my boyfriend thinks from his distant memory that the down hiller Missie Giove might have a labia piecing. He's not 100% sure ( his memory is not what it was ) but if so, then maybe it 's not a problem after all. You could always check with the piercing place - see what they think too.

[spokes]

I don't know about you but I can get pretty warm in my shorts, and along with chamois butter etc I'd wonder if it might not be the nicest enviornment for a fresh piecing.

Have you considered belly button, nipple or some other area?

After saying all though, that my boyfriend thinks from his distant memory that the down hiller Missie Giove might have a labia piecing. He's not 100% sure ( his memory is not what it was ) but if so, then maybe it 's not a problem after all. You could always check with the piercing place - see what they think too.

i considered asking my piercer-- i'll probably go to the same guy who pierced my tongue-- but unless he's familiar with biking he probably won't have a clue. i'll still ask, take it with a grain of salt... also i was planning to get pierced in december, so i can take a bit of time off the bike without too much crankyness (i expect the snow will deter me from biking, as much as i like to think it won't).

as to the warm, moist environment-- my tongue ring is doing excellently, so that really didn't enter my mind as a concern, though i'm glad you pointed it out. what i was worried about was chafing, saddle sores, etc. i didn't consider piercing another area because i was mostly drawn to the aesthetics of this one. ialso like to keep my piercings to myself, so to speak (this forum excluded ) and when you exclude facial piercing, there's not much left. oddly enough a nipple piercing sounds more painful to me than the one i'm considering. as for a more long term thing, nipple piercings aren't compatible with breastfeeding, as far as i know, and i'm 25 so i'd like to leave my options open.

I've considered it more than once but I don't know anything about the cycling aspects of it. I've done a lot of web surfing educational purposes, (really ) and if you are discriminating there are some very informative sites out there. Theses site discuss pro/cons, how to find a good technician to do it, differnt types of peircings and so on.

i've looked around on the net a bit, including my body mod studio's site and an encyclopedia entry. this location was the best of the genital piercings i read about (for me anyway), and i'm familiar with a lot of the basics from the tongue piercing experience.

good luck, and no you aren't a moron. ;-)

thanks for the reassurance . i was half-expecting a flurry of mother-style "what the he!! do you want another hole in your body for?!" ... which i worried about for no reason. as usual the te women's cycling forum is very supportive.

[pedalfaster]

Originally posted by spokes

thanks for the reassurance . i was half-expecting a flurry of mother-style "what the he!! do you want another hole in your body for?!" ... which i worried about for no reason. as usual the te women's cycling forum is very supportive.

As the mom of a 17 year old daughter I just had to respond

Actually your piercing idea makes more sense than many. I mean, it's in a private, easily covered area, so no one has to know you have it. You don't have to worry about it keeping you from landing a good job. And, my guess (based on my own experience with piercings) is that if you tire of it and go without jewelery for a few years, it'll probably pretty much "grow over".

Now just don't tell my daughter I had a nose-ring at one point, ok???

[spokes]

omigod!! the voice of reason. somehow i don't think my mother would see it that way... but thanks pedalfaster, for reassuring me mothers can be rational-- as long as its someone else's daughter

[missliz]

Oh, this isn't any ickier, just the next logical segue
I too considered a peircing in the private parts. The peircer I talked to assured me that every girl is shaped different, and the best peircing is governed by anatomy. That also comes into play here- every woman has to consider her saddle and her position on it before adding something new in there. Which is why I haven't done it yet. Or maybe it's middle aged inertia setting in?
I personally would go for a hood peircing over a labial ring, but it just seems to me that the ring would be placed in a good position to make riding hell. That's me. I like a saddle with a full cutout, so the hood peircing would be left alone. And it's supposed to have a cheap thrill factor >D.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's plenty of women riding with a crotch full of metal, but where it goes needs careful consideration. And look at it this way; It doesn't cost a months rent and if you hate it you can just take it out.

Lizzy

[spokes]

yeah, the placement is a conundrum. i was considering a clitoral hood piercing, but that's where i experience the most discomfort already when i'm biking (and seriously, doesn't that sound more painful to get pierced? cringe! not that an extra hole anywhere would tickle). i don't recall any discomfort around where an inner labial hoop would lay when i'm pedaling like mad, so i figured that would be my best bet. one website i looked at explained that they won't even do clitoral hood piercings because the risk outweighs the benefits (ie possible nerve damage vs a bit of extra pleasure). yet i know lots of places that will pierce there--?! well, i'm going to discuss it with my Friendly Neighborhood Piercing Guy when i go to get it done, and we'll see what he says.

[missliz]

Well, everybodies different. A true hood peircing isn't any closer to the important nerves than any other part- but every body needs to stay in their comfort zone. Even body mod folk have one. Do what you are comfortable with.

Lizzy

[spokes]

well, ladies, i did it. i'll avoid any detailed description (because it's mostly self-serving anyway and there are thousands of testimonials on-line. if anyone has questions feel free to message me). suffice it to say my piercer agreed with me about a 'lower' piercing (i.e. inner labia vs clitoral hood) being the better choice for a cyclist. he said i should take a month off biking until it heals-- to avoid 'tearing'. well, when you put it that way, maybe six weeks might not be a bad idea... a break from biking probably isn't a bad idea anyway, as i've been very unmotivated lately (though i suspect it's because of the cold and crappy weather lately). after a month i'll probably be itching to get back on thanks for your opinions and support, it was a big help!!!

[Dogmama]

Just don't wear your ring when you fly. Can you imagine setting off the metal detector...."Excuse me while I whip this out..." (from Blazing Saddles)

[spokes]

actually there were three of us (yes, three) with pierced tongues who went through a metal detector a couple weeks ago and nothing happened. thank god!! apparently they can set them more or less sensitive to avoid this kind of thing. could you imagine an over-sensitive metal detector at a concert? hundreds of young weirdos like myself lined up showing off their metal...the horror! ...although some piercings would definitely be harder to explain than others.