I did this consultation for a woman who requested a vertical clitoral hood (VCH) piercing but was given a surface piercing instead, which was NO WHERE near where a VCH piercing should go! In fact, it looks much more like a crooked Christina piercing than a VCH! It isn't even located on her hood at all! This is one of the reasons I always show my prospective marks to each client before piercing. Because even if this started out as a mistake in piercing terminology, the misunderstanding could have been cleared up so easily.
If you go in for a piercing--even one that is so anatomically driven--like most genital piercings are--request to see the mark(s) for proposed placement before getting pierced. There's absolutely NO good reason a piercer should keep them "secret" or have any problem with clearly demonstrating the proposed piercing placement to you in a mirror.
I actually wrote an entire article about this for Pain Magazine, which is a body art industry trade publication. I pen a monthly Q & A column for piercers that appears on their website and in print.
Hi Elayne,
I came across your website when I was contemplating getting a VCH piercing. I found it to be a great source of information on this type of piercing and it ultimately made me decide to go through with it. Even though I understood where the correct placement of the piercing should be, when I finally decided to get the piercing a few months ago, I ended up getting pierced with forceps which resulted in an improperly placed surface VCH piercing. Unfortunately, I was wrong to assume that because I had gotten pierced by this same piercer on two separate occasions and was happy with the outcome, that he would know the correct placement of the VCH. It is also unfortunate that he has pierced many women this way. Now I'm left with a piercing that I am unhappy with and question what would be the best way to go about letting them know it was not done properly. Do you have any suggestions as to what action I should take to let the piercer know?
Also, the piercing can at times cause a sharp pain, especially when the jewelry tugs at the top hole, even though I have had it since February and it's healed. Is this caused by the improper placement and should I remove the piercing?
Thank you in advance for taking the time to respond. Your knowledge is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely, R.
Hi R.,
Argh! It always upsets me deeply to learn that someone has seen my website and still ended up with a bad piercing! Sorry to hear that yours was not done properly. The photo above shows something that looks more like a Christina piercing rather than a VCH--it is very far above where a VCH would normally go, which is shown by your q-tip test.
If you wanted a VCH, it will be best to remove the jewelry and abandon the piercing. Surface piercings have a tendency to be problematic and if you're experiencing discomfort from it, that isn't a good sign.
As far as dealing with the piercer goes, you could consider getting copy of my book, The Piercing Bible--The Definitive Guide to Safe Body Piercing, and showing him the section on VCH piercings?
You could print some of the information from my page about VCH piercings.
Is the piercer the owner of the studio? If not, and the piercer is not receptive to your input, I would definitely try to discuss this with the owner. Feel free to share my correspondence with the piercer or the owner as well.
Where are you located? Perhaps I could repierce you or refer you to one of my capable colleagues?
Sincerely,
Elayne
Elayne Angel, Author
The Piercing Bible--The Definitive Guide to Safe Body Piercing
President, Association of Professional Piercers
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