30 Jul 2012

I received a message from a woman who wanted to know if her VCH was correctly placed, along with some photos:
A Vertical Clitoral Hood (VCH) Piercing with Ring

For comfort and ease of healing, I would have suggested you wear a bar rather than a ring. You are built with what I call a "hill" meaning your hood sticks out beyond your outer labia. This is as opposed to the build I refer to as a "valley" wherein the hood is recessed, and lower than the outer labia.

So that means your ring protrudes quite a distance from your body. This can impact healing through excess trauma, which can cause discomfort, pain, delayed healing, scar tissue, and/or migration.

You may have some swelling, which can make it hard to say for sure, but it looks as though it might be a little off toward the right side of your hood. I'd give it a few weeks to be sure after swelling comes down.

A Vertical Clitoral Hood (VCH) Piercing with RingThe part I can't see in these images is the most important part: where the ring comes through underneath. Due to tenderness, you may need to wait a few days or longer before getting a peek from the underside.

As far as getting it changed out goes, I guess it depends on how it feels. If you are able to dress normally and don't find that this is pushing the ring over to one side, for example, then you might not need to have it changed. However, if you wear any but the loosest of pants, I'd be surprised if you didn't feel a fair bit of pressure from them because the jewelry sticks out.

If you feel that wearing the ring (instead of a bar) is causing damage to the piercing, then you should look into getting it changed.

The image below shows a good VCH piercing, well centered, with a sound jewelry fit. The woman also has a "hill" build, and you can see that the jewelry rests much closer to the body than if she were wearing a ring.

VCH in "hill" build, with curved bar

Update:

The piercee had her ring replaced with a bar. She wrote, and sent photos:

The barbell has made a complete difference and it isn't as sore. Thx for suggesting that. So does it appear to be properly placed? BTW, thx u so much for your help w me thru this process...I'm going to have to book an appointment, whenever you go back to phili :-) any suggestions? 

VCH Piercing, with ring changed out for a barbellVCH Piercing, with ring changed out for a barbell

My reply:
I'm not sure why they put in a bar that is so long, but I'm sure it is still better than the ring. From the angle the bar is resting, I suspect that your piercing is somewhat shallow underneath your hood. When a straight bar is worn in a properly placed VCH, the jewelry tends to lean back toward the body more, whereas yours is leaning away from your body.

When you feel up to it, please send a few from underneath, which would be obtained by lifting the bottom ball so I can see your clitoris underneath and where the piercing comes through in relation to it. See image below.

While you're at it, if you want to send some photos as shown and explained here, I can check you for a triangle piercing. And, if your VCH is too shallow, we might talk about the idea of redoing it so that it is optimally positioned for your body.

Another Shallow VCH Piercing (Marked)

Marketplace

Aftercare Spray

Thumbnail
Buy Now

Get The Book

Thumbnail
Buy Now

Snap Plugs

Thumbnail
Buy Now

Piercing Videos

Thumbnail
Buy Now