Archive-name: bodyart/piercing-faq/personal-experiences/partA
Last-modified: October 25, 1999 Posting-frequency: Quarterly URL: http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/bodyart/piercing-faq/.html See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge Summary: This posting contains information about body piercing. Anyone interested in the subject and/or who wishes to read/post to rec.arts.bodyart should read the Piercing FAQ first. The rec.arts.bodyart Piercing FAQ is divided into 30 parts: 1--Introduction 2A--Jewelry Materials 2B--Jewelry Sizes & Designs 2C--Facial Piercings & Their Suggested Jewelry 2D--Body Piercings & Their Suggested Jewelry 2E--Genital Piercings & Their Suggested Jewelry 3--Getting A New Piercing 4A--Professional Organizations, Piercing Instruction 4B--Professional Piercers - United States - Alabama - California 4C--Professional Piercers - United States - Colorado - Iowa 4D--Professional Piercers - United States - Kansas - Nevada 4E--Professional Piercers - United States - New Hampshire - North Dakota 4F--Professional Piercers - United States - Ohio - Pennsylvania 4G--Professional Piercers - United States - Rhode Island - Wyoming 4H--Professional Piercers - Canada 4I--Professional Piercers - Beyond N. America 4J--Professional Piercers - Beyond N. America Cont'd 5--Care Of New Piercings 6--The Healing Process & Healing Problems 7--Healed Piercings 8--Historical Information 9--Resource List 9B--Resource List Cont'd 10A--Personal Experiences - Facial & Unisex Piercings 10B--Personal Experiences - Genital Piercings 10C--Personal Experiences - Genital Piercings Cont'd 10D--Personal Experiences - Genital Piercings Cont'd 11A--Jewelry Manufacturers 11B--Jewelry Manufacturers Cont'd 11C--Jewelry Manufacturers Cont'd This section includes: 10A Personal Experiences - Facial & Unisex Piercings 10A.1 Tongue Pierce 10A.2 Labret Piercing 10A.3 Hand Web Piercing 10A.4 Eyelet Piercings 10A.5 Ritual Nipple Piercing (Male) 10A.6 Niehbuhr, or Erle 10A.7 Piercing Inverted Nipples (Male) All texts written and (c) 1999 by Anne Greenblatt unless otherwise noted. Please see Part 1 of the FAQ for information regarding copyright and dissemination of the FAQ. DISCLAIMER! The Piercing FAQ contains material of a sexually explicit nature. The information contained in the Piercing FAQ should not be construed as medical advice. 10A PERSONAL EXPERIENCES-FACIAL & UNISEX PIERCINGS 10A.1 Tongue Pierce by Harry Ugol <harryu@warpten.EBay.sun.com> 1993 I got my tongue pierced last June. The piercing itself hurt much less than my other piercings. The reason the piercing hurt a lot less is that the tongue is different from most other pierceable body parts; the tongue itself is muscle instead of skin. For one thing that means it has no nerves on the inside and few pain receptors on the surface. The striations in the muscle also make it much easier to physically pierce; the needle tends to slip between them - unlike a regular piercing, this one resembles pushing an embroidery needle through a piece of fabric. The morning after the piercing my tongue was swollen and *very* tender, both of which are normal (a longer barbell is initially used for tongue piercings; the barbell is replaced with a smaller one once the swelling goes down). "*Very* tender" means it hurt to talk and it HURT to eat; I was not a happy camper that day. The pain started to diminish within 24 hours. Within two days I was no longer in serious discomfort. The healing regimen for a tongue piercing is slightly different than for most other piercings; Neosporin and Hibiclens and Ivory soap and such are not good things to put in your mouth. Instead, you use a *lot* of [diluted] Listerine - before the piercing itself and after every meal and toothbrushing. I went through a giant-sized bottle in a week. You also use a substance called Gly-Oxide, a hydrogen peroxide compound dissolved in glycerin, which foams up nicely when you drip it on your tongue. Putting anything fun in your mouth other than food and drink is strictly out; aside from the standard still-healing-piercing infection dangers, cocksucking is no longer a low-HIV-risk activity if you have an open wound in your mouth. That phase lasted 6 weeks, I think, although more conservative estimates call for 2-3 months. Like the septum piercing, a tongue piercing is not really noticeable if you don't want it to be. It takes a little more self-control - you have to remember not to throw your head way back when you laugh, and not to stick your tongue out for emphasis when talking - but I haven't had any problems with scaring the horses at work. Nor does the piercing get in my way; since the bar was downsized, it's basically a pair of metal balls riding just above and just below the surfaces of my tongue. Sex with a tongue piercing is a *lot* of fun! 10A.2 Labret Piercing by Anne Greenblatt <ardvark@best.com> http://www.best.com/~ardvark January 1994 My first try at a lip piercing was towards the corner of my mouth, just below the edge of my lower lip. We used a 19ga needle for the piering, installing a 20ga 3/8" diameter surgical steel bead ring. The thin gauge of the ring proved to be a mistake - the second day I noticed the inside of my lip had started to tear upwards. A nasty infection settled in that evening. I drained the piercing as much as I could with hot compresses and removed the ring. The infection cleared with the help of antibiotics. All that's left is a tiny scar just below the edge of my lip. My second and existing lip piercing was done with a 14ga needle, installing a 16ga Labret stud in the center of my lower lip, about 1/2" below the edge of my lip. The labret stud is similar to a barbell. Instead of a ball on the inside of my lip, the stud is backed by a disc about 3/16" in diameter. A ball screws onto the front of the stud. Since the jewelry is inserted from the back, an insertion taper was used in the piercing process. The needle was inserted through the front, then the 16ga insertion taper was inserted into the needle, the taper threaded through the piercing, and the jewelry pushed through, pushing out the taper. Before piercing, the outside of my lip was disinfected with betadine and the inside was disinfected with listerine for 5 minutes and numbed with benzocaine (found in Oragel). The entire process was very quick and a lot less painful than many of my other piercings, including nostril and tragus. Aftercare of the labret piercing included cleaning the outside hole with ear care gel containing benzalkonium chloride and applying vitamin E gel. The inside of the piercing was cleaned with Gly-Oxide, and I rinsed my mouth with diluted (50%) Listerine after eating and brushing teeth. The piercing healed in about 6 weeks. There are several designs of Labret studs available. The most common is the disc-backed stud. A possible problem with this design is that the disc may, over time and wear, become unsoldered from the post. Another problem some people have experienced with the disc is gum erosion, and erosion or "nesting" of the inside of the lip beneath the disc. A full year later, neither the slight gum erosion or niche the disc has formed in the inside of my lip has caused me anyproblems or has appeared to worsen. The other design is the Fishtail Labret. The stud is attached to a "tail" approximately an inch long, bent at a right angle, and slightly curved to follow the shape of the gumline. The ball may or may not be fixed, depending on the gauge, metal and manufacture. Update, November 1995 I have since switched my old externally-threaded Labret stud for a 14ga stud, internally-threaded at both ends. I also added a second 14ga piercing above the first, angled so that the inside entrance is above my teeth. This second piercing swelled considerably more than the first. Since the new piercing has healed I have worn various jewelry combinations. At one time I traded the inside disc of the top piercing for a 5/32" barbell ball, but switched back after I bit down on it a few too many times. Now I wear a stud with a 1/8" ball in the top piercing and a stud with a 5mm cabochon stone (Opal or Star of India) set in white gold. My next purchase will be a thin, short spike to wear in the top piercing. Update, October 1996 In July I abandoned the second piercing because it was slowly pushing one of my front teeth (lower) inwards. I also found myself playing with and biting on the jewelry out of habit far too much. 10A.3 Hand Web Piercing by "Surf" 1994 I'm on my second hand web pierce. The first one (Had it done first week in July 1993) lasted about 3/4 months before it grew out. I'm figuring that was because I had it in my right hand, and I am right handed, so the had got a lot of use. I missed that pierce so much that I had it redone on my left hand in mid- December 1993. It's still with me, and it seems to be healing great. The first time, I had it done at Gauntlet San Francisco. The piercer marked entrance and exit holes on my hand and positioned the pennington foreceps over the marks. The marks were farther back that I had first imagined they would be, but I'd never seen a hand web pierce before, either. Once the foreceps were in place, the piercer stretched the skin out a bit and he shone a light through the skin to make sure that nothing of importance was in the bundle of skin as well. He got the needle lubed with an antibiotic salve and butted the needle against the top-side (back of hand side) of my hand web (oh yes - he disinfected the area first with a betadine pad). He held a cork to the bottom (palm side) of the web and quickly pushed the needle through. I don't remember much pain at all, but then again, I had just had my nipple done (my first pierce ever!) minutes before. Anyway, the piercer got my jewelry ready to insert and in a moment he was fastening the ball-end. I have a 12 ga SSS barbell with a 1/2" shaft as my jewelry for the pierce. The second time around was similar, but there were differences in the technique. I had it redone at Tie Me Down in Milwaukee. The piercer there seemed less experienced, at least with hand-webs, but not so as to scare one off. I forget what he cleaned the area of my hand with, but he soaked the jewelry in Hibiclens to disinfect it. He marked the depth of the pierce noticably deeper than the first time, but that was fine by me. This piercer didn't use a cork on the exit side, and he pushed the needle through from palm side first. For the jewelry insertion, he mentioned that he wasn't used to Gauntlet's barbells where the ball screws into the shaft, but rather the ones where the shaft screwed into the ball. With thal kind he could screw the shaft into the end of the needle for insertion. Because of this, he had problems with insertion and had to guide it in with an insertion taper. Since the taper was larger than the hole, it was a painful little process, but when the jewelry was in, I felt better about the pierce than I had the first time around - I could flatten my hand right away. The first time, it took a few days before I could do that. The aftercare was pretty much the same both times. I would alternate soaking my hand in a solution of hot water and betadine and a hot salt-water solution. Use the betadine soak only if the jewelry isn't gold, though. I would soak about 10 times a day - more if feasable. When the water cooled down, I would reheat it in the microwave and re-soak. I'd keep this up as long as I could. The betadine soaks especially reduced swelling when my hand was acting up. I would try to keep my hand unbandaged as much as possible, but I was wearing them a lot during the first week, and for the first few weeks while I slept. After about 2 weeks, I had an initial healing that would allow me almost normal use of my hand, as long as I watched it and was careful. At first, I would wash the pierce with hibiclens, but am now using an antibacterial soap (easier on the hands and still kills germs). I would still recommend hibiclens on the fresh pierce, though. During the initial healing, I would swab some betadine over the freshly washed or soaked pierce to keep the germs away as long as possible. I had relatively little swelling of my hand web area after the first week both times I had it done. Even less the second time. Now I would even mistake the thing for being fully healed (even though I know it's not inside)! There is no swelling at all anymore. I put lotion on the area when it gets dry (and believe me, the area gets really dry at times after piercing!). If the area dries out, it can get tender and hurt if bumped, but some lotion takes care of that. All in all, I love the pierce. It is my favorite of all mine (eyebrow, hand, nipple, navel, PA) because it is so rare, and it looks wicked. From my expierence, I feel that a lot of people's reservations about this pierce getting in the way are unwarranted. Sure, there are some instances where it would be in the way, but for normal (whatever that is, right?) use, it's fine! I am in Wisconsin and I'm wearing winter gloves all the time with no problems. I was waterskiing last summer and I could hold the tow line without a problem. Pretty much the only hindrance is the time spent explaining to people that I am not totally insane and that it didn't hurt (nonetheless I love to show it off - I'm proud of my metal!). I would expect the true healing time to be 6 months, or a full year just to be sure. The times I mentioned above were my experience only. I've been told I'm a fast healer, so my experiences won't necessarily apply to everyone, but I have had really good experiences with the hand web despite the first one growing out. One last recommendation - however you're handed, don't get that hand pierced. Like I said, when I had my right hand pierced, it grew out primarily because that had went through a lot more use than did my left hand. I just never realized it until I paid that much attention to my hands because of the piercing. 10A.4 Eyelet Piercing by Julian Hurt 1993 [Please note that Julian has much experience with piercings, and that this section is to provide information and in no way is to condone beginners from trying the same. Most people who wish to stretch out their piercings do it the regular way--stretching it a little at a time over a long period.] Rings large enough to fill large (00 - 4) gauge earlobe piercings tend to be fairly heavy. The weights often are sufficient to automatically cause further stretching of the holes. An alternative to heavy jewelry is to wear light- weight eyelets. Eyelets essentially are stainless surgical steel or gold tubes that have been flared outward on both ends. They are hollow in the center and look like narrow grommets. Pleasurable Piercings carries eyelets from 4 gauge to 00 gauge and Gauntlet lists them from 10 gauge to 00 gauge. Eyelets can be worn as the sole insert in a lobe piercing or with smaller gauge rings inserted inside them (thus allowing light weight rings without allowing the larger holes to grow closed). For illustrations of these two styles see respectively _Modern Primitives_ page 176, and page 3 of _Piercing Fans International Quarterly Number 18_. eyelets occasionally are called "earlets" or even "retainers." Eyelets are very effective visually when combined with additional rings or studs higher on the ear. Eyelets are sized by the diameter of the tubing at its narrowest point and flare out so that the outer edge of the flare is the next even gauged size. Thus the flange of a 4 gauge eyelet flares out about 0.025" and requires a 2 gauge hole. In order to insert an eyelet, one needs a hole the size of the outer flange (2 gauge larger than the eyelet size). After the eyelets are inserted the holes gradually will shrink and fill-in towards the size of the eyelet. The standard method for inserting eyelets is to begin with well-healed piercings and gradually stretch them out. (See the FAQ and the article in _PFIQ number 18_, pages 23-30, for information on various stretching techniques.) When they are stretched to the stated gauge of the desired eyelet they then are stretched using an insertion taper of the next even gauge, and then inserted. The taper temporarily stretches out the hole to accomodate the wider flanges, and then when the eyelet is in place, the tissue shrinks to the original gauge. Gauntlet warns, "CAUTION: To accomplish piercings large enough for eyelets great patience is required. Never push stretching too fast or the earlobe can be torn. When the hole is large enough for an eyelet, facilitate insertion and avoid damage to the earlobe by using a convex insertion taper of the next larger size." It is also possible to insert eyelets in fresh piercings. Piercing needles are available up to 6 gauge from Pleasurable Piercings. One could pierce to the next size larger than the eyelet (e.g., pierce to a 6 gauge for insertion of an 8 gauge eyelet) but the eyelets would tend to fall out in normal wear. Anecdotal evidence indicates it is fairly routine to stretch fresh piercings to the next gauge with out tearing by using a well-lubricated (with anti-bacterial ointment) insertion tapers inserted fairly rapidly with a strong twisting motion. Then the eyelets can be inserted in standard fashion by following the taper just as one follows a piercing needle with jewelry. The hole will snap back against the narrow part of the eyelet. In at least one case documented in rec.arts.bodyart postings, a person was innitially pierced at 6 gauge in both lobes and had them immediately stretched to a 2 gauge using the technique just described with a 2 gauge insertion taper. The piercing was done as an experiment by Wild Bill of Pleasurable Piercings at the request of a piercing-knowledgeable customer. As a precaution intermediate sized jewelry was on hand so that the stretching could be abandoned mid-way if any tearing had occorred. The stretching was only slightly more intense than the 6 gauge piercings which were relatively painless. When eyelets are the initial insertions in fresh piercings, care is simple. Sensative Ears is used a number of times daily to irrigate the piercings. In the first few days there may be some swelling so that the flanges pop below the surface of the earlobes. As crusting loosens from the cleaning solution, gently pop the eyelets so that both flanges are outside the hole. Regardless, once the eyelets are properly placed and loosened by the irrigation, grasp the flanges between thumb and forefinger and gently rotate them in the hole. These care techniques were used with the fresh 6 gauge piercings stretched to 2 gauge described above, and they healed without complication in 4 weeks. When eyelets are inserted by stretching they generally remain in place during normal daily activity. But when drying ones ears with a towel, cleaning the eyelets, or sleeping they do have a tendency to pop out unexpecedly. They also are small enough to easily be lost down drains. Thus one is advised not to clean them over sinks, not towel in the shower, etc. One way of preventing loss of the eyelets is to insert small rings or wire through them. 10A.5 Ritual Nipple Piercing (Male) by Phaedrus, edited by Anne Greenblatt 1994 I pondered whether or not to crosspost this to rec.arts.bodyart and I chose not to. Mainly because I am rather unfamiliar with that group, and there is enough non-vanilla in my post to warrant not posting there. If a reader familiar with r.a.b. feels that this experience would benefit that group, then by all means feel free to repost it there. All names used herein are used with the consent of the owner of said name. And if you were there and I did not mention you by name, it is only because I forgot to ask you. It is not because I have forgotten you. Right. Onward. It's been a full 7 days now, and I -think- I've processed enough to be able to post my piercing experience in a more or less coherent fashion. I've been wanting a nipple piercing for over a year now. Some of you here back then may recall when I first posted about wanting one. Part of the waiting has been pondering, part because the time was not right. So the time was right last weekend. Beverly Block had told me that she had been trained in piercing. We had talked about it a little over a year ago, and nothing had been said since. When I saw Bev at a Berkeley lunch on Friday, I asked her if she would do it at a ritual the next night. After lunch and running amok in a certain storefront in Oakland, we headed across the bay to the Gauntlet. It was wonderful having Bev with me. She got into a professional argument about ring gauges for male nipples with a worker at the Gauntlet. And while Bev conceded the point, it felt good having a knowledgable advocate with me. I picked out a beautiful gold ring and Bev specified a needle and something with the ominous name of "pusher". At several points, the Gauntlet person discussed technique with Bev. Most delightful. The next afternoon, I opened the Gauntlet bag and checked out the needle for the first time. I won't say that I came close to backing out, but I will admit that I thought about it. That night at the ritual, after opening circle, Bev told those present that I was to be pierced next. I wanted people who -wanted- to be there to be present. It may sound strange, but I wanted people to be there because they wanted to be present, not because I wanted them there. I have to ponder that further sometime -- there's something odd there. Anyway. I notice that Bev is a little nervous and encircle her bicep to get her attention. We lock gazes, and I tell her to breathe with me. She calms and returns to preparation. I'm a little nervous, mainly because I do not know what to expect. My first piercing ritual, and I'm the piercee. Figures. I feel as if the ring is -already- in place, and the ritual is only matching realities. I have my symbols: a length of black ribbon, an amethyst about my neck, a pewter earcuff. I mention to STella that our symbols are so much a part of us, and she tells me that we -are- our symbols. Once again, dear STella, dead on target. It's time, and I lay down on the table clad only in my standard black playparty briefs. People gather about me, and I make it clear at some point that I -want- to be touched. It was at this point that I closed my eyes and did not open them until I looked at the ring in my body. I concentrate on my breathing and feel the wonderful energy from my friends about me. I could almost sense the boundaries of the safespace that encircled us. Bev fastens the hemostat on my left nipple and it -HURTS-. Goddam, it hurts. The stub-your-toe kind of hurt. Oh, lovely, the needle isn't even present yet and I'm a'hurting. Oh, well, I think. The pain from the clamp starts to subside. I'm conscious mainly of my friends touching me. I can't distinguish who is touching me where...all I can feel is being enfolded in love and caring. Bev tell me to accept the needle into my body, and it flows into me. No sensation of pushing, more like the needle was sucked into me. There is no pain, but rather an intense sensation that I have no name for. There is, however, and ragged edge to this sensation, and I do not allow myself to feel that. Rather, I passed that edge on to my rage which holds an image of my father. Let him feel that ragged edge. The sensation is an icy clarity similar to that clarity that follows a mind- shaking insight. That's the closest I can come to describing it. I hear a most unusual sound, and realize that I am "screaming". I call it a scream only because I do not know what else to call it. I have never heard a sound like that before. It is not coming from any higher level center of my brain. It feels like it is coming from a deeper, animal part of my physical brain. Bev asks me if I want to look at the needle, and I tell her no, thank you, I hate needles. This evokes laughter from the circle. Suddenly a rush starts at my head and travels down my body and I realize that Wolf is out. I feel full of the Power around me, and I hear my body start to growl. A "Yes!" comes from a person over my head, and the circle feels even more together somehow. Since Wolf usually only comes out for self-defense or toppish rather violent lovemaking, I keep an eye on him. This situation is neither and I do not want him loose. He behaves, enjoying the feeling of the Power the ritual has evoked. I'm so busy watching Wolf that I do not notice Bev taking the needle out or inserting the ring. I do notice that something has happened to disturb Bev, though I haven't a clue what it was. There's some sort of blaming going on, so I pull out the old joke about the blame stage of a project should be the -last- phase of a project and we aren't there yet. Bev tells me that I can look at the ring now, but before I do I make a Gift to those with me. I finally open my eyes and look into a small mirror Bev is holding. It is -beautiful-! Just how it is supposed to look. The realities have merged, and that brings me a warm glow of completion. Ah. The gold ball is lost. That was the disturbance earlier. No matter. Even that occurrence feels right to me. The entire sequence of events feels perfect to me. I would not change a thing. The circle slowly dissipates, and STella stays close to me as I slowly rise up in stages. Very slowly. I stumble about the dungeon for a bit, just to prove to myself that I can, then collapse on a handy bed. People wander by and now and again a friend cuddles and talks with me. To those of you who shared this wonderful event in my life with me: thank you. I feel a bond with each of you. And, now that I am back in Illinois, I miss you terribly. It's funny, but all I have to do is look at my ring to remember the feelings of being with you in that circle. And thank you, Beverly. You nor anyone else could have done better. Postscript: the next day, I got an amethyst bead to replace the gold one that was lost. The ring achieved its proper state much faster because the original bead was lost. I am very pleased. And, btw, my nipple is healing -very- nicely. 10A.6 Niebuhr Piercing by Denise "Ambient" Robinson Niebuhr... When I saw the first photos of them, I thought, my goodness, what a STOOPID IDEA. Little did I know I would come to enjoy it immensely. "Why?" people always ask me... Well, my response is so that people will make eye-contact with me(having tremendous ta-tas can be a disadvantage, ya know). My main reason is that its an originality thang. Noone I've ever seen in person has one, and I wanted somethang visible to set me apart. Purely poseur. It definitely receives a high Pain In The Ass rating for many reasons: the actual piercing, healing, and visibility. The piercing itself can be rather dangerous considering the location of major nerve trunks and blood vesseld in the area. Make sure your piercer pinches the area they're about to pierce before poking you to ensure they're not hitting any major nerves. If you feel pain any where other than where the pinch is, ferget it. If you don't have much skin in that location, you may as well nevermind- if you can't go deep, enough, it'll reject *fast*. Apart from the pinch method, thats about the only difference in method from any other piercing. Clean it, mark it, clamp it, poke it. We used a 14ga surgical steel barbell between 5/8"-3/4"long (to allow room for cleaning) with 3/16" balls (to allow me to see around the thang!). I wouldn't use any larger of a gauge, simply cuz I wouldn't like the potential visible bulge under the skin. It shouldn't be a painful piercing. Unfortunately, the piercer to whom I went ended up taking about 3 seconds to get the needle through, having not used a cork (supposedly to ensure it being straight), so I admit that it *did* hurt, but I feel that it *shouldn't* have hurt that much, done quickly. Oh yeah, for the first 72 hours, I experienced caked blood on the balls of the jewelry, hence I recommend holing yerself up for a weekend so's not to freak out your friends... I've used Bactine (Benzalkonium Chloride) to clean mine with great results... Twice a day, and any time I get excessively sweaty or dirty. Healing a surface piercing seems to be a full-time job for about six months. Neglecting it for a few days, or playing rough with it seems to be enough to set it off (but then of course it could be considered to be a good thang - a nice barometer for your health, so long as you don't mind pus excreting from between yer eyes). As for the visibility thang, it can be real frustrating wearing glasses or sunglasses, or having braids or dreadlocks that catch in the thang. If its not 100% straight, boy, is it ever obvious. And if it starts to reject, it ain't a pretty sight. So far I've been lucky, and it seems to be nice and even and straight. I must say, if this actually stays put, I'll be incredibly loathe to ever remove it. Its among the few of my piercings that really feels like it belongs. 10A.7 Piercing Inverted Nipples (Male) by <RINGSOFUN@aol.com> The piercing is actually in the aerola and deep behind the inverted nipple. I pierced mine because they were inverted and was advised that they may develop after piercing. They have done just that and stick out nicely now. To further develop my nipples I re-pierced the actual nipples after they developed. The second piercings were done after about a year of the original piercings. It has now been 10 years and I wear 4 ga rings in my large nipples and couldn't be happier with the results! My nipples were never sensitive prior to piercing, but now they are very sensitive! -- -- Anne Greenblatt Manager of the rec.arts.bodyart Piercing FAQ Piercing Exquisite http://www.piercingexquisite.com User Contributions: |
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