Read this book, or at least browse her website:
https://www.piercingbible.com
Find an APP piercer here
http://www.safepiercing.org/get-involve ... -database/
There are three shops in Minneapolis I see
Talk to the piercer about initial sizes.
Be patient and expect to stretch up after your initial piercing. You need time to heal and develop the internal structure.
I started in 8ga jewelry. I stretched easily to 4ga in 6 months and inextricably locked in Mark's Contender. It was an awesome feeling. But despite the yearning, I was patient. You do need time to heal, regardless. I started fooling around with tethering myself when I was in 6ga.
Talk to Mark, the owner of MCN, via email and ask his advice about the glans armor.
He may be able to do 6ga, but I find the wider steel is more comfortable. Force spread over wider area = less pressure.
Finally, I asked for the hole to be cheated up a bit to allow more room between the hole and the urethra. I said I wanted to size up to large gauges, and that was Elayne Angel's advice. It helps they there's more flesh to carry the weight for heavier jewelry.
