I have been interested in piercings for a long time, I got my bellybutton done (since retired) for my 15th birthday, and have been on the look out for something different ever since then. In Melbourne, where every third person in the 'groovy' side of town has stretched lobes and labret piercings, I was lacking inspiration, and as I didn't know about this site, I hadn't a clue what was possible. Then, one sunny winter afternoon, my long search was over, I had found it. The horizontal transverse lobe.
At A Glance Author jeskimo Contact jeskimo@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Mauro Studio Off Ya Tree Location Melbourne, Australia It didn't take any real convincing for me to go through with it, just a bit of saving. I had quizzed the guy I saw the piercing on as to how long it took to heal, pain factor and all that kind of thing and thought I was up for the challenge. Next thing for me to do was to find someone to do it for me! First obstacle. I had no idea what the thing was called! This meant many failed attempts of trying to explain to numerous piercers what the hell I meant, most didn't have a clue. I think that was down to a bit of bad explanation on my part and lack of knowledge on theirs.
Finally I found someone!! Hooray!! This nice lad Mauro from Off Ya Tree in the city. He had never attempted one before, but seemed really keen to give it a go. I saw some pictures of some other work of his, some pretty mad surface piercings, and decided to lay all my trust in him to do the right thing on his virgin transverse run. He had a good long hard look at my ear and discussed all the possibilities with his coworker- what direction to go from, if he could clamp it, all that kind of thing. He decided it was possible, then booked me in for the following day.
The day arrived, after a late night and largish drinking session. I rocked up to the shop, 10 minutes late and was shown out the back. By this stage I was pretty damn nervous and excited, and a little scared as he hadn't done the piercing before. Although I get the feeling he was more scared than I was because of the amount of times he asked if I was ready, I think he was more asking himself!
He drew up some dots, which took a while until he was happy with them. They looked absolutely perfect! I was stoked because after so long I knew I was going to get exactly what I wanted, if he didn't stuff it up. He showed all the tools and the jewelry, answered all my questions and got me nice and relaxed. He has a really calming presence so that was easy. His workmate came into watch, and after much mucking around to find comfortable positions for us both, the time had finally come. He held my ear with one hand, and leaning his arm on my cheek he slowly began pushing the needle through from the face side of my ear. It wasn't at all as painful as I had expected, considering how much fleshy stuff it was going through. I felt it pop through the outer side, and he began inserting the 12 gauge (I think!) barbell. Screwing on the ball hurt a bit, but then it was all over, and I was the proud new owner of a transverse lobe piercing! He told me to wash it 2-3 times daily with salt water, and to remember to use phones and stuff with my other ear to keep all nasties away.
The swelling and redness went almost completely away after about 4 hours, and the pain was totally gone, except for the occasional twinge to remind me of its presence. I couldn't sleep on it for about 4 days but after that it was fine if I was careful. Now, three months on, it still crusts occasionally, but I think some damage was done when I had surgery recently (I've now got bad arse internal piercings!! 8 screws through bones in my ankle!!), because it was bleeding a fair bit for a week. It still hurts now, like I can't pull on the bar too much and squeezing my lobe hard hurts, but there's a lot of healing to do on the inside so it's understandable and easily manageable.
All in all, its great! A lot of people comment on it, as it is a really rare piercing, I love it because it's pretty full on but very subtle at the same time. I would recommend this piercing to anyone thinking about it. It looks excellent if done well and is easy to look after. I imagine an infection would be rather nasty, but easily avoidable.
Up next, the vertical hood! This is gonna take a little bit more convincing........