Once upon a time, I said I would never get another ear piercing of any type.
At A Glance Author Alithium Contact Alithium@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Glenn Studio Halo Precision Piercing Location Tucson, Arizona My lobes had made me cry (gimme a break, I was 12!). I hated them; they got infected several times and I eventually took them out and let the holes close. There's still two little slits where the holes were but there is no desire on my part to shove a needle through them to make them current piercings again.
Freshman year, my friend Erikka (who had pierced her own cartilage several times with great results, not to mention her mother's and sister's) offered to pierce my cartilage for me. Oh joy, oh rapture, I would have a 'weird' piercing (being underage meant truly interesting piercings were out of the question)!!
Sitting in her computer chair, she showed me the piercing earrings that she had, all left over from previous ear piercings that she or her sister had done at Claire's. I chose the clear crystal stud and tried to prepare myself for the (unsterilized) piece of metal that was about to be shoved through my flesh.
We thought numbing it with ice would help but the ice hurts!! Note to self: never put ice on skin again!!
Erikka counted down and then BAM!, shoved it through. I yelped. There was a popping sound and hardly any pain. She wiped up the teeny bit of blood and gave me a mirror. Yes, it was in, it looked great, yeehaw!!
Needless to say, it later became infected and turned into a nice nasty little bump on the top of my ear rim.
NOTE: I highly suggest that you don't pierce yourself OR let untrained but well-meaning friends modify your body. And at least use sterile equipment... we were such morons!
Two strikes as far as ear piercings go.
Did I mention I said I would never get another ear piercing??
Well I guess you should never say never...
After having my tongue pierced and gauged (to a 4 gauge) for a few months, I decided I needed another piercing. Badly. Browsing BME, I couldn't really find anything that I could a.) afford and b.) pierce if I wanted to get a job. So after a long, hard thinking session, I decided on a left helix.
I finally got all the money together and one random day, went with my friends to Halo, where I had gotten my tongue pierced a few months before. They said they could pierce with a 16 gauge, which was fine with me. They asked me to pick out a ball to put in the ring and I chose a tiny white cat-eye looking ball. Jeez, the ring looked so small compared to the giant hunk of metal in my tongue!! I waited for about five minutes and then I was in.
Glenn sat me down and talked to me while he prepared to pierce. He marked and I checked the placement: perfect! It was a few centimeters below my original self-piercing. I took a few deep breaths and tried to think about anything but my ear, just as I had done with my tongue. Moments later...
POP!!
... the needle was through!! Yikes, the popping noise was so loud!! He worked the ring in while my ear flushed red and hot. He started to put the ball in the CBR... but he dropped it! Now was my chance to tell him I changed my mind and wanted a stainless steel ball instead. I tried to sit perfectly still to hold on to the feeling of euphoria sweeping my body as he picked a different ball out of the case. He installed the stainless steel ball, told me about aftercare, and sent me on my merry way.
I sat in the car, thinking about putting another hole in my ear, even though I said I never would. Provon, like Biotene with my tongue, became my best friend.
Not sleeping on my left side was very, very hard at first. I always slept on my left side. Rolling over on that ear was not a fun experience in the middle of the night, I tell you what! At least once a week I would wake up with a cry because I rolled over on the ear. Eventually, I learned to cup my hand on my head to keep the ear off the pillow.
It's been a few months now and I am barely starting to sleep on my left side. There are occasional crusties when I get stressed out but other than that, it's healing quite nicely. I'm still religious about Provon, too!
Since getting my helix, I have thought about several other ear piercings, but in the end, I figure my dainty little 16 gauge helix is a nice offset to the huge piece of steel in my tongue and my future labret piercing.
All in all, I must say I'm delighted with my little helix piercing that almost never was. Never say never!