I had my lobes pierced around a month and a half ago to two months ago. I got them done simply to see what it would look like. I am not rebelling or doing this for some spiritual enlightenment, but more power to you if you do it for those reasons. I had decided prior to getting them done that I would only stretch to the smallest size that organic black plugs were available. I had also decided that I did not want to spend all of my money getting stretched multiple times to get to that size, so I was going to get pierced at a larger size and get there quicker. Now, for all who have been dermal punched (I think that's the term they use) at much larger sizes, this was my first time to get anything pierced and I got mine done with a needle. And at least I had enough common sense not to go to Wally World or some other joint like that and get them punched with a two-bit gun that spreads more disease than a boat of monkeys.
At A Glance Author TA Contact TA@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Henry Studio 23rd Street Body Piercing Location Oklahoma City, OK I actually decided to get my lobes pierced on the day that I got them pierced, kind of a spur of the moment deal. I went with my girlfriend to the piercing shop and had her help me decide what size to go at. Needless to say, I left my brain in my car. I work with metal sizes and gauges all of the time through my job, so I should have known what size a 10-gauge needle would be. But again, I wasn't thinking and agreed to get pierced at that. My girlfriend thought I knew what I was getting myself into and her friends thought I was some hardcore champion or something like that.
When it was my time to get pierced, Henry led me to the back room and proceeded to do the usual precautionary cleaning and set-up, which consisted of getting new needles out and new forceps, etc., putting new gloves on, cleaning up the tray, and all of the other really, really obsessive compulsive disorder-type cleaning. He then started talking to me and trying to get me comfortable. He also thought I was aware of the size of the needle. Now remember - I don't know what I am getting myself into.
Henry then marks my ears and asks me if that's where I want them pierced. I told him it looks good and to go ahead. He then told me to take a deep breath and when I exhaled, he pushed the needle through my lobe. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. There was a slight pinch. There was really nothing to it. After getting the jewelry through, he moved over to the other ear. He told me to again take a deep breath and upon exhaling, he pushed the new needle through. This one hurt a little more, probably due to the adrenaline wearing down a little bit. However, it still wasn't too bad. After getting the jewelry in and wiping up any dripping blood, my girlfriend proceeded to tell me how nasty that looked going out the back of my ear and how chunky it was. I asked her to keep the details to herself. I passed a $10 tip to Henry and said my thanks and proceeded to leave with my girlfriend and her friend.
Upon entering the truck, I finally realized how big a 10-gauge needle was (remember, I left my brain in the vehicle). I then remembered that my girlfriend got her lobes pierced with a 16-gauge and stretched to a four. She told me that her lobes stung really badly, so I was very surprised that mine wasn't that bad. I think she was really just a wimp.
So, that's my experience with piercing. I started out just to see what it looked like, got them done at a slightly large starting gauge, and I really like them. I didn't care for the dumbo ears for the following 2 weeks, but we can't have everything we want and can't take back everything we get. I cleaned them everyday and they healed up very nicely. My parents aren't very keen on getting pierced, but they didn't say anything after the first couple of days. My mom commented on how I already had large ears and these just made them look bigger. I explained the process of swelling to her. My father calls them ear-bobs (don't ask where he gets this stuff). But overall, I'm very happy with them and I don't plan on giving them up. However, I have not got any other piercings in mind at this moment. I'll take it one step at a time. But next time, I'll at least remember what sizes are what and not do something until I'm completely clear about it.