I first learned of transverse and vertical lobes while browsing BMEZine, and got interested. I knew I didn't want any cartilage piercings, after wresting through high school I've got some nice thick ears that I'm afraid will be way too much trouble than they're worth, so I started wondering about a half vertical lobe and if that was possible.
At A Glance Author Ben Contact Ben@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Spliff Studio Skinquake Location Bloomington, IN, USA I figured I could drill a hole in my plugs and get the lower part of my lobe vertically pierced, and that I'd get them pierced with the barbell then put the plug in later after it healed. So I asked around and it sounded like it would work, and I ordered some short 14 gauge barbells from Wildcat to do the job. I finally got around to going to a piercer, to Spliff at Skinquake in Bloomington. He's a great guy, really friendly, but told me that I needed longer barbells to pierce with. I knew that the whole time, it just slipped my mind. So I go order longer barbells and wait for them to come...Wildcat's pretty fast, but I was also pretty impatient.
After what seems like forever, I get my barbells, and head back to Skinquake. I hand them to Spliff, and he's like, where are your plugs? I froze...did I have to buy MORE jewelry? I realized my mistake before he even said anything. I needed some eyelets to hold the barbell in place. Just one of those things you don't think about. So as soon as I get home I order some 00g eyelets, not even thinking how it's going to work, just that the balls will fit through the eyelet. They come, and I drill holes in them.
That's when I started thinking about how the hell Spliff was going to pierce the things and get them in. I went through everything; he couldn't really pierce me with the plugs in, there was no way of getting the barbell in. I started to angle the hole, hoping that would do it. I went on down to get it done, and he was just finishing up on a customer. I handed him my stuff and then it hits him that my ears are only 00g. We started going through it. We were at it for about half an hour.
We finally figured the best idea was to pierce down, then try to hold the barbell in place in the plug while shoving it through my new hole, while putting my plug into place. I figured, what the hell, I've been waiting long enough. He promised me something cool at least. So he marks me and it's still going slow. Every second took a minute. Finally the needle was against my flesh. I felt it go through...so beautiful. It was actually the only painful piercing that didn't hurt. I got my ears pierced with a gun (please stop I didn't know and I tell everyone else not to now) and the only others I have are nipples and a navel that was pierced with almost an 8 gauge...the guy told me it was a 10, so that's what I expected.
He gets it in and I sit up to look in the mirror. I bled a little, but other than that it was perfect. It was a pain in the ass, but he had done it. The other ear was even easier. He cleaned me up, charged me less, and told me to come back to get pictures. I think he wrote a song about the experience. It went something like, "I am a badass, I am the coolest dude on earth." So if you need a hole in your body, especially if it could take some magic, trickery, or just pure luck, go to Spliff. He'll fix you up.
As for the piercing, it's two days after and it's perfect. They're straight and I've got my spikes going down. I didn't think I'd like the eyelets, but I just may keep this. The only problem is that my ears are small. I need a pair of pliers to unscrew the ball. I don't suggest anyone to have this piercing because I want to be one of the few. I don't want this becoming the next eyebrow, or navel, or some trendy hole to put in on spring break (yeah right, like someone's going to go through this much trouble or stretch their ears out...). No I definitely suggest it, it's very interesting and cool. The only complaint I have about it is that so far, nobody's noticed it without me showing. Except for the ones that thought maybe I already had it and never asked. I love them already. After a while I was having second thoughts about them and figured, I've got the jewelry already, just do it. So if you've got any unique hole you've been contemplating, do it for sure. But now I think I'm out of holes that I'm truly interested in and it's time to move on to ink.