It's like nothing, now..
This is the story of my newest body modifications: the 4th ear piercings. This morning at 11:30am my mother woke me up and announced that we were going to get my ears pierced and her tattoo done. A little mother/daughter bonding experience, if you will. If I had been about 2 years younger, I would've told her "Nuh uh, you can go yourself, I ain't going." But ever since I've dealt with the eerily pleasing adrenaline rush and calming feeling of serenity and oneness with self after getting a lip piercing, I use every excuse I can get to have a needle shoved through my skin and the hole held open with a piece of metal.
We went to Tattoo Lou's of Selden and they took us right away, it wasn't very busy. I signed the form, now not so unfamiliar, handed over my notarized form and I was invited into the back. The sound of tattoo pens buzzed around me, and it smelled pleasingly sterile. Sensory perception is everything, here.
I sat down in the chair, and Angela, the piercer, explained the procedure. She was going to mark where the piercing would be, adjust it as I saw fit, then pierce my ears on the mark and put the ring in. I nodded, this is all old territory, as I've been pierced in the ear 6 times before today, 2 of them being self-done and hurting like all hell. She instructed me to tie my hair back, which I did, as she put on her gloves, took the rings out of the autoclave and readied her q-tip of cleaning solution.
Angela then asked where on my ear I wanted to be pierced, which was right above the existing third hole. She cleaned off that part of my left ear first, marked it and handed me the mirror. Perfect! She commented on how evenly spaced the previous piercings were. Angela tipped my head the other way, cleaned off my right ear, marked it and handed me the mirror again. As I tried to see past the 3rd earring to the mark, she said the one on this ear might be a little bit off because the 3rd hole is crooked. This is fine, I gave her back the mirror and sat back in the chair.
I looked on with imminent glee as she changed her gloves and readied the needle, then Angela tipped my head to the right, put the clamp on my left ear and picked the needle up off the tray. "Breathe in.." I did so. "And out-" She shoved the needle through as I did. Hah! This is nothing compared to the eyebrow piercing discomfort! She picked up one ring from the tray, took the needle out of my ear and replaced it with the ring, then closed it with the small pliers. I felt nowhere near any type of pain as she tilted my head the other way and placed the clamp on my right ear. Angela disposed of the previous needle and took a new one. She instructed me to breathe in, and out again, and pierced my right ear in the same fashion as the left. She replaced the needle with the remaining ring and closed it up. Angela handed me the mirror, and I admired the new additions happily. She briefly explained procedure, don't mess with them, don't scratch at them, be sure to clean them, etc. I told her thank you, tipped her and almost tripped over a chair and several sets of legs on my way out to the front.
I came out to see my mom showing the tattoo man the phoenix tattoo she was to get, and she paused to see the new part of me. She told me they looked nice, and my sister winced, as she always does. For the next 4 hours as my mom's tattoo was done, I walked around the lobby with the site of the piercings becoming sore, then not sore, then sore again, then not sore, but I reassured myself that this would all subside as the others have. Now, it's approximately 12 hours since my ears were pierced, the soreness has subsided and I'm still extremely pleased with how they came out. I eagerly await the morning to see how sleep will have affected their state of being.
As I waited for my mom, I began to wonder why these piercings became so important to me all of a sudden. Maybe it's an addiction to the feeling I get when I'm pierced. Shallow, yes, but still a reason. Maybe its something much closer to my heart, like getting back all the years as a child that I wasn't free to express myself the ways that I knew how to. I still can't place my finger on why. Maybe its a combination of those 2 things and maybe it's something more. I don't know, but it sure feels good.
As I have before, I recommend Tattoo Lou's for your piercing and tattoo needs, if there is one in your area. They're very professional, amazing at what they do(especially tattoos, I should have my mom submit a picture of hers here.), and whether you're a first timer or a veteran, they make sure you're in the least amount of pain possible.
That was my experience. As a last word and reassurance to myself about your aural safety, I do not endorse or recommend piercing your own ears, as it's a great deal of pain (especially using a damn syringe) and the risk of infection is immense if you barely know what you're doing. Okay, that's all. I hope this was helpful to one of you out there.
Disclaimer: The experience above was submitted by a BME reader and has not
been edited. We can not guarantee that the experience is accurate, truthful,
or contains valid or even safe advice. We strongly urge you to use BME and
other resources to educate yourself so you can make safe informed decisions.
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