Whoever said that getting piercings and tattoos was addictive was right! To date, I have two tattoos and fourteen piercings, one of which I just had done earlier today. Fourteen piercings may sound like a lot - I have my tongue, my navel, and six piercings in each ear now. I am not into the look of facial piercings, such as an eyebrow, lip ring, or nose ring, but I love to decorate my ears with fine assortments of jewelry.
At A Glance Author JamicanZ Contact JamicanZ@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Lance Location Fort Walton Beach, Florida I was viewing one of BME's webpages of piercings & was scanning through the 'orbital' section. One picture stood out & caught my eye. It was an orbital through the helix & the rook, and the picture was titled 'UFO Orbital'. I thought it looked very unique, and had already started debating in my mind whether or not I would like to obtain such a piercing in the near future.
Today, which is February 21, 2004, I woke up and decided to persuade my mother into checking out some tattoo & piercing parlors in the Fort Walton Beach area. I knew that it would eventually lead into my begging, pleading, & pestering my mother for yet another piercing, but I simply couldn't resist.
We walked past several shops with bright neon signs stating TATTOOS and PIERCINGS and the like. We walked into one shop, but the piercers said they wouldn't perform on a minor - even with parental consent. We walked a little further down the street & there were even more shops. Sadly, there were so many I can't remember the name of the one I entered, but it was immaculately clean and made me feel comfortable being there.
We were greeted by an older lady who asked what we were there for, and I tugged at my mom's shirt sleeve. As if she had read my mind, she told the lady I was interested in getting an ear piercing. The lady asked my age, and since I am only sixteen, we had to get a notary to sign the consent form. We drove to a Kia Dealership, and were back at the piercing parlor in no time.
Lance came up to the counter, and asked what kind of ear piercing I wanted. I thought of an industrial, but sadly, the anatomy of my ear was not well-suited for the type of industrial I had wanted... that's when I remembered the orbital I had seen in BME's photo gallery. I told him how I wanted it, and he said it would be tricky, as he had never performed that type of orbital, but he was fully confident that he could do it. His confidence led to my relief, but when I was called back, I grew tense & became very nervous.
My mother came with me, and I laid back in the chair with my head turned towards him. He would be piercing my left ear with a 14 gauge needle. I watched him open up each package, and when he took out the needle, all my mother could say was, "OH MY! LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT!" I knew she was messing with me, but at a time like that, the needle did look very intimidating. My mother then begins bouncing in her chair, and says, "You know that it's gonna HURT!!!" My mother was not gaining any points, so I reminded her that she was there to help me - as in for guidance & confidence - to remind me to say to myself 'I can do this,' and 'I think I can'...
My mother stops her prodding at me with scary remarks, and then says, "Think about Little Nemo! He made it safely home..." She starts laughing, and even Lance thought it was humorous. He dotted the place on my ear, and had me check it in the mirror. It was perfect. I lay back down, and could already feel my hands starting to sweat. He clamped my rook, and I felt a tiny prick of where he had partially inserted the needle. I was exceptionally nervous, and this slight prick felt like it was blown out of proportion, and it slightly hurt. He instructs me to breathe, and then I heard the needle tear through my ear for a fraction of a second. Immense pain rain through a part of my ear, and I screamed as if the sky was falling, followed by a couple of nervous giggles & laughs (I have no idea why, but I tend to laugh during some painful procedures).
Lance looks at me, and a couple other piercers from their stations said something. I heard one distinctly say, "Music to my ears..." Lance told me to try to relax, and it wouldn't hurt as bad. Lance had very large eyebrow rings, and stretch lobes, but he had no rook - so he had no idea what I was going through. I closed my eyes and tried to relax.
My mother says, "Think of a happy place!" Lance leans over me and then clamps my helix, and tells me to take a deep breath once again, and then he pushes the needle through. I emit an ear-piercing shriek similar to the one before, and my mom tells me that I was scaring away his customers. Two customers had already left, and a couple others were peeking in trying to see what was going on. Lance slides the jewelry through, and I feel it pinching at the now very-sensitive parts of my ear. He then closes the ring, and pops the ball in, and tells me, "We're done..." I sit up, and gazed into the mirror at my lovely new piercing. It's a fairly gory procedure, but I feel it was 100% worth it.
My mother paid for the piercing, tipped Lance, and we walked through the shop towards the exit. A 20-year old lady who was there to get her navel pierced looked at me with wide eyes of horror, and I smiled and shot her a 'thumbs-up' as we left.
It has been 6 hours since I initially got the piercing, and it doesn't hurt as bad as it did right after getting it, but there is a dull, throbbing pain. I will continue to follow Lance's instructions as to do sea salt soaks, and clean it twice daily with Dial soap. I can't wait 'til it heals, which that'll be a while from now, but I'm fairly patient, and more than satisfied with my new piercing.