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At A Glance Author Gwenn Contact Gwenn@bme.anon IAM mythernal When A month ago Artist Not Sure Studio Eastside Underground Location Utica, MI Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to modify yourself to personal perfection. The first step is at hand: Project Pretty Ears. This message will self-destruct.
All right, so I don't have faceless superiors handing down top secret messages to me. But I have for some time decided to view my ears as a "project" rather than as multiple unrelated holes. Every time I consider adding something new, the first things I thinks about are how it will complement what I already have, if it will add a special element to my growing collection, and if it will be an artistic endeavor to enhance my face overall.
Last month, I started to feel that I was uneven. I had added a tragus and two cartilage piercings in my right ear, but so far only had the old gunned lobe in the left. Advice on what to add came from an unlikely source: my mom. She has consistently been disapproving of, although not an overt hindrance to, all my mods thus far. So when I expressed my dilemma to her, I didn't even expect sympathy, let alone advice.
"You know what would look good, Gwenn?"
"What?"
"Just three little studs on the left lobe, bump bump bump. Like little silver buttons on your ear."
They were words of wisdom. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. I had it planned exactly. My original lobe piercings had been perfectly centered, due to Mom's scrupulous examination and demands at the mall years ago. Also, there is a cute little dimple in my ear where the fleshy part of the lobe ends and the cartilage begins. I decided that the third stud should be in the middle of the dimple, and the second centered in between the other two.
This was a little hard to describe, however, and when I tried to get the second hole, my usually wonderful piercer got it a little misplaced. A week after that, I decided that Rich would be better able to place the middle hole if the third was already in existence. Here is where the problems started. Rich's studio is about forty-five minutes away from my house. That afternoon, my friend Tara and I didn't feel like driving that far. So we decided to get it done at Eastside Underground, where Tara had gotten a tattoo before and really liked the results. After all, it was *ONLY* a lobe piercing, right?
We walked into Eastside and I was a little surprised to see that although there were rooms for piercings and tattoos in the back, the front of the shop looked a lot like a retail store selling clothes, books, and candles. I had expected it to look more like a tattoo studio. Ah well, it was pre-approved by Tara, so I felt safe. A girl walked up from the back and asked me what I wanted done. I pointed to the space on my ear that needed adornment and she gave me the paperwork to fill out. I asked her to pierce it at 16 gauge and she showed me a few rings so that I could choose the diameter I thought would look best.
I paid her $30 and she took my chosen ring back to autoclave it while we waited around looking at the body jewelry. A few minutes later it was done and she ushered us back into the small private room where she would be doing the piercing. She asked me to tie my hair back, and then to lie down. I didn't really feel it was necessary for me to lie down. It made me kind of uncomfortable, and I promised her that I absolutely wouldn't jump. But she said she'd feel better if I were lying down, so I acquiesced. She marked my ear, and I stood up to look into the mirror. I didn't like the placement and asked her to move it a little farther back. She kind of balked and told me that if she went much higher, she would be piercing through cartilage and it would cost me $10 more. I understand that she was trying to be up front about pricing, but when she felt the need to tell me this multiple times and I found it kind of annoying. Finally I just told her, "Listen, I'll pay you wh atever you want, but please just pierce me where I want it."
She got the mark right (it doesn't go through my cartilage) and I lie back down. My face was turned away from her but through feeling and sideways glances I could pretty well tell what she was doing. She lined the needle up and presses it through, no big deal. But then for some reason, she pulled the needle out backwards and set it down. She then proceeded to fumble around looking for the ring and opening it up with her pliers. By the time she was ready to put the jewelry in my ear, of course it wouldn't go. However, this girl was no quitter. She was determined! She wrangled with my ear for a good five minutes, which doesn't seem like a lot, but when blood is trickling down your neck and you hear your piercer cursing and apologizing, you start to count the seconds.
Finally she gives up and tells me that she has to pierce it again. Understandably distraught, the thought of a needle going through my poor tortured earlobe at that moment was not one I relished. I responded unhappily and told her to do what she had to do. She proceeded to pick up the needle she had already used off the counter and push it through the hole again.
Now, I am not a piercer, but this seemed unsanitary to me. I mean, we have single-use, sterilized needles for a reason. I know it wasn't used in anyone ELSE, so it could have been worse, but ick, counter germs! She did it quickly before I had time to think about it or I definitely would have demanded that she open a new needle. I shuddered and tried to shrug off the bad feelings about this. This time, at least, she followed the needle with the jewelry immediately and was able to attach the ball to the CBR with little further drama.
I looked at my new piercing. It was placed correctly, but damn it hurt! It was red and angry looking, and stayed that way for several days. It was very swollen, so much so that I couldn't turn the ring while cleaning, which isn't something that normally happens to me with my other piercings. A couple days later I went to see my favorite piercer, Chris, down in Canada to ask him about it. He advised me on how to take care of it and said that it should be able to heal with proper care, so I decided to keep it. I've had it now for a few weeks, and it's still very irritable. It gives me more trouble than my brand new industrial.
I must say that throughout the whole disaster—I mean, procedure—she was very NICE. She apologized for hurting me and tried to make me feel at ease while she wiped blood off my neck. But sometimes, nice isn't enough. I simply cannot stress enough that you need to be thoroughly comfortable with someone before you let him or her put a needle anywhere near you. Sometimes it's worth it to drive a little farther to see a piercer you trust. Even if it is a "simple" piercing, don't feel bad about requesting to see a portfolio or asking them questions about their experience. Good piercers should have no problem complying with those requests. After all, it's your body and their livelihood. Optimally, you should both be pleased with the results!