At A Glance Author el Contact eLombard@aol.com When A month ago Artist Mik Miller Studio BodyXtreme Location Quincy, MA What took me so long? I've admired piercings forever, so why in the world did I wait until I was 46? I don't know- but I found BME and I haven't looked back.
I decided my initiation into piercing would be a rook or a daith. I looked at picture after picture in the BME gallery but I couldn't decide. It was time to ask a pro.
Just a ten-minute drive from my home is a veteran of the body-mod industry, Mik Miller. Mik was instrumental in getting Massachusetts to legalize and regulate tattooing and piercing so the profession could be free to flourish. He owns and runs two shops; one is for piercing the other is for tats, they are both located directly across the street from each other.
How great is that?!
Before I did anything, I visited his website. I was amazed at what I saw and I walked into his shop three weeks later on a Saturday afternoon. The piercing site is strictly walk-in; the piercing shop is mostly by appointments only.
The young kid at the counter explained what jewelry would be best, a 12g CBR, surgical steel. I read the forms, signed on the dotted line, paid and showed an ID (yeah, really!) and waited my turn.
Maybe fifteen minutes and two pierced navels later, Mik's assistant called my name.
I walked to the back and faced the man of steel. Now if you don't know what Mik looks like- checkout his website.
Mik Miller is a big bear of a guy with nearly every inch of exposed skin covered in ink. He has multiple piercings up and around his ears, through his septum and an eyebrow or two. I'm sure there were more but I was nervous and who's counting anyway? His shaved head and face are adorned with art and for a minute I forgot all about getting punctured with a sharp object.
The room was clean and brightly lit. He had posters on the wall but the ones I remember best are diagrams of different piercings. For instance, there was a poster of an ear describing every possible piercing area you could think of, great for us fledglings.
Mik directed me to the chair and I described what I wanted. A rook would be best, he said.
Mik cleaned my ear and looked at it carefully.
"Ooh, you have a good sized vein right there." My excitement deflated like a balloon,
"I can't get it done?" I whined.
"Yeah, sure you can," Mik said with confidence. "We just want to avoid that."
Mik turned to the items on the table to his right, opening packages and preparing his equipment. I didn't look; I didn't need to. When I give blood or get a blood test I never look at the needle, in my mind it just makes it worse.
As if on an unspoken signal, Mik's assistant reached over and gently held my head, one hand softly on my jaw the other on the back of my head. I don't remember reading any stories that included someone else in a minor piercing like mine but I liked his touch. I found this gesture very comforting and was grateful for it.
I'm unsure if the first sensation I felt was the clamps (I'm not sure if he even used clamps and I never thought to ask afterwards) but the next thing I knew I felt a pinch and I heard the magic words,
"There, all done."
That was it. I swear, all that worry over nothing. It really was nothing. The anticipation of the pain is actually much worse than the pain itself.
You know the endorphin rush that others describe? Well, I definitely had it. My system was flooded with endorphins and they carried me out of the shop, all the way through a nice lunch with my sister and back home again. I felt great.
When I stood up from the chair, Mik again explained aftercare (that's a good thing because I promptly lost the instruction sheet). I tipped Mik and thanked him for his expertise and time.
I will have more piercings but they will not be in my ears. I must confess an ear piercing is not what I had my heart set on that day. I want metal in my genitals. OK, there, I said it!
For twenty-years I've wanted to have my labia pierced. I finally decided to pursue my dream- I found BME's female piercing gallery and knew the time had come.
In May I will visit another piercing shop (The Purple Scorpion) and discuss my options with the piercer, Judy. I've already contacted her. Please don't misunderstand, Mik Miller and BodyXtreme were terrific, the best. I'd return to him for any other area but I prefer to have a woman pierce my genitals. I want someone who possesses the same equipment as I do.
This is more than physical for me, way more- this is spiritual and I feel like a goddess just thinking about it.
I've read that the outer labia are slow to heal. If not the outer labia, then maybe I'll pierce the inner labia or I might go for a ring in my hood. We shall see what Judy says.
I'm counting the days. I look forward to returning and sharing my story as so many of you have gracefully shared yours. Hopefully, I will have as easy a time with my below the belt piercings as I did with my rook. Endorphins, where are you?? The end