Alright, piercings piercings piercings! I've been religiously going to Symbols of Strength (now called Immaculate Concept) for my work. This time when I went, I had a new piercer. Her name was Miza- cool name eh? Anyway, she was very kind and very good at her job. My sister and I were going over spring break to get "matching" cartilage rings. I called the week before to make the appointments, and my mom had to come because my 'lil sis isn't quite old enough to sign her own forms (she turns 16 later this year). Anyway, after we walked in, filled out all the forms and such, we got to choose our metal. I picked a purply-pinkish ring with a hematite bead. My sister wanted a circle barbell, so hers was just plain silver-looking. Both were being pierced at 16ga, and the rings were made out of niobium. We sat down while the autoclave was working, and I had a moment to look around the shop again.
At A Glance Author Janelle IAM Society's_Product When A month ago Artist Miza Studio Immaculate Concept Location Calgary, AB There was a lady sitting a few seats over with a little nose stud getting her first tattoo. All alone, she looked quite nervous. Across from us a guy was picking out a "tribal" armband tattoo from a flash magazine. A group of giggly girls walked in, all wanting navel piercings. Unfortunately, they weren't old enough to be alone. I thought this was kind of amusing- they tried with their fake ID's and everything. A few minutes later, our names were called. I got up, grabbed my sister, and we walked back to the room.
The room was the same as always. White walls, a mirror, massage table, sink, bench, cabinet and tray. She grabbed a package from the autoclave and asked who was going first. My sister blurted that she should go first, because if she watched it happen to me she wouldn't be able to go through with it. I mumbled it didn't matter, and she hopped up on the table. She was quite nervous, which in turn made me a little squirmy. Anyway, Miza put her gloves on, squirted some purple ink into a little cup and used a toothpick to mark a spot on her ear. My sister looked in the mirror, said it looked good, and closed her eyes. She grabbed my hand as Miza unwrapped the needle. She put the ring and the extra ball on her little tray, gobbed a bit of lube onto her needle, and put it against the back of her ear. With a "deep breath in and out" she quickly shoved the needle through in a perfectly straight line. My sister gasped, squeezed my hand, and looked relieved. As Miza pushed the ring thr ough, my sis winced. Turns out that would be the worst part- I get to experience that as well. My sister is a bit of a bleeder, so the piercer stood for a few minutes holding some paper towel on the new hole. After it was fairly clotted, my sister was done! She checked it in the mirror and was quite pleased with her new wound.
My turn...
I sat up on the table and took my purse off. I asked for my marking to be a little lower, not quite at the point of my ear. She said that was fine, and dotted the purple ink a little lower. I doubled checked it, and it all looked good to me. My sister sat on the bench watching with a bit of fear. It hadn't bothered me, watching her get pierced. There wasn't any gross popping of cartilage or anything, so I assumed it would be same for me. Miza cleaned everything up and grabbed the second needle. My ring and ball were on the tray beside the lube. After everything was ready, she told me to take a deep breath in and when I let out she would "slide" the needle through. I breathed out, felt a burning pinch and heard this lovely pop. My stomach turned as I heard the noise, but I managed to keep myself upright. She left the needle in for a moment while she opened the ring a bit. She wiggled the ring onto the end of the needle and proceeded in stretching my fresh hole to fit the jewe lry. I said, "Hmm...this is lovely" as I squeezed my eyes shut. This was definitely the worst part. Or so I thought. After the ring was through, she had to squeeze it shut again...that was worse. It felt like she was ripping it out! Anyway, after all was said and done, I had my little ring cleaned up and it felt nice. I didn't bleed at all like my sister, so I didn't get to sit for a moment extra.
I got off the table, grabbed my purse, thanked the lady and went back to the waiting room. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get that adrenaline high that usually comes with a fresh infliction, but I wasn't going to complain. I went to the counter to pay, and BOOM- it hit me. My ears started ringing and I could hear ocean...my eyes were going all funny and I nearly fell over. I left my wallet on the counter and went to sit down. The guy who was taking the money came over and asked if I was all right, and my mom was panicking. Of course, she thought I was passing out because of the pain or something. I'm still not entirely sure what caused my little black out- but it wasn't pleasant. Everyone was looking at me, and I felt like such a wimp- a little tiny ring and my whole body started freaking out. I nearly started crying, which I thought to be extremely weird! Anyway, after a few minutes, I left my $70 on the counter and went outside for some fresh air. What an ordeal.
After I came home, I checked out my little aftercare sheet. Bactine- check, q-tips- check. I was all set. The only thing I hadn't really thought about was my sister! I knew she went home as well, but I hadn't really talked to her after the piercing. I tracked her down, and asked her a few questions. Overall, she had been fine. She said the pinch of pain during the needle was significantly less than the jewelry, and I had to agree with her there. But she didn't have any complications- no dizziness, nothing. I guess we're all different!
It's been about a month now since I had my piercing done. So far everything looks healthy. It crusts occasionally, and I can sleep on it comfortably now. It feels wonderful in the shower when I can run it under hot streaming water, but the healing process has been quite simple. My sister is the same- no problems. I think I will go back and have a second ring of a different colour placed on top of this one. The extra space I allowed will make it look perfect- and with my newly retired migrating tragus, I think I owe it to myself! Perhaps that will be my summer project...
Closing notes...
This piercing did hurt quite a bit more than the others I've had, but it's also the most satisfying. The aftercare has been simple enough, and I've had no complications. If you're in the Calgary-area, I would suggest Immaculate Concept. It's clean, well staffed, friendly and leaves you with good quality holes! I'm very happy with the outcome and will soon be going back for more.