The day started off the same as pretty much any other day off work I was able to enjoy; beautiful and sunny, I had decided to wander downtown to see if anything exciting was happening. I figured since I had just gotten paid, I would stop in at Juliette's shop to see if she had any jewelry for my earlobes, which were currently at approximately 13mm. About halfway there, I realized she had closed the doors to One. earlier in the month so I found myself heading towards Planet Ink since I knew they usually had a pretty good selection of jewelry. I needed something new - my ears had unmatched plugs in them and getting new jewelry always makes me happy anyway. I also knew that if I was going to be buying a new set, I would likely want to upgauge while I was at it. Why not!?!
At A Glance Author Raevyn Contact raevynstar@hotmail.com IAM insignificunt When A month ago Artist Matt Cottrell Studio Planet Ink Location Ottawa, ON When I walked in, I was greeted by the counter girl who got Matt (the piercer) for me. I told him what I was looking for and that I was hoping to upgauge also. He showed me their selection of plugs and tunnels that was, unfortunately, quite limited. He told me he didn't have any tapers big enough either but should have some within the next week or two. Disappointed but not discourage, I told him I'd check back some other time. Just as I was on my way out, he said something that made me stop dead in my tracks. "The only thing I could do for you is scalpel them". I headed back inside and we discussed price, procedure, some aftercare and what not but when he went to check his jewelry, once again he came up shorthanded. He told me if I was able to find a good pair of tunnels elsewhere, he'd autoclave them for me and do the scalpelling.
He advised me to get a pair of straight tunnels (no flares), as long as possible to accomodate for swelling, and that we should stick to somewhere about 15-18mm. I was totally game so off I went on my mission. I succeeded in finding a nice pair of SS tunnels, 16mm, at a nearby shop. I took them in to Matt for approval; he told me they should do just fine and to give him about half an hour for them to sterilize. Just enough time to eat, and get myself ready for this.
I suppose now would be as good a time as any to give you a brief history on my lobes. I initially pierced them at 10ga about 2 years ago. When I went to bring them up to an 8ga, they got really irritated and swollen- not a good sign for any future stretching I wanted to do. When I was prepared to make my ears significantly bigger,I went to Juliette and we talked about options. I originally planned on scalpelling them but she was honest and told me she wasn't quite ready to do ear scalpelling yet but dermal punching could be done right away. I knew this wasn't a decision to be made without thinking it over as I have several punches done already and we were thinking about doing a 0ga punch for my lobes. After a bit of deliberation, I decided to go with it. We punched them at 0ga as planned and tapered them directly to a 00ga. They healed without problem and I managed to bring them up to a '000ga' before they got all stubborn on me again and would not let me stretch without a fight. I knew that to go bigger again with as little complication as possible, I would more than likely have to scalpel, which is why I waited for quite a while before I decided to go for it. When Juliette closed her shop, I wasn't completely sure who to see for any more piercings as I tend to find one artist I'm happy with and stick with them. If it's not broke, don't fix it, right? But Matt was highly recommended to me, and I knew he had scalpelled Tiffany's lobes to an inch and that went fine, so I wasn't too concerned.
So back to Planet Ink I go, ready to experience (an over-anticipated) more pain then ever. When I got there, my tunnels weren't quite ready so I sat and let myself get psyched up for it all, filled out all the paperwork and paid. When it came time to head into the piercing room, I could feel some butterflies stirring around but I knew I was in capable hands. He showed me everything all set up, everything he would need was in place and he was ready in case things got messy - which was good because I tend to be a bit of a bleeder! He showed me the sterilized, packaged scalpel and clamps and all the fun weapons of destruction...or beautification as the case may be. We talked a bit more about aftercare and healing which was all pretty standard - nothing too specialized or complicated. He was nice enough to ask me if I wanted any type of countdown but I told him I'd prefer if he just did it since I tend to tense up if I know exactly when it's going to happen. He said that was a ll good and just to make sure I concentrate on my breathing. No problem. Let's go!
After making marks of where exactly he was going to cut, he got clean gloves, and a mask and he was all set to go. I think he could tell I was a bit nervous and just kept telling me to breathe. He put the clamps on and then I felt the first cut. It was pretty much exactly as he told me to expect...more of a burning feeling than pain. I felt the second cut shortly after - almost before I could really take in the first one - and then I hear Matt say "well that transfer went nice and smoothly". There was NO way he was talking about the jewelry already being in, was there? I was shocked to find out it was done that quickly. There was definitely more of that lovely burning sensation, but then came that familiar, comforting feeling of blood running down the side of my neck and into my hair. Yes. I said comforting. Like an old friend. :) It took a while for the bleeding to stop, although he did tell me apparently I coagulate rather quickly. Go figure. When that ear was sufficien tly clean and I felt ready to do the next one, he got everything all set up again and was ready to go.
Now, if there's anything I've learned with being obsessed with symmetry as far as piercing goes, it's that the 2nd one always hurts more. I was definitely not looking forward to doing it all over again. This ear was no exception to the 'second-piercing theory'. I think my adrenaline was all used up after the first one because there was no where near the endorphins on my side as there was before. Even after the first cut, all I managed to say was "yep, that definitely sucked.". He told me to just stay relaxed and keep breathing. He did the second cut which wasn't so bad - well, as bad as I was expecting. The pain from this one was definitely certified pain. Throbbing, burning, not pleasant. He put the jewelry in and went about the hellish task of cleaning up my ear, which took much longer than the first one. Just when we thought it had stopped bleeding long enough to put the 0-ring on, it started again, and kept doing so for a while. The cleanup definitely took longer than t he procedure itself, which wasn't a bad thing because I needed that time to just take it all in and let the endorphin rush settle down. Matt actually told me I was pretty quiet for someone who had just gotten their ears scalpelled - ironic considering that's why I WAS so quiet. It was without a doubt alot more intense than I had planned on, but not nearly as painful if that makes any sense at all.
He ended up putting a bit of cauterizer stuff on my ear because the bleeding didn't seem to want to stop long enough for him to finish up, even if it was just minimal amounts of blood (and it wasn't just him being impatient). He actually had alot of clients waiting for him but he was just like "um, yeh, they can wait...", which is a good thing because I know some artists are more concerned with getting more clients and getting money that way than making sure the person in their chair is taken care of and they come back for more. So I was quite glad that Matt was taking the time to make sure I was cleaned up, good to go and a happy customer.
Eventually, I was all cleaned up as much as possible and the bleeding had stopped, but I still wasn't quite ready to head home since I was still feeling a bit lightheaded. Matt told me I was more than welcome to get a drink from the vending machine and chill on the couch in the lobby for a while, which was an offer I took him up on in an instant, since sugar was a definite must. Sitting was a close second. It took about half an hour for things to settle and for me to feel normal'ish again. Within that half hour, I was inspected by one of the other piercers who wants to do scalpelling eventually, and I think I almost scared one girl because she was in to get her navel done and she was scared that all piercings bled like that. I told her they didn't and she'd be fine...although honestly, I was VERY tempted to have 'fun' but I didn't want to incase I sent her running out of the shop crying.
But anyway. All in all, it was a fabulous experience both getting scalpelled for the first time and having Matt work on me for the first time. It's been just over a month since I got them done and they've healed beautifully. The problems I've had have been VERY minimal and I think it was due to the tunnels, but after putting in new plugs for a while, everything settled down. Since then, I've put in Kaos silicone plugs at 5/8" which cause a bit of irritation since the cuts on the right ear were a bit more shallow. It's all healed now though and doing great so I'm quite pleased. I'm very glad I chose to scalpel my ears rather than fight with them and risk blow-outs or even having to completely downsize my lobes like I've seen happen to friends.
NOt to mention I'm very pleased with Matt's work. His bedside manner is fantastic and he guarantees his work so he's had no problem helping me with any concerns I've had with my ears.
He's also since dermal punched my ear cartilage as well as my septum and is helping me upgauge my labret gradually. There's a possibility that I may be moving soon out of Ottawa but as long as I'm anywhere near the city, Matt will definitely be doing any other work I want to get done; or if I move way out of the city, I'll be stoppin by for a visit anyway. I was lucky I found another piercer I trust and get along with so well and I dont want to have to worry about finding a 3rd.