Well let me start this off by saying that yes, I am 15 years old and did my research with my parents on the procedure and aftercare of my snug piercing. I know us teenagers have been getting some bad reps because of those teens stretching and modifying without doing their damn homework! Not knowing the risks and not understanding the age limits for body modification by simply saying, "well it's my body, why do they care what i do with it?" BECAUSE YOU DONT! Okay enough ranting...on to my 14g Snug with I might add was my first cartilage piercing, interesting choice to be my first too!
At A Glance Author hXc_mutha_hXc Contact hXc_mutha_hXc@bme.anon When Six months ago Studio Iron Cross Location ON Babcock and Medical Drive- San Antonio After calling around several different shops in my area about the snug piercing, I realized that not many shops here had even heard about snugs (which I found out about on BME). I remember for about a month I couldn't find any shops who could go through with the procedure let alone know what it was. So this began to plague me! Thinking to myself in the mundane hallways of my highschool, "what if no one can poke me?!" a close friend of mind Ashlee came up (who is on her way to modded out at 15 years old with a labret, tongue, eyebrow and stretched lobes, yes all the normal ones) and recognized the confusion on my face! I told her my dilemma and she referred me to this shop that all her friends have gone to and was somewhat reputable called Iron Cross. So I called up the shop and talked to the piercer about my situation and he told me to come in the next day with my parents and identification in hand.
Next morning I was pumped, totally excited and made the biggest mistake I could've ever decided to make. I did not eat a meal at all the whole day. I didn't know that this was a factor in getting pierced because with all the stories on BME I've never once read one mentioning eating a meal that includes sugar before getting a piercing. So I strolled up to the shop and first noticed the friendly atmosphere, we signed our papers, and sat attentively at the "dentist like" chair listening to the piercer explain to my mom and I exactly what was going to happen. He marked my ear where I wanted my beautiful snug. The time had then come.
I sad erect when he washed his hands and put on his gloves. He unwrapped the packaged needle and told me to take a couple breaths and not to think about the pain. Me being very stupid then began to concentrate on the pain and heard the needle crunch through the layers of my cartilage and heard it "pop" on its way out. I sat looking at this 14g needle comming out of my ear in the reflection of the mirror when i said, "I don't feel too good," and passed out. I was in a dream with me walking across a busy highway, when all of a sudden I was hit by a van speeding at 100 tops. That when I awoke to the stinging ammonia at my nostrils, my eyes wandered at I look to see my mom in a state of panic. I gave her the biggest, most humongous smile in the world and said, "I'm okay mom...this isn't the last time I will sit in this chair! I'm okay." I didn't know why I had passed out so the piercer explained to me about the sugar levels in my body and how the body shuts down temporarily when it reacts to subtle unknown amounts of pain. He went across the street, bought me a king size Snickers and told me to eat next time before I go back up there to get poked.
I've had my Snug pierced for about 6 months and it is doing okay. I have very short boy-like hair in which I drown in gel everyday, which is NOT A GOOD IDEA when you first get your cartilage or any ear piercings done because it will irritate it. That factor alone has affected my piercing with up and downs during my healing process.
For all you teens out there who support shops that pierce underage clients, or self-piercing and mutilation. Those decisions, those STUPID decisions can lead to very detrimental consequences. KNOW YOUR SHIT before you get a piercing. And if you are too young to get pierced in your area and want your piercing sooo bad, realize how dangerous it is to get pierced underage. Eat a meal or at least a candy bar if it's your first time getting pierced. REMEMBER: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! Cheap might be all you have to get a certain piercing, but if you are really serious about it and it's not some desperate attempt to be cool and trendy then you'd want it to be durable and long lasting, not cheap and leave infections.