At A Glance Author anonymous When Two years ago Artist Jessi Studio Planet Ink Location Ottawa Ontario My interest in piercings began at the age of 13 .At that time I had absolutely no piercings whatsoever due to my over-protective mother. But after seeing the cartilage photos on BME , I knew that I had to have one. Many of the girls at my school had them ; but this did not influence my choice . I wanted it done because I just liked it in general and found it fairly attractive .
Persuasion regarding the matter was minimal; in fact, non - existant. I simply told my parents I wanted one and they both agreed . I'm guessing that it was because getting your ear pierced isn't exactly "too extreme" . Much to my dismay, it is now two years later and I'm still only donning one ring on my entire body . And most likely I'll have to wait until the age of 18 to get another piercing , knowing my parents.
After deciding on a captive bead ring rather than a stud, we drove over to Planet Ink . By then my stomach had begun to do flip-flops , regardless that I was getting something simple pierced unlike a lip or something { which , I know, will never happen while I'm in the house } . When we arrived there at 10:30 am , I wasn't surprised to see that the lobby had quite a long waiting line.Someone was getting a tattoo done, and another was waiting for his tongue. So the guy at the counter told us to come back in an hour or two instead of having to wait.This made me kind of annoyed since I would have rather wanted it done and over with.
After doing some shopping, we returned to find Planet Ink empty and accepting new customers. I told Matt what I wanted and he made us fill out the papers etc. After confirming my age, he told us to wait while Jessi, the piercer, set up and sterilized everything. Too late to back out now. . .
Since this was my first "real" piercing, I persuaded my mother to come with me.Despite being the chicken that she is, she went with me to the back room against her will. Jessi asked me to sit in the chair while he explained the procedure and asked me which side I wanted it on etc. He asked me if I was nervous, in which I responded with a feeble "Yes".After marking my ear and receiving my consent on the placement, he proceeded to swab and clean the area. I'm guessing he must have changed his gloves like 5 times, which relieved my tension a bit. After all, it was nice to see that the place was sterile and well-kept.
He told me to breath in, and then out three times. As I was exhaling for the third time, he put the needle through. The only thing that made me aware of this fact was the sound of the needle going through bone;not very pleasant.But other than that, I didn't feel a thing. Strange, considering that I've read many experiences on BME about horror-stories.While putting the ring in, Jessi game me instructions regarding aftercare, and then we headed out to buy some Spectro Gel etc. In my opinion it was a great deal--no pain whatsoever in return for a pretty ear adornment. I was very curious to know why some people thought that cartilage piercings hurt like hell...because it seriously doesn't! Or maybe it just has to do with pain tolerance.
Unfortunately,after several weeks of having the ring in, I developed a red bump around the front and back hole.This was regardless of the fact that I followed the aftercare instructions very carefully. It was quite sore for a while and bled semi - frequently . Not to mention that it was definitely not pretty to look at and very noticeable; my friends commented about it several times. Yet eventually the abcess shrunk in size and healed after continual aftercare. Apparently it is not a rare circumstance, as I have heard of this occurance from other people .
Anyways , if you are thinking of getting your cartilage pierced, I totally recommend it . Just . . . not with a piercing gun! They are very nasty and can pose the threat of shattering the cartilage . My friend made the error of going to Claire's to get hers done . The people there are very un-experienced when it comes to non-earlobe piercings. Plus I wouldn't be surprised if the guns weren't even cleaned.
Instead ,if you're in the Ottawa area, visit Planet Ink -- Jessi rocks ! The place is very sterile and such , and the people are very friendly and experienced . Good luck and happy piercing !