After getting my bellybutton done when I was 14 and a half, and my rook last summer, I figured it was time for something new. Two months before my 18th birthday, I started looking around on BME to decide what to get pierced. Anything below the waist was absolutely out of the question for me, and so was anything on my face. And the nipples are definitely staying unpierced so really, all I had left was my ears.
At A Glance Author anonymous When A month ago Artist Doc Johnson Studio Pleasure in Pain Location Taunton, MA The first time I saw a snug ring I loved it-- I had never seen anyone with it before. Unlike my rook, who everyone and their grandmother now has pierced (I hadn't seen that on anyone when I got it either). It looked painful to me but I already had piercing pain amnesia. I figured Hell, I made it through two before, it can't be that bad. I have such a low threshold for pain and definitely fear it. If it were possible to get pierced without pain I'd do it... but anyways.
I showed my mother and she was far less than thrilled; I got the whole 'why on earth do you want another? All anyone will see when they look at you is the metal in your ears!' Which is kind of funny, seeing as I have single lobe holes with little diamond studs, a helix ring, a rook and a snug- not that heavy on mods! So, to pacify her, I figured I'd wait the two months until I turned 18 and hope it grew on her, but no such luck, so I had to go it without her.
I called the Doc to let him know I would be in on my birthday, and he said he was ready and waiting. So that Sunday after work, me and my cousin Steph drove to Pleasure in Pain to do the damn thing. However, Doc was too hung over and hadn't come in- totally forgetting our appointment. Gravely disappointed, I headed home.
Three days after my birthday, Steph and I headed back to Pleasure in Pain to see the Doc. (He did my rook and two of my friend's bellybuttons so I have lots of faith in him.) And despite his standing me up the first time, my snug piercing only reaffirmed that faith. It was a slow night, so we sort of hung around chatting while he cleaned the jewelry and sterilized everything. Once that was out of the way, he leaned in to pierce me. I, being the huge pansy that I am, winced and pulled away and realized there was no way I could keep my head still throughout this. So Doc let me lay down and at my insistence, held my head down so I didn't move- I'm extremely jumpy.
(Now, I wish I could say I let him pierce me then. But my fear of needles took over and I made him wait. And wait, and wait, and wait, and wait.... Aaaand wait. Thank God he was blessed with the amount of patience that he was. We had about four more false starts before I finally said "DO IT QUICK!")
I laid down and Doc held my head to the piercing bed/chair thing. Some random guy stood at the door to watch, and I told him to move it along because there was nothing to see. I was actually just nervous he could see up my skirt. So the needle goes in, I stammer "f***ing hell, my GAWD that hurts," and then flip the bird to the guy in the doorway who is now laughing at me. I don't actually remember those thirty seconds, but Steph and the Doc filled me in later. And oddly enough, it did not hurt as much as my rook. I had expected it to hurt a lot more but despite my outburst it really was not excruciating at all.
So, Doc put in the jewelry, cleaned me up, we all admired my new snug, took a few pictures and after another twenty minutes of casual banter I was on my way with loose aftercare instructions (as I already knew them and we had talked about them earlier) and instructions to check back in a week.
My snug has been so problem-free. It doesn't even really hurt- UNLESS I get it caught on my shirt. Then it freakin kills. But other than that, I can actually sleep on it without pain and it has made only minimal crusties and hasn't bled. And no infections thus far (a month in tomorrow). I clean it once a day with Dial soap and Bactine unless I forget (aftercare, follow it, yadda yadda. Do as I say, not as I do.) I thought it would get caught on a lot more but it really doesn't.
And surprise, surprise- fewer people notice my snug than my rook. The ones who do notice it usually respond with bewilderment, envy, or bemusement. "That looks so painful," "That is so adorable I wish I could get that done," or "..anything that ain't nailed down." I love it. I'm so glad I got it done. I guess that's it for me though... kind of sad, but maybe I'll change my mind if I see something else I love... so until then...