At A Glance Author silverheart122602 Contact silverheart122602@bme.anon IAM silverheart122602 When Three months ago Artist Jon Studio HTC Location Tempe, AZ It had been one hell of a frustrating day. One of the things that brings me the most pleasure in this world was currently the thing that was driving me insane. I had just been told, for probably the tenth the time, that my tongue was not piercable in its current state. My tongue web came too far forward and none of the piercers I had talked to felt comfortable enough piercing it at a slant. Add to that the fact that I had just been told that the triangle I was also craving would not work with my body as my outer labia were too pronounced and would cause the jewelry to twist. I walked out of the piercing studio wanting to cry. Fortunately, I had enough dignity to wait until I got into the car before the waterworks were unleashed.
It was one of those days though. The kind where you get all geared up for something and you won't be able to sleep until you've gotten it. I had to get pierced that day, there was no question about that. Now it was simply a matter of what. I certainly wasn't lacking a want list, what with twelve desired piercings at the moment. I just had to pick one. Mentally I crossed off my top two (triangle and tongue) and proceeded to the next piercing on the list: vertical labret. Nope. Couldn't get that one yet, as bad as I wanted it, because I knew I'd have a few serious interviews coming up in a few months and I didn't want to sacrifice the piercing, the positions, or both because of a little impatience. Besides, I had other piercings on my want list. The vertical labret could wait. Then it hit me: a daith. A beautiful piercing with low visibility from the front, one in which my interviewers would only see if they were looking IN my ear. As I hadn't yet encountered this in an interview, I decided to chance it.
After dinner, I convinced my friend James to drive me over to HTC in Tempe, even though we were much closer to the Phoenix shop. Distance was no object for me though as my favorite piercer, Katelyn, usually works in their Tempe shop. James, who is well aware of my piercer preference, turned the car in the direction of Tempe and off we went.
When we arrived, the shop was empty and Kat was with us immediately. I told her that if I was piercable, I would like to get a daith. She checked out my ear and said a daith should be no problem, but that she'd have Jon check just to be sure. I have to admit that I was disappointed at first as I wanted Katelyn to pierce me, but as Jon is Katelyn's fiancée I decided to give him a chance. As I was going through the usual pre-piercing hoops (id check, aftercare, paperwork), Jon came out and double checked my ear when I heard the magic words: "I can do that no problem. Your ear is perfect for a daith." After the news I'd received earlier that day, I wanted to hug him. In the interest of not scaring him off though, I refrained and simply grinned stupidly at him.
After the paperwork, it was time to pick out the jewelry. I was given the choice of either a curved barbell or a CBR. I was torn because I loved the tiny CBRs and plan on wearing one eventually, but I've found that I heal better with barbells. I asked Jon's advice and he advised a barbell for healing, which could always be changed once it heals to a CBR. As I had issues with my helix and swelling, we opted for a fairly long 16g SSS curved barbell with an opal colored stone. Now it was time to sit back, relax, and let the autoclave do its thing.
About 20 minutes later, the jewelry and Jon were ready and I was sitting on that familiar piercing chair that reminds me of a dentist's chair. As we went through the cleaning and marking process I found out that Jon is a really cool guy and he was talking and making jokes which really helped me to calm down. For some reason I was more nervous for this piercing than I was when I got my nipples pierced and I could feel my hands shaking with a mixture of fear and anticipation. Once the marks were done, Jon told me to check them and I hoped off the chair and tried to see them in the mirror. I couldn't see them, but I trusted him, so I told him so and climbed back in the chair. This was it.
Jon instructed me to start my breathing while he lined up the receiving tube and got everything set up. I did, but when he was ready I felt like my heart was about to beat out of my chest and my breathing felt strange. My left hand was starting to feel like a popsicle and I had that odd floating feeling like I wasn't getting enough air, even though I was breathing deeply. Jon was great and told me to take as much time as I needed and I mentally slapped myself for being such a nut. This was just a cartilage piercing, so why was I so freaked out? He made me laugh, which really helped my nerves, by reminding me that "Even if there is pain, it will be over like that. I'd snap my fingers, but I don't know how." After about a minute, I felt like I was as ready as I was going to be and said ok. Jon lined up the receiving tube again and I felt the tip of the needle against my ear. Deep breath in and on the exhale, he pierced. By the time I registered there was no pain, only a great deal of pressure, the needle was out and the taper was sitting there tickling my ear. He gave me a few seconds before he put the jewelry in, I suspect just to be sure I was ok, but the jewelry insertion was fine. No pain, just more tickling and I had to make a conscience effort not to laugh. Jon went over aftercare with me again and I tipped him and said thank you before James and I left, me with a huge grin on my face. When I got home that night it took me holding two mirrors strategically in order to finally be able to see my beautiful new piercing, but it was worth it. There it was, hanging out in my ear, glinting happily.
It's not been almost three months since I got my daith piercing and I still love it to this day. So far it's healing well and the most trouble I've had with it was the intense pressure I had for about 24 hours after I got it done. It felt like a tension headache, which for me is annoying, but bearable. The only other issue I've had with it is that the barbell is so long that it occasionally tickles my inner conch area, right behind my anti tragus area. I learned very quickly not to scratch it when it does that though as one good accidental poke was enough to give me a painful reminder the piercing was there.
To anyone considering this piercing, I would recommend getting it if you have the patience to clean it. Because of its location, it's a tricky little bugger to clean until you develop a method that works for you and even then it takes patience as poking the jewelry results in a painful reminder that a daith, like any piercing, does not like to be poked. (For me, the best method I've found for cleaning it is to do a warm 15 minute sea salt soak to draw out the lymph, then gently clean the piercing and the jewelry with my fingers, rinse well, and then use a few q tips to remove the lymph. I've found that placing one end of the q tip against one side of the jewelry next to a hole and gently and slowly twirling the q tip is a great way to remove lymph. I usually double check to be sure I got everything off using the two mirror method just to be on the safe side.) To anyone considering any piercing, I would highly recommend HTC, either their Phoenix or their Tempe shops, as they're clean, friendly, experienced, and all around great people. I've been to other piercing studios and I won't go anywhere else after going to HTC.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email or IM me as I would be happy to share my experiences with my daith or any other piercing I have. Happy piercing!