[I know it said one mod only, but these two went hand in hand (same ear and all) and I couldn't really tell half the story...]
At A Glance Author Courtney Contact heartshapedxb0x@yahoo.com When N/A Artist Jay Studio Damien's City Tattoo Location Westchester, Pennsylvania I awoke that morning overflowing with crazed anticipation. As an early Christmas present my mother was taking me to get an industrial piercing and my daith done. Originally we had planned to stop by the same tattoo parlor (Northern Lights) I had my belly button done at, but my mother ran into a friend and we decided to scurry over to his shop (Damien's City Tattoo, in Westchester).
For starters, I suppose I should give some background as to why I wished to adorn my left ear with these two piercings in particular. I, unfortunately, go to a strict school...so a septum ring and visible tattoos are going to have to be postponed until college. The daith was a discreet, uncommon, incredibly adorable piercing that I fell in love with the first time I saw it (coincidentally, it was on this site). The industrial threw in the individualistic aura without being preppishly (I so just made up a word there) fashionable under my tight circumstances with uniform and such.
Something I noticed was, the legal matters were so much simpler in the state of Pennsylvania than in Delaware. In Delaware my mother and I both needed a form of identification plus a signed statement from the notary (thank god my mother has connections, right?), and of course both of us signed the forms. In Pennsylvania my mother needed some identification and as before we both had to sign the forms.
As Jay, the piercer, was soaking my jewelry (a barbell for the industrial and a captive bead ring for my daith) I picked out a new belly button ring (a black titanium butterfly) and we sterilized and changed that. He had told me there were two ways of doing this. For larger, wider ears they pierced one section, slid the jewelry through; and then repeated the process. But since my ear was small and pointy enough, he could just stick the needle through both holes then slide the barbell through both holes and remove the needle.
So I sat erect in the chair as he cleaned up my ear and my heart was racing by time the clamps were gripping my flesh. He told me to take a deep breath and to let it out when he said to, and to keep breathing. I felt one forceful 'pop' and figured that was the first hole, little to my knowledge I felt a second pop in the same area. I felt a warm gush swish through the crevices of my ear then splatter unto my shoulder. I thought it was just more antiseptic, I then noticed the paper towel he had laid there before beginning was growing crimson. The second hole was very similar, maybe a bit more painful. The industrial definitely hurt more than my belly button had. Not to the extent that I was wincing and in tears, though I hadn't kept up on my breathing so I was growing white and we took a couple minutes before proceeding to the daith.
The forceps pinched a bit, I was surprised he used them. I had heard that the piercing is often done without them. Before he penetrated my throbbing ear, I asked if it would hurt as much as the industrial just had. He said it would just feel "different". And that slightly moving on the ear it always just feels... "different". And that was the truth. It didn't hurt more or less, it just felt "different"; kind of a scraping feeling and seemed harder to pop it through than the industrial. It bled almost as much, a little less.
For aftercare he told me to clean it about three times a day with ear care solution. Not to use dial since it was above the neck. For the next couple of days it was swollen, throbbed a bit, and sometimes resembled the feeling of a heavy headache. Nothing Aleve (*sniff* they took it off the market...) couldn't ease. Overall it wasn't nearly unbearable and I whole-heartedly suggest either of these piercings, particularly the daith, to everyone! :) As of now, my lower hole is forming a tiny bit of scarring, but that's because I have hereditary issues with scarring that I risked when I got the piercing. Another problem I have is, my hair often gets wrapped around the ball that screws and it will randomly get loose and sometimes drop out of my ear, but that doesn't occur too often.
So, recap shall we? It's pretty, it doesn't hurt as much as people would fabricate it to, as of now it's healing pretty well, and it's simply fun to get!