It happened so long ago when the idea arose in my head, an idea so great that it would plague my mind until I would hear the sweet words, "you may now look at your new piercing."
At A Glance Author Sarah Contact happeninghippie77@hipplanet.com When It just happened Artist Cristina Studio Iron Age Location The Loop, St. Louis MO
I am fourteen years old and I have pretty normal ears, I have two holes in my lobes on both ears and that is it. For quite some time I wanted just one cartilage piercing on the top of my left ear. I kept seeing more and more people however, sporting that one cartilage piercing and knew it was not a piercing for me. I wanted something that was unique and different, something no one around here had and finally one day after much research here on BME I found what I was looking for! The piercing was called the industrial and I knew I had to have it from the moment I saw it. I kept doing research on the piercing and looked into piercing parlors that would do a good job on what I wanted done. After all of the easy work was done I had to do the dirty work which was convincing my parents to let me get it done. When I showed my mom a picture of the industrial she was very skeptical as all parents are, my dad was a little less paranoid but he had his worries as well as my mom. It took me about two months of convincing and a two page paper of all the risks and what I would do for this piercing. On Christmas morning 2004 I awoke and found the answer I was looking for nestled in between my TV and Christmas tree, a tiny rolled paper said yes to the Industrial and that was all it I had been waiting for.
I decided on Friday the seventh of January to get the piercing done. One week prior to that date I would be going to the Gatorbowl with my marching band so I opted to wait the extra week to not risk getting an infection. Friday the seventh came closer and closer to the day and I got happier and happier as the days rolled by. Finally Friday came and so did school, I went around school telling all my friends about the new piercing I would be getting and most of them were disgusted by it, but their outraged answers did not sway my opinion at all. When I got home from school that afternoon I went straight to the refrigerator and drank about a cup of orange juice and ate a yogurt to fulfill my hunger. My parents and I left minutes later to Iron Age Studio down in the Loop which is about fifteen minutes away from my house. I had heard a lot of good stories about Iron Age so that is why I decided to go there. As we neared the studio I became a little nervous but for some reason I wasn't nearly as nervous as I thought I would be. We drove our car into the magical, lit up loop circle and there I saw the neon Iron Age sign hanging in their window. I became a little more nervous but I continued to chew my gum, we entered the parlor and there was no wait so I knew it was now or never. The girl at the counter asked what I wanted and I told her I wanted an industrial she was really excited and took a look at my ears, she said they were perfect for the piercing. I was really excited at this point and I signed the necessary paper work and listened to a speech about aftercare. After the aftercare speech my piercer, Cristina, came from the back and measured my ear and got the right length barbell for my ear. She went back to her work area and told me it would just be a few minutes before I would go back and get pierced. At this point I still wasn't horribly nervous and I looked around the parlor at the different jewelry and the long bamboo growing on the counter. After what seemed like an eternity I heard Cristina "\Ãw€ë call my name and I followed her into her work area, she sat me down and made dots and measurements on my ear, my dad came back with me because my mom would have passed out if she witnessed the piercing. After many minutes of measuring and marking, it was finally time to do the piercing. Cristina got out the needles from their sterile packages and asked which hole I wanted her to do first. I told her it didn't matter much to me so she chose the dreaded top hole I heard so many painful stories about. Cristina was very nice throughout the time I had already spent with her and she had an awesome voice that was really calming and soothing to listen to so that made me less nervous. She told me to take a nice breath in and then out, on the exhale I felt a sharp pain puncture the top part of my ear. The pain was bad but it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be. Cristina gave me a minute to recover before she was telling me again to breathe in and out, this time the pain of the second hole hurt a lot more than the first but like I said it was nothing too unbearable. After talking to my dad he said I had two long needles sticking out of my ear before Cristina was able to thread the jewelry through. When she was sticking the jewelry through it did not feel any worse than the piercing itself, which was good. I had a tiny cut just below my top hole from a needle skid but Cristina cleaned it up good and finally let me look at my new piercing. It was INCREDIBLE! It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever endured to go through and it was just amazing to look at. Cristina did a wonderful job with angles and the works and I thanked her a million times for her beautiful work. We went through aftercare once again; I thanked her many more times before I showed my mom the new bar of steel going through my ear. My mom said it looked like it hurt but it wasn't nearly as bad as she expected it to be. The new piercing was finally over and I couldn't be happier with it.
Its been two days now and I am still extremely happy with the way this piercing looks. I have done sea salt soaks almost twice a day and I have cleaned the new holes with anti-bacterial soap two or three times a day. I try not to sleep on the left side and whenever I begin to roll over onto that side a pain erupts my sleep saving me from the more excruciating pain I would feel if I laid on the left side. I have had a little blood, I woke up on Sunday morning to find my ear encrusted with dried blood but I cleaned that well and it seemed ok until later that night. Blood started running down my ear and it wouldn't stop for sometime but that is the only major catastrophe I have had with my new, wonderful piercing.
I have had my piercing for three days now and it is all in all going wonderful! I am so excited about my piercing and happy that I got it. I recommend anyone who wants this piercing to get it, although it is a lot of work and a little pain it is well worth all of your hard work and persistence. If you have any questions email me and I will reply to your emails as soon as time permits. Peace out, and hail to the Industrial my new love!