A daith piercing was not something I'd originally considered when it came to brainstorming what piercings I wanted. Honestly, I thought it was rather funny looking and pretty stupid. But eventually my tastes changed, and I thought they were pretty kick ass. It was then, I decided, in my future to get one.
At A Glance Author Rebecca Contact rebecca_naeve@hotmail.com IAM immolate When A month ago Artist Vaughn Studio Mom's Body Shop Location Haight St, San Francisco CA Over the summer I was supposedly going up to get it done (at a different studio) with my friend at the time. In the end, I ended up not going because I was feeling nauseous, I was sunburnt, sore, tired, etc. I somewhat forgot about it when school started.
That was in July, and come December 17th, I had turned the big 18. I didn't do much to celebrate, but about two or so weeks later I decided to go get my daith done. I called three or four studios, but all were closing within the next hour and there was no way I could have gotten there in time.
The next evening, my sister decided to go up with me. She, her boyfriend and I all drove to Mom's Body Shop, located on Haight St. in San Francisco. I walked in, told the counter girl what I wanted, filled out my form and paid my money. I had about a fifteen or so minute wait, so we all looked at the various tattoo art along the walls.
Eventually I was called back to the piercer's area. His name is Vaughn, and first off I will say he is an extremely nice guy and made me feel very at ease. He promptly went over extensive and thorough aftercare with me, and I was told to use Dr. Bronner's soap (which works wonderfully, I might add, and you can use any scent), Bactine sparingly (if at all), and a saline solution if I could work it into the routine somehow. Apparently, my old standby Dial has an ingredient that can mutate and retard itself which can cause problems for your piercings.
He went back to the front to get a slightly larger CBR, and came back and told me to lie on my side on the bench. He talked to me about placement and then marked my ear. I asked my sister if it looked okay, seeing as I couldn't see, and she said it looked good. He told me to lie down on the bench on my left side with my head facing him. I did, and he bent the needle and talked me through it. My sister was watching the whole time at the foot of the table.
I'd just like to say that whoever has said this piercing doesn't hurt is a complete liar. I dislike pain but I can put up with it to a pretty high extent - meaning I'm no pussy. I've had my tragus, rook, navel and nostril done and none of those were bad enough to the extent that I can say they hurt. This one was almost intolerable. It was a burning, heavy, awful pain that didn't seem to end. I gritted my teeth and tensed up a lot, and it seemed to take forever. It was horrible, and the most painful piercing I have ever experienced.
Even putting the ball in was bad, but he had a VERY steady hand and was as gentle as he could be. I bled a little bit, but nothing a cotton swab couldn't handle.
I sat up and looked in the mirror. It was sticking straight out, but looked great. My ear was red and throbbing as suspected. I tipped Vaughn and thanked him, and he gave me an aftercare sheet and his card, and we were on our way.
The entire car ride home I bitched about the pain; it hurt to smile, and it throbbed incessantly. I took some Aleve and an hour or so later, the pain subsided.
It has been behaving recently, with only one tantrum after three weeks of its birth. Three days ago I woke up and it hurt quite a bit, so I took some more Aleve and babied it with Dr. Bronner's soap and Bactine. I know a lot of people dislike Bactine for various reasons, but I love it - it has helped me heal all of my piercings and has sped up the process, so I will continue to use it.
And although this piercing REALLY FUCKING HURT, I still love it. It sits quite nicely in my ear and it is starting to lay flatter against the inside of my ear. I'm hoping it won't migrate, because I have a somewhat small daith and the risk of migration is fairly prevalent.
Anyway, everyone's pain tolerance is different. Mine really hurt but I'm still glad that I did it. I would also highly reccomend Mom's in San Francisco, and I would definetely reccomend Vaughn. He's extremely nice, makes you feel comfortable, knows what he's talking about, and is very gentle and does a great job. The website is www.momsbodyshop.com