So, I turned 17. And on my birthday, I decided that it was necessary to go and get the piercing that I had been drooling over for a good long 4 months or so. The Daith. Never fear! I did my homework like a good girl. Pros, cons, a clean studio and a knowledgeable piercer. Even though I called six studios, there was only one man did not ask "You want a what, now?" In fact, even though I was definitely mispronouncing the word by a long shot, James immediately (and nicely) corrected me and said, "Yeah. We can do one of those."
At A Glance Author Lilly Contact lillypantsq@yahoo.com When Three months ago Artist James Coleman Studio his former studio, he now works for Flats in Groton Location Connecticut His was the studio I had been madly avoiding, mostly because of the name, 'Tiki Tattoos'. It sounded like a sketchy establishment but as soon as I made my first visit (yes, it was one of many), my fears abated and I was confident that James knew exactly what he was going on about. It turned out that I had first met James a year or two back at another shop in a mad search for henna and I immediately recognized him, which put me at ease. And he claimed to remember me and if he didn't, the lie was a good move to calm the jitters.
It would be one more visit before I got my dream piercing. That night, I ended up going for a tragus on a whim. But that is a whole other story. So I annoyed my father into thinking that I couldn't live without this piercing and he took me over to the shop (again) where he stubbornly sat in the waiting room, refusing to watch the actual process. I proved (through my birth certificate and a photo id) that I was who I was and filled out my paper work. James led me back into his studio and talked with me a bit about exactly what I was looking for, etc. Then he began to get out his supplies, changing his gloves carefully each time he touched my ear again or even if he bumped into something.
The cleanliness of this shop was amazing! Everything was prepackaged, even the tools. James sterilized everything repeatedly and took me over to the mirrored wall to discuss the placement of my daith. I had my heart set on the vertical placement of a CBR but alas, I have very small ears, not defined enough for this placement. Quelling my disappointment, I told James that the horizontal placement of the ring would be awesome. He led me back over to the chair, which never ceased to remind me of a dentist's chair. He marked me, had me check it, and then marked me again. He attempted to correctly place the forceps but again, my small anatomy wouldn't allow it. He sighed before making this statement, "Well, I'm going to have to do it free hand with a receiving tube." My reply: "Oh, sounds like fun...?" A note here about good qualities in a piercer. I'm not sure I would ever go to a piercer who doesn't have piercings. In any case, James is calm and serene; he rarely gets wound up about anything. He uses breathing techniques to calm down his customers rather than joking around. It certainly worked for me.
He bent the needle and placed the tube on the outer mark. As was his custom, he told me to concentrate on my breathing and to breathe...breathe...OW. I heard the crunch of cartilage and extreme pressure as the needle pushed through. The awkward angle made the process slower than normal and as was my custom, I didn't make a sound. Except to exhale sharply. That one had hurt. James took a q-tip and swirled it around my ear, when he brought it away from the piercing it was stained red. In any piercing that I've had (and I have eight) I had never bled, so needless to say, I was a little surprised by the results of the cleaning. The adrenaline high didn't last as long as it had with previous piercings, and soon the aching pain set in but it was bearable and in no way excruciating.
The only problems I have ever experienced with this piercing were swelling (due to irritation) and slight hypertrophic scarring (due to a nickel allergy). The solution to the irritation turned out to be ice. The solution for the allergic reaction was to switch the type of CBR. I went from surgical steel to a low-grade titanium ring and the allergy immediately healed. I would recommend this piercing to anyone who wants it. It is one of my absolute favorites ones and now I love the different placement because as these piercings becomes more and more popular, mine is at least a little bit different. I also recommend James if you live in Connecticut, he now works for Flats Tattooing and Co in Groton, Connecticut.