Background info: I have an industrial piercing in my left ear, it is a straight barbell that goes through 2 separate cartilage piercings in my ear, one near where the top of the ear connects to my head, and another about halfway down the outside shell of my ear. This piercing has been ranked, until last friday, as the WORST pain I have ever had. I tried to pass out twice while the guy was piercing me, and I swore up down and sideways that I would NEVER do it again. Mind you, I have had 22 piercings total, ears and body included, over the last few years. And that industrial was the absolute worst experience of my life.
At A Glance Author Shadowsbane Contact shadowsbane@gmail.com When It just happened Artist Amy Studio Sadu Location Charlotte, NC And then I saw the fateful picture. Daith ring and a sadu barbell connected... and fell in love. But because of that last horrible experience, I was scared to death to get it done. I normally get my piercing spur of the moment (but never without prior research, I am a good piercee!) after a really bad day, or in this case a REALLY HORRID week. So I pushed my fear aside and decided that Yes, my week had been so absolutely crappy that I was going to get this done.
I get most of my piercings (now ALL of my piercings) at the most wonderful place in the world. It is a little piercing/body mods place here in Charlotte, NC called Sadu. They have 2 piercers and an all female staff. I have been pierced by both of the piercers there as well as one that moved to Wisconsin not too long ago. They all know me on a first name basis, as I am there fairly often either with friends or jewelry questions or god knows what. I love these people. Their place is absolutely sterile, spotless, their attitude toward their customers and clients is one of giving knowledge, not just taking your money and stabbing you with a big needle.
I went in yesterday with THE pic of what I wanted and we talked about it, me and Amy (my piercer). I had 3 friends with me that also wanted piercings, so they all went first, as mine would take the longest. Everyone else's went wonderfully, I watched 2 out of the three of them get done, and it was very cool. Then my turn came up. I was scared to death. But I decided that I was going to get this done, and so I stood my ground. Amy did the Sadu (also called an inner Conch, the barbell that goes through the shell of the ear) first, as it was the easiest. I was expecting a LOT of pain, but it was a quick pinch a LOT of pressure, and a single burst of hot pain. And then it was over.
I think the pain was what kind of pushed my emotional balance over the edge. My week had been SO bad every step of the way, and I hadn't been able to shrug it off, it just stayed with me. That burst of pain was what did it, and I cried laying there on her table. She comforted me, encouraged me, and slid the jewelry in place. It was an amazing feeling, finally being able to just let go of all the anger I had had all week.
The daith (the ring through the fold of my ear) was MUCH harder. She used a wickedly curved needle (I had never seen one before, it was kind of cool!). Amy is so cool about it all though, she went to the mini fridge and got me 2 flat curved stones that they keep in there for me to hold to use as a distraction. And GOD were they cold! It worked, for the most part. My palms and fingers went temporarily numb, allowing me something else to focus on other than my anxiety.
She set up, had me breathe a few times, big deep breaths in and holding them, letting them out quickly in a rush. And when she was ready she placed the needle and had me breathe again. On my exhale, she pushed. The first one did not go through, barely broke the skin. The angle inside the folds of the ear are extremely difficult to get a good pressure with, and no it had nothing to do with her skill, she is a fantastic piercer. She adjusted the angle, letting me know what she was doing, and told me to take another breath. This one penetrated through the first part of the cartilage, but did not make it all the way through to the other side. She told me I was doing great (by this time I was whimpering, not from the pain, but from the whole experience, it was very powerful) and encouraged me while she guided me through one more breath. The needle finally went all the way through and the pain was breathtaking. My daith easily took the place as the single most painful thing I have ever experienced.
Again, I cried, but by this time I was so high on endorphins that my eyes had glazed over and I felt really warm and fuzzy. It really is the only way to explain it, achieving that kind of head space. She continued to encourage me, rubbed my face, my forehead, the tops of my ears a little (mindful of the piercing) and ran one of the cool stones over my neck and upper chest. She pushed the jewelry through and screwed the bead in and cleaned up, giving me lots of encouragement. She told me after I was able to stand and walk around that the daith is the hardest piercing to do both for piercer and piercee. I was SO proud that I had managed to get through it all. And it looks AWESOME!
She could not pierce me with the joined jewelry because cartilage is very delicate while it is healing and with the pressure from the jewelry being joined together, any little bump would pull on them both, causing scarring. Right now, I have a tiny 16 gauge ring in my daith, not capture bead like the one in the picture, but with two tiny beads that screw into either end of the ring, and I have a 14 gauge shorter barbell through my Sadu. When they heal, 6-8 months from now, I will have her create combined jewelry for me, and we will start the task of putting it in.
While my daith was easily 10 times as painful as my industrial, the experience was wonderful. It was a shock to realize that the environment and attitude of the piercer really makes or breaks an experience. The guy that did my industrial didn't care how I felt during the process, I was just another 20 bucks to him. Amy took care of me every step along the way. She never once made me feel like I was alone or anything other than completely welcome. Even when I cried (this is the FIRST piercing I have cried for out of all 20+) she gave me nothing but soft words and told me how awesome it was all going to look when it was over. And yes, for Amy, I would do it again. I loved it.
A very good friend of mine and co-worker is into the surface piercing scene. She had more piercings than I know what to do with, including a madison (the soft skin at the base of the neck) and a nape (the skin on the back of the neck) among other things. She got the top of her arm pierced with a surface barbell and didn't even flinch. But she does not have ANY ear piercings. She is afraid of them, I found out not too long ago, so it was both humbling and a little frightening to know that I was going to get something that even SHE was terrified to get. When I told her that poor Amy had to push 3 separate times to get the daith to go through, she turned about 4 shades of green.
I walked around in my headspace all night last night. The entire experience bordered on a spiritual event for me. It was SO much pain, but it cleaned out all the anger I had from office politics and other worldly crap. With Amy to pierce me, there is nothing that I am not willing to face. It was absolutely awesome, and I very much look forward to planning out other piercings for myself.