At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Melissa Studio Another Dimension Location New Port Richey, Florida I had been contemplating a cartilage piercing for quite some time, and finally settled on an Industrial. It was cute, but looked painful. I'd also never had a needle piercing, my two lobes were done with guns at piercing stands in the mall. So I was more than a bit nervous.
Monday I stopped in to Another Dimension and spoke to Melissa, the girl that would be piercing me. She said that my Industrial would cost $60. No problem, I'd be getting my pay check on Friday. She said to stop in the day before I wanted to get my piercing done so they could measure my ear.
That Friday I came in, and even though I knew I would not be getting my piercing that day, my heart started racing. She was over in their clothing shop, which was right next door, and the tattoo guy sent me over. She measured my ear right there after she got done ringing up her customers. She said I'd need a bar an inch and a half long in case my ear swelled. Since I am sixteen, and I didn't want my Grandmother sitting there with me, she gave us a consent form which had to be notarized and brought in before they would pierce me.
The form was notarized, and on Saturday I called to see if my bar was ready. Another girl answered the phone and not only told me that my bar wasn't ready, but that the guy that makes them wasn't even IN. Imagine my disappointment. I had gotten all worked up for it, and I wouldn't be able to get it done that day because I had previous plans for the afternoon.
Monday was the next day they were open, as they take a Sunday family day. I came in with my money, my boyfriend, and my consent form. She said my bar was ready *yay!*. She went in a back room to resterilize my bar, so my boyfriend and I stayed up front looking at tattoo designs. All of a sudden we heard loud music turn on, and I was sure this would be the last thing I would ever hear, as I knew I would DIE on that table. Being that I'm writing this story, I didn't die.
After a few minutes she came out and got me. She led me to the back room where everything was white, except for the chair that was green, and one of the doors, which someone had spray painted on. She asked me which ear I wanted done, and I said my right, even though that's the ear I sleep on. I just thought it'd be easier to take care of on my right side. I laid down on the table so that my right ear was exposed to her. I held my boyfriends hand and Melissa began explaining the procedure to me. She first cleaned off my ears, then told me to expect a pinch. I got a pinch and I was sure it was the first hole, but it was merely the clamp.
After the clamps were set up she told me to take a deep breath, and I squeezed my boyfriends hand. In went the first needle. I felt a little pressure, no pop like people have said they've heard, and then the needle was out. She pushed in the jewelry and that hurt a bit. Then it was time for the second hole. Again I took a deep breath, and in with the needle, and out. That one hurt a bit more, maybe because I knew what to expect, so I wasn't expecting worse. I think expecting worse makes it not hurt as much. Then she backed the jewelry through that hole, screwed on my barbell, and I was done!
My first instinct was to ask her if I was bleeding. She said no, I had only bled the tiniest drop throughout the WHOLE piercing. That made me happy, I was afraid I'd be a really nasty bleeder and she'd never want to pierce me again.
She cleaned a bit of the marker off my ear, and we went out to the front where I paid her the sixty dollars and a ten dollar tip. I would have paid her a LOT more but I only had 72 dollars with me. She deserved probably a 20 dollar tip for being so helpful and minimizing the pain by explaining things first.
For anyone considering the Industrial, make sure that this is what you want. It can be a pain at night when you're trying to sleep. I've woken up a couple times with a sharp pain because I'm laying on it, and in the morning there is a bit of dried blood. But it's worth it.
Next mission: to get my anti-tragus.