I have posted here before, but for those who don't know me..
At A Glance Author LiLi Contact eyehatey0u@excite.com When A week ago Artist Mik Studio Body Xtremes Location Quincy, MA My name's Liana, I'm 19 and currently residing in Mass. I have (to date) 15 piercings & it's safe to say that I'm addicted.
That being said .. On to the story!
My story really began when I was 16. I finally had my first "real" body piercing (navel, how exciting) and was completely hooked. I spent hours on this little site, reading every story about every piercing known to man. My attention kept coming back to one -- Industrial. My mother hated it (of course) and since I was still underage, I had to go without.
Fast forward 3 years and several piercings later. I'm now 19, legal to be pierced without Ma Dukes' permission and eager for a piercing that I wanted and was accepted by my work (I'm a waitress). Ear piercings were starting to bore me (I have 13 now, 11 before this experience), but my work doesn't allow facial piercings (I get away with my nose stud because it's tiny). The industrial popped back into my head and I spent quite a few months debating over it. I read so many stories saying how bad it hurt, so that definitely held me off being a giant baby and all. Finally, last week, I came to the conclusion that the pain was worth having a piercing that is quite uncommon in my happy suburban town.
My mind made up, I call up the boyfriend and we're off to Body Xtremes. (For anyone from Mass who doesn't like this place, I say to each their own. Mik has done every hole in my body and I have never had a problem with them. I like him, I like his work, I like his studio.) I walk in around 4:30 and this nice boy behind the desk greets me. I tell him I want an industrial, his response? "Hell yeah, those things are ace." (Smart boy, he is.) He then proceeds to tell me that Mik is on his dinner break, but should be back in a half hour. Uh oh, bad news for LiLi. 30 minutes = more time for me to freak out over this tiny hole in my ear. I spend 20 or so minutes looking over the tattoo designs and trying to ignore the fact that my stomach feels like a flock of butterflies are having a dance party inside. The nice boy (who's name I never asked for) offers to do my paperwork and such, since Mik would be back any minute. I offer up the idea, he measures me for the barbell, I pay, he goes and sets up the room.
Five minutes later, Mik appears and we chitchat as he checks over my paperwork and invites me back. By this time, my teeth are chattering for reasons I'll never understand. I wasn't so much nervous as anxious and when I get anxious, my body does crazy things. Mik had me hop up on the chair and he marked my ear, showing me how the barbell was going to lay. Markings looked good, so I gave him the okay. He goes about cleaning my ear as the nice boy puts on some very good music (what it was, I have no idea) and starts talking to me about random things. Mik asks if I'm all set, I respond with "Let's do this" and :BAM: the first holes done. "That's it?" I think to myself. I felt nothing.....until he does the second hole. Then things got slightly painful. He had a really hard time getting the needle through the top hole (he did my piercing from bottom to top), apparently my cartilage is really tough. It hurt quite a bit and was one of the only times I've actually winced while getting pierced. Mik was excellent in asking if I wanted to stop or needed water or anything, so I give him props for that. Annnnyway, my ear is pierced and the jewelry is through. All is well and good, yes?
Sadly, no. I'm a bleeder. A really bad one, but only with ear piercings. Mik knows this, since he has stuck needles in my body 15 times, but I guess he failed to tell the nice boy that. The poor kid was there for a good 2 minutes trying to get my ear to stop bleeding, while I'm telling him that it's okay and I can take care of it. He finally gives up, handing me paper towels and saying "good luck".
The piercing itself cost me about $65, I believe. Plus I tipped Mik $10 because he's my favorite. I do love the little bugger and I say if you really want it, go for it. The pain really isn't that bad, it's a really hard pinch, but nothing you can't deal with. Right now my ear's pretty swollen, but just the top hole because it gets bumped around a little too much. My advice? If you have long hair, definitely invest in some clips to keep the small pieces of hair away from your ear. And wear your hair up for the first week or so. Hot water makes my ear feel a lot better and the ice helps with the swelling.
Annnnnd, that's the end of my reeeeeally long story.
Congrats if you read it til the end.
If you have AIM and you have any questions, my s/n is SuperRadLi.
Happy Piercing, kiddies! =)