At A Glance Author soze Contact soze@fork-bomb.com IAM instigator When A month ago Artist Scott Jania Studio Progressive Piercing Location Chicago, IL The last time I was pierced was a year and a half ago: my hood in June of 2004. I had planned on having more work done, but illness stepped in. Now, fully healed and rested, I was ready for more. I'd lost two gunned cartilage piercings over the years in my right ear; one began migrating due to abuse, and the other I removed because it was too close to my lowest lobe piercing and irritating itself due to the pressure of stretching. While at my parents' home in Chicago for Thanksgiving, I had a free day, so I decided that it was time to replace them.
When I went into The Alley, the huge alt-shopping uberstore in which Progressive Piercing is located, I had it in my head that I would have two 10g cartilage piercings in my right ear done in Glasswear Studios retainers, and an 18g tragus in my left ear with a labret piece. But Scott recommended against the tragus, saying that it would conflict with my beloved earbuds too much. I agreed with his advice, then asked about the two cartilage pierces in the right ear. Well, 10g would be okay so long as they had the hardware for it. Scott sent his apprentice into the back: no 10g glass retainers, and no 10g labrets, either. I asked about using CBRs; Scott said he didn't like using CBRs because it would be a curved piece forcing its shape through a straight hole.
Well, what about 12g then? Scott's apprentice came back out and said yes, they had 12g 1/4" three-piece titanium labrets, and yes we'd be able to do it. He said that if I chose to be pierced at 12g, I could stretch both of them in 90 days provided healing goes well. Scott calculated out the price: $42 for the jewelry, and $60 for the service of two non-lobe ear piercings. He ran the autoclave cycle while I paid at the main Alley register to a guy listed on the receipt as "Furious Geoff", and then we were on the way.
The Boyfriend and I went into the piercing room. Yep, the same as it was last time, though Scott explained that he'd recently had the exam table reupholstered (to good effect, might I add). Putting on his purple exam gloves, Scott then took a look at my right ear. He asked whether I'd like to be repierced through the old scar tissue, and I explained that I'd prefer that he use his judgment to make the two new pierces equidistant from each of its neighboring piercings. He marked each point with some gentian, and handed me the mirror: perfect, as always. The Boyfriend confirmed it.
Scott then had me lie down flat on the exam table, my feet flat on the wall, my head turned to the left. While he explained his sterile technique and changes he had made since he'd worked on me, he opened up what looked to me to be an incise drape and put it around my ear to create a reasonably sterile backdrop. Scott then explained that because he was right-handed, he'd like to do the lower of the two pierces first so that it didn't get knocked around when he went to do the second. I was cool with whatever he decided; he was the professional, after all.
"Whenever you're ready," Scott said, looking at me. The Boyfriend held my hand and looked away. After taking a couple deep breaths, I told Scott, "let's do it."
I felt Scott's gloved hands manipulate my ear for a moment, then an almost unbearable pressure as the needle slid through. In one smooth motion Scott lined up and followed the needle through with the labret piece; I may have grunted as it caught for a moment. The disc back pinched as he screwed it on, but the fit was flush to my skin and perfect.
"When you're ready to go again, let me know." I murmured an affirmative, and we went through the same motions. The second pierce actually hurt a little less, even though it was going through cartilage. It may have been because it was going completely through cartilage this time rather than through that weird half-cartilage, half-lobe area that he pierced me through first. The jewelry transition was also much less painful.
Scott dabbed around my ear for a moment, picking up blood, then gently pulled off the incise drape and handed me a mirror. Perfect. Having the spacing correct made all of the other pierces on that ear fall in line. It looked fantastic, and I was much more satisfied than I thought I'd be with the end product. Even though it was two greyish titanium balls poking out in an otherwise plain glass flare sea, it just looked right. I knew at that moment exactly why I save my pennies until I can come visit Chicago and see Scott.
I sat up and we made some idle talk for a while. About our lust for Glasswear Studios jewelry, and the Anatometal bling eyelets I wore. He asked how the flare treated my then-0g holes; I took one out and showed him how I had had a friend take them to his metal shop and machine the flares off. I questioned him briefly on preferred hats for newly-pierced ears, and we concluded that an earflap hat or toque would be the best bet. We went on for a bit, and when we both started making motions towards the door I made sure that I reached into my pocket to tip him $20.
Outside near the counter, Scott marked an aftercare pamphlet with the date of piercing and the size and type of jewelry used. He explained his preferred healing method (dry hot compresses the first couple of weeks, then Leave It The Hell Alone after that), then shook my hand and wished me a good day. I grabbed my coat, my bag, and my boyfriend and skipped out of The Alley to grab an L train home.
One of the factors making my experience a little more uncomfortable than I expected was that my well-meaning perma-lover had decided to perform a little Reiki on me on the sly. Reiki is one of those weird things that I don't believe in per se but seems to work on me anyway. When The Boyfriend performs it on me, I relax significantly, get more sensitive, and sometimes fall asleep. If your reactions to Reiki differ I wouldn't deter you from it, as Scott says it was a good idea.
The most difficult part of dealing with these fresh piercings was that when I'm visiting in Chicago I tend to thrash about a lot more in bed. Couple that with a perma-lover who tends to fail his dexterity check rolls, and you have to be a little circumspect about how you interact with people for a while. The hardest part was keeping from pulling at the scabs. When the jewelry catches on them all you want to do is pull it clear, but when you're healing with the Leave It The Hell Alone method you try to leave them on for as long as you can without moving them, or else you're just setting up for scar tissue.
These replacement piercings were just two in what will be a continuing series of piercings done on me by Scott Jania. He is worth every penny.