At A Glance
Author	Cloud
Contact	Cloud@bme.anon
IAM	Cloud
When	It just happened
Artist	Jesse Orozco
Studio	Sinister Pleasures
Location	El Paso, Texas

I'd like to tell you about my sixteenth piercing, a helix, done by a promising young local piercer in January 2006. As a reward for bearing with my rather long buildup before the actual piercing, there will be pics. Here's one:

In case you're confused, the big blond on the right is me, and I've been variously described in this picture as looking happy (I was) or looking like a scared rabbit (which I really wasn't!). The piercer's name is Jesse Orozco, and the name of the studio is Sinister Pleasures.

BACKGROUND: After my initial experiences with tattoos and piercings, I learned to be much more selective in choosing my body art practitioners. Body piercing in particular has become a passion of mine, and after several years of researching the subject and getting pierced, there simply has been no one in El Paso who possesses the necessary skill or attitude. I've been to all the local studios hoping to at least find a piercer to help with jewelry changes or minor problems. The last one I tried here was a tattoo artist obviously pressed into doing piercings by default. He pinched my ears with the pliers during a simple jewelry stretch and insertion, and furthermore had no piercings. When I asked him about it, he said, "Well, I used to have piercings, but took them out. They're just not my thing." If you're as serious about piercings as I am, why would you be pierced by someone who isn't passionate about the subject? That's why it's normal for me to travel hundreds of miles away from my little isolated town in the desert for body art.

Therefore, although I was interested when I noticed a new sign in my neighborhood, "Tattoos and Body Piercing," I was not too hopeful. However, I was in for a pleasant surprise. I visited the studio on a Saturday afternoon and met Jesse and Albert (the tattooer), the two young guys who had just opened it. They had just finished out the inside, and were still in the process of getting signage and ordering jewelry and merchandise. I introduced myself and spent some time talking to the piercer, Jesse, learning more about him and about his plans for the shop. Since I'm far older than many piercees (I turn 50 this year—ack!), I'm always sensitive to any vibes which say, "How did this old lady get in here?" Jesse, however, was perfectly pleasant to me. He told me about his aspirations to become an APP shop, how he and his partner left another shop which had poor policies and practices, and answered all my questions. He even, after I introduced myself, asked, "What's your last name?" and when I told him, he said he recognized my name from the APP website! (I'm just a patron member— pay your $50 bucks and you, too, can be a member.) Pretty flattering.

There are two basic things I look for in a piercer: skill and attitude. Skill can be learned (assuming some basic talent), but is hard to assess without actually getting pierced. Attitude, however, is one of those things you either have or don't have, and the attitude of a piercer is usually immediately apparent. It's the people skills, the passion, and the professionalism that certain piercers have that make them stand out. I've spoken to and been pierced by some outstanding piercers, and I've learned to recognize these qualities. Over and over again I read experiences or talk to people who say, "I knew something was off," or "I should have left right then" when they are getting a bad piercing and they fail to trust their instincts. My instincts were telling me good things about Jesse, even though he had only been piercing for two years. Still a baby in my book (hey, I have 5 grandchildren) but I decided to give him a try. I told him I would be back for my next jewelry stretch and change.

After that first visit, I got an email from him. He said, I hope you don't mind, but I found your email address on the APP website, and "Just to let you know that I'm glad you came by and that I finally have someone to discuss body modification in a serious way with. I'd go into more detail on how hard it is to find someone who's really interested in piercing, but I'm sure you already know. . . I'm sure we'll both learn from each other." And there was that passion.

A couple of further visits and some email consultations followed. He inserted new 10 gauge CBRs in my lobes, stretching from 12 gauge with no problem. I brought my daughter in to discuss a nostril piercing, and had the piercer measure her nose and my tragus for some new jewelry. Since I was still impressed, I decided, rather arbitrarily, to get a helix piercing. I had had a long depressive spell and really needed a new hole!

PREPARATION FOR PIERCING: After some consideration, I decided to order a 12 gauge Anatometal niobium circular barbell with stainless steel balls, 5/16" in diameter, for my helix. I let Jesse know that I ordered the jewelry myself and he was fine with that. Since by now you've figured out how obsessive I am about piercings, you won't be surprised at the things I did to prepare: I did what I could to support my health by taking my vitamins, getting enough rest, and eating right, especially since I was getting over a nasty virus. I gathered my aftercare supplies: soap, salt, herbs, emu oil. I cleaned my house, making sure to disinfect surfaces, door handles, light switches, etc. and did laundry so I would have clean bedding. I dyed my hair and had it cut. I laid in a supply of clean hand towels to dry my hair with (can't really dry your hair with paper towels, can you?). Finally the jewelry came in and I made an appointment to get the helix done. Does this all sound like it's taken a long time? Nope, less than three weeks since the initial visit.

THE PIERCING: On the day of the piercing, I stopped by on my lunch hour to drop the jewelry off to be autoclaved. Even though it was purchased from Tribalectic, which ships jewelry out sterilized, he decided to go ahead and re-autoclave, which was fine by me. Better not to take any chances. He reminded me to have something to eat before the piercing. I arranged to meet my daughter at the studio at 5:30, so she could provide moral support. Not that I needed it, but it's always nice to have someone to share the experience with and get an objective opinion on placement. I was getting a little nervous and excited—one of the best parts of getting a piercing! I also spent some time that afternoon browsing BME to get ideas of placement, but couldn't find anything that exactly matched what I wanted. No matter—I knew what I wanted. After work I dashed home to have a snack, brush my teeth and generally make myself hygienic and tolerable, including cleaning my ears really well and pinning up my hair.

When my daughter and I got to the studio, the piercing room was in use so we passed the time ordering some jewelry and talking generally about piercings. We discussed the "compression technique," which is basically just putting manual pressure on the cartilage after piercing to realign the cells, in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of bumps. Here's a picture of my daughter and Jesse—you'll notice the studio is still pretty bare of ornament:

I asked him to treat me like I was a walk-in customer who knew nothing about piercing and explain everything to me. I'm not a piercer, and will never be one; consequently I'll never be an expert on piercings. However, I do claim some experience and expertise as a piercing consumer. I'm sure it sounds more than a little condescending, but I wanted him to practice on me, and maybe offer some suggestions, since he was so receptive. My daughter was laughing at me and telling me I was making the piercer nervous (which he denied), but I wanted to hear his spiel. I filled out the paperwork, and Jesse explained the required disclaimer language in my area, pointing out that the form lists "nerve damage" as a possible consequence, although he disagreed with this. I gave him my driver's license to copy and asked him how much he was going to charge me. I hadn't asked him before because price is immaterial to me when considering a piercing—choosing the piercer is much more important. This is ironic, since Jesse and his partner left a shop that deliberately undercut competition with low prices and cheap jewelry. Since I ordered my own jewelry, he said he was going to charge me $20. He didn't have the printed aftercare sheets yet, which was a little disappointing, but he said they were modeled directly on the APP aftercare.

Finally we got into the piercing room, and at my request, he began to explain the set up: How the surfaces were non-porous, how new needles and supplies were used for each client, how the surfaces were disinfected. He showed me the tape on the sterilized packages. Below is a picture of the set up. Jesse wanted me to notice the plastic over the spray bottles, in particular, because that is above the standard of other shops in town.

A note about the procedural details: I tried to pay attention this time, since I know how BME stresses details about the procedure, but I'm a "don't look at the needle" person, so I'm sure there are gaps and inaccuracies here. Also, it's obviously impossible to observe a procedure on your own ear. However, my wonderful daughter took pictures so I have a good record.

We spent a long time discussing and marking the placement. I wanted the piercing at the top of the ear but not through the curl, and it had to be placed so that it wouldn't rub against the arm of my glasses. I also wanted it to sit vertically and not flop down or lay at an angle like a lot of helix jewelry does. Finally, I wanted the depth of the piercing just right so that it corresponded with the diameter of the jewelry. In other words, I didn't want it to stick up too much, but rather to hug the curve of my ear without putting undue pressure on the ear. (Yes, I know I'm picky.) It took us about half an hour for me to communicate what I wanted and to get the placement right, but it really pays to spend as much time as you need at this point. After the piercing, it's too late! Here are some pics of the marking process. I notice from looking at the photos he used a marker, which I didn't realize at the time.

Jesse planned to use the "gauge up" method for my helix; that is, using a needle one size larger than the jewelry to facilitate healing. This meant that he was using a 10 gauge needle (which I carefully avoided looking at). He showed me a roll of cotton, the kind dentists stick in your mouth to control bleeding, which he said he liked to use instead of cork or a needle receiving tube. It goes without saying that he changed gloves several times during the whole process. He also cleaned my ear thoroughly. Even though he said he prefers freehand for most piercings, he used forceps for this piercing. Throughout the whole procedure my daughter was in the room taking pictures, and Jesse was very understanding and cooperative with the whole thing. I told him this was probably the most complicated simple piercing he's ever done! I certainly appreciate all his patience with my pickiness.

I wasn't nervous at all about the pain. My past experiences with piercing and my growing trust in this piercer helped. I like to hold something in my hands so I dug out something at random from my purse. (My daughter was happy that I elected not to hold her hand, having had previous painful experience with that during tattoos.) I'm happy to say that the actual piercing went swiftly and smoothly, one of the most important indicators of skill. I wanted Jesse to tell me when, so I could exhale on the piercing, so he said, "Take a deep breath, and let it out." I did and the needle went through. It hurt, but there was no "pop" as some people experience. I waited until after the needle went through to say "Ow!" The jewelry insertion was accomplished over the next minute or two with minor discomfort and a bit of fiddling to get the balls on. Actually, one of the balls (of the circular barbell) was probably already screwed on, but I couldn't tell you this for sure. I was bleeding a little, and as I requested, he put some pressure on the cartilage with his fingers (the compression technique). Here are some more pics, including a rather out-of -focus bloody one:

AFTERCARE AND AFTERWARDS: After the piercing and a bit of clean up (including disinfecting my glasses with Detol) I asked the piercer to explain the aftercare. Of course, I'm more than a little familiar with all sorts of aftercare regimes, but I wanted to hear it from him. It is also my understanding that Texas law requires both verbal and written aftercare instructions be given to the customer. Jesse instructed me to wash twice a day with Provon, put a little lather on but don't twist, and soak with sea salt. He said that by using very hot water (but not enough to burn) it will bring blood to the area and promote healing, a very good point with cartilage piercings, since cartilage doesn't have a good blood supply. Then we discussed some variations on the standard aftercare I planned to use. I told him that I use emu oil as lubrication, and supplement sea salt soaks with soaking with herbal infusions (lavender, or a combination of lavender, arnica, and red clover) or by adding a few drops of lavender essential oil to the salt soaks occasionally. In general, we discussed the fact that cartilage piercings are tricky healers, and that you can mess with them all you like, or just Leave Them the Hell Alone, but no aftercare will help if you don't support the healing process by supporting your health, and protecting the piercing from infection and trauma. I later got an email from him asking me to write down my aftercare regime for him so he could try it on his own next piercing. He really is a flatterer!

I was very pleased with the whole process and am pleased with the piercing itself. My daughter also agreed that Jesse did a good job, and I'm grateful for her presence and support. I paid the piercer $30, which included a $10 tip. I generally tip a straight 15% but I think $20 was too low, even without the jewelry. I also gave him $10 when he did the stretch earlier, even though he did it at no charge, since I believe in compensating piercers appropriately for their time and expertise. Good piercers need to be able to stay in business!

I left with a smile on my face. The piercing throbbed for about two hours, then stopped. It's still quite sore now (two days afterwards) but really only makes itself known if I bump it turning around in bed. Here are a couple of pictures of the final effect. I chose the jewelry specifically to be able to adjust the impact at will--because it is black niobium, if I turn the balls to the back of the ear, the jewelry should be barely noticeable, an important factor for me since I work in a professional office. When I'm not at work, I can turn the balls around so they will shine and be pretty. Of course, I'm not going to be doing much twisting and turning until it settles down.

So, I guess that's it. Wish me luck for the piercing and new year. If you made it all the way to the end of this, thanks for reading!