So here it is, Valentine's Day, a day that I despise more then working in retail. I have an appointment with my piercer, Chris, to check on a recently done nape. My appointment isn't really an appointment. It just happens to be whenever I can get in to see him. He only works in the phoenix store once a week, so I try and see him then.
At A Glance Author Frog Queen Contact amphibianroyaltie@gmail.com When It just happened Artist Chris Studio HTC Location phoenix and tempe So I pull up and notice that there is no one around. I quietly think to myself that he has had ANOTHER slow day, I was right. He had only done four other piercings that day. When I walk in, he comes out to greet me. We talk a little and he has me turn around. He looks at my nape and then my ear and finally at my nose (all three recent piercings as well, but that's for another time). He tells me that things are looking good, except my industrial. I quickly confess that it's my fault. I haven't been taking care of it like I should. So we start to chat for a bit. I tell him I'm bored and looking for a new piercing. We talk about things that I can have done, while still following the rules of work. We talk about wrists, another tongue ring, cleavage piercing, and finally Chris gets a look of excitement and says "Lets do more cartilage!" He even suggests doing the right side. I think he wants to do the right side because I'll have to start soaking it religiously again and it would help my industrial. I ask him if that's the reason and he says partially! I agree with him and hand CJ my ID.
CJ (the "receptionist") takes my ID, makes a copy and then hands it back. I fill out the paperwork and wait for Chris to finish talking with some other people that have just come in. So he walks over to me and stands real close to my right ear. I tell him I feel like I'm under a microscope. He then suggests doing the daith, because mine is perfect for piercing. I happily agree, telling him that I'm not picky as to what he does, as long as it's something (besides that, I trust him.) Chris then starts collecting everything he needs for the piercing.
Soon he calls me back into the room. I watch him pull stuff out and open fresh packages. He then realizes that he doesn't have any more gloves and tells me that he needs to go grab some more (at this point I've already watched him go through three pair.) So he comes back with a fresh box, takes the old ones off, puts new ones on and tells me sit on the chair. He again checks my ear and marks it. I ask him about seeing the marks and he tells me that I'm not going to be able to see them but he shows me on his ear where he's marked mine. He then takes off the gloves he's wearing and puts fresh ones on. Then he tells me to lie down and tilt my head to the left. I could feel him fiddling around, getting the needle ready. (At this point I should mention that everything Chris has done on me has been free handed.) I feel the point of the needle on my daith and he tells me to take a few slow breaths. Then he tells me to take a deep breath in (I know what's coming next) and when I exhale he pushes the needle through. He gets about half way and tells me to breath deep again. When I exhale I feel this POP and hear a weird "crunch" sound. I didn't even notice when he threaded the jewelry through. There wasn't any real pain involved with the piercing, although he managed to piss off my industrial because he was putting pressure on it when he was trying to get the ball on the hoop. He also managed to put pressure on just the right pressure point on my ear to make it sore. That hurt more then anything!
After he was done he had me sit up. Ask me if I hated him yet (for pissing off my industrial) and told me when I was ready I could get up to look at my new piercing. So I got off the chair and went over to the mirror. I like it! It seemed to fit nicely with the other piercings I currently have. All in all it was a painless experience. My ear is sore, but mainly from the pressure point Chris managed to find. I went home and soaked it and it seems to be going good. I know it's only a couple hours old but I have minimal pain and no swelling. I will definitely be keeping up on my sea salt soaks and vitamins for the next couple months.
If you're looking for something a little different then just a regular cartilage piercing, I recommend the daith. It's cute to have this little piece of metal nestled all snug against your ear. I'm looking forward to getting started on my left ear as soon as my right ear heals!