I'd been thinking about getting pierced for ages, but a few things had been stopping me, such as my mum (who kept repeatedly telling me that she hated piercings) and my old school (which was very strict about piercings). Then, this September, I started university. Being away from home and finally semi-self-sufficient, I decided that it was time to get pierced.
At A Glance Author Fran Contact Fran@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Lu Studio Holey Skin Location Bristol I first looked round the piercing places in Bath, but none of the looked very sanitary and I heard that they were not the best place to get pierced. I wanted my first piercing to be special, so I left it.
Then, seven months later, just before my exams started, I decided that I was time. I was going to get pierced! I'd been looking on BME for ages, wondering on what to get, and then I saw the rook piercings and I fell in love. That was going to be it, my first piercing.
I looked on the internet for places in Bristol, the nearest big town to Bath, and came across the site for Holey Skin. It was very professionally done, and there was lots of information on the types of piercings available and aftercare. I phoned them up, and asked about making an appointment, and the guy told me that I could just pop in whenever. When I asked the price, he said £25 including jewellery, which I though was quite good.
One my lectures had finished for the day, my boyfriends and I jumped on the train to Bristol and walked to Holey Skin. By this time I was on a major adrenalin high, and couldn't wait.
Holey Skin was very tidy and clean when we got there. The piercer, Lu, got everything set up straight away, and then I was ready. The piercing room was separate from the tattooing room, and it was very clean. There was a bed, kind of like the beds there are in doctors surgeries, and it was covered in a long paper towel. Lu asked me to sit on the bed while she put on some gloves and cleaned my ear, checked for veins and marked the placement. It was perfect. She then changed her gloves and showed me the equipment and the jewellery, which were all in sterile bags and then asked me to lie down, so she could get a better angle. We did a few of the deep in-through-the nose and out-through-the-mouth breaths and she pushed the needle through. It didn't hurt at all, just a slight pressure. The only bit that hurt was when she put the ring in, and even that wasn't too painful. She screwed the ball on and it was done. She then handed me a mirror so that I could have a look. It was beautiful. It only took about five minutes and she said that I was a brilliant person to be pierced.
We then went back out to the front and she went over the aftercare with me and gave me her mobile number in case I had any questions. She kept checking that I was ok, as she said that people often feel a bit woozy after being pierced. She said that if I needed to, I could sit in the waiting area until I felt better, which I thought was lovely.
When I got back, the first thing everyone said, after "Wow! That looks so cool!", was "Did it hurt?". They were all quite surprised when I said no. it must look more painful that it actually is.
All in all, it was an amazing experience, albeit a bit of a strange piercing to choose for my first. I've had it for a few days now, and it's not that sore. I clean it religiously twice a day with salt water, and so far no problems *touch wood*. The only time it hurts when I clean it is when I have to move the ring round, but even this isn't too painful. Sleeping on it is a bit painful, as it's on the side that I usually sleep on. Lots of pillows have solved that problem though. I prop them around me so that it's hard to roll over and it seems to work. At least it hasn't woken me up yet. My boyfriend keeps forgetting about it and touching it, or knocking my head, but I think he's beginning to remember, due to the number of times I've screamed at him! There's been a little bit of blood, but not much at all. There has been no swelling as of yet. I have to wait six weeks until I can change the ring, I'm hoping to go for something smaller. I'd definitely recommend Holey Skin in Bristol to anyone in this area, as the staff are lovely and it's very clean. The atmosphere is very relaxed and everyone tries their best to keep you relaxed.