At A Glance Author shikitohno Contact shikitohno@bme.anon IAM shikitohno When Six months ago Artist Darren Studio Snake Eye Body Piercing Location Vails Gate, New York Here, I give you the story of my favorite piercing by far, and also the most difficult. I had decided to get vertical lobes done, and it was something else. Between infections and scarring, I have come so close to taking them out, so many times, I'm amazed them still in my ears. Now, to go into greater detail.
Around September or October of 2005, I first saw a picture of vertical lobes, right here on BME. As soon as IO saw them, I knew that I needed to get them done. Unfortunately, I can't say I did all the reading I should have. This was in part due to there not being a single vertical lobe experience to be found on BME. The rest was just me not knowing where else to go for this sort of information.
I think it was towards the end of September, or perhaps the very beginning of October, that I called up Darren to ask him what he thought of it. Regardless, both he and I were excited for it, and I decided to go down to Snake Eye to have him look at my lobe. When I first walked in, he said that my lobes were much too thin, and he really didn't want to do it. After a bit of conversation, I realized he thought that I wanted a horizontal lobe. When I told him that I wanted it to go through my lobe vertically, his face took on a puzzled, but very much interested, frown.
After I'd explained it, and he'd seen a couple of photos, he was still a bit concerned about the size of my lobes. Nevertheless, he felt that the cartilage would be able to hold it in place, so long as he didn't pierce it too close to the surface on either side. After about another month of him thinking about it, I had an appointment in late November.
I walked in, just a little bit early. It was a Friday night, so there wasn't anyone else there for a piercing, so we got right into the thick of things. He had chosen a couple of barbells, about 12-14 gauge, which were perhaps one and three-quarters inches in length. I was happy with them, so we stepped into the little piercing room. I sat down on the bench, and he put on his gloves. Darren then took out a marker from its pack, and we started placement. I was quite happy with the first spot he picked, so he broke out the clamps and needles, and in no time, I had the clamps on my right ear, feeling a bit nervous.
Darren felt that it would be best, and easiest, to pierce from the top down, going through the cartilage at the top (my anti-tragus) first. Well, the right ear went like a charm, and even putting in the jewelry didn't hurt much. However, I learned that night that I have significantly more cartilage in my left lobe than my right. Needless to say, the left lobe hurt a lot.
Well, I paid my $80, and gave him a $10 tip, or so. We were both very happy with it, and Darren took me up front to show his co-workers in Skin City, as this was the first time he'd ever done a vertical lobe. They all agreed that it was good, and the one woman seemed like she was in more pain than I was at the moment. Which, once the swelling begin, was a considerable amount. Fortunately, it was nothing that couldn't be conquered by Advil and ice, so within a couple of days, I was able to sleep on it comfortably. I did need to go have the bars changed, which Darren did free of charge, and at two inches, my ears were much more comfortable. They had swollen quite a bit more than either of us had anticipated.
Well, I cleaned them with 3% Hydrogen Peroxide for a while, but they seemed aggrivated by this (I know peroxide isn't recommended, but it's always worked for me before), so I switched to a Saline solution. The chemicals bother my lobes, so I tried just making salt water with Epsom salt. I don't know how bad an idea this was, but it didn't do any damage, but of course, didn't help any. Eventually, I just settled for hot compresses a couple times a day, and rinsing it in the shower, which worked quite well. Then, I got an infection, or so I thought.
It was really, to the best of my conjectures, just a drainage problem. I was dreading my hair at the time (putting it into dreadlocks), and the wax I was using also bothered my lobes, clogging up the top. I've since stopped using wax, and wear a tam, so my hair no longer bothers my lobes. Still, lymph and all that good stuff was pooling up in the middle of my lobes, and causing some hypertrophic scarring on the back of my lobes. Occasionally, the back would come off, and just ooze pus. Disgusting, I know, but the hot compresses also helped with drainage, and so this problem is lessening every day.
I managed to get the scars relatively small with Mederma, four times a day. They do come right back up if I stop though, so I'd like to get them away completely. I also think it'll help if I stop wearing my headphones. I know, it's a bad idea, but I need my music, so there's been significant pressure on them.
Well, that's about it for this experience. With any luck, I'll get Darren to take some pictures not only of the lobes, which look pretty good, but of the scars on the back as well. If I can, those will go right up one BME. A lack of a digital camera does keep me from taking them myself though. Till next time, I'm done.