I'm a meticulous researcher in everything I do. Because of this, I spent a good six months browsing BME looking at piercing photos, reading piercing accounts, and trying to decide what piercing I would get as my first "legal" piercing. After much deliberation, much reading, and a conversation with someone who had one, I decided I wanted an orbital piercing in my upper left ear. Finally, I was set. I was psyched. I was ready to go.
At A Glance Author Aimee Contact Aimee@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Shannon Ollis Studio Empire Tattooing Location Asheville, NC After dinner at Mellow Mushroom, I headed with two friends of mine to Empire Tattooing. The piercing artist there, Shannon Ollis, is personable, professional, and extremely talented. I'd heard nothing but good reviews about her, she had helped fix my friend's botched nose piercing, and I'd been buying plugs for my 00g lobe piercings from Empire for awhile then. We'd met and chatted before, and she remembered me when I walked in the door.
My friends had a seat on the couch in the lobby, while I explained to Shannon what I wanted done, and she took a look at my ear. The "hmm well" noise she made as she looked at my ear left me feeling a little uneasy. She told me that my ear was too small for the traditional orbital piercing that I wanted, and that she would have to order special jewelry for me. Impatient as ever, I turned down the offer. My perfect piercing, my dream---ruined! But I was going to get a piercing that day. I'd prepared myself, I'd planned, and I was determined to get a piercing. After talking for awhile and looking at Shannon's own piercings, I decide on a daith piercing instead. It was distinct, looked interesting, and I could picture myself with one.
After filling out the appropriate paperwork, Shannon took me into her piercing room. She was in the process of moving into a different room in the building, so things were a bit messy. Shannon was extremely professional in that she apologized for her workspace, and showed me that it was still a sterile environment. I'd seen her certifications before, so she didn't need to explain those. She told me that any tools she would be using were autoclaved and made me feel very comfortable with the level of sanitation, even though there were packing boxes around the piercing table.
I chose a 16g CBR with a black bead, and dragged one of my friends into the room with me. I talk a big talk, but I'm not the world's biggest fan of pain and was a bit apprehensive about my first piercing to go through cartilage. I sat back as Shannon showed me how she was opening all of the tools from sterile packages, and talked to me about her experiences as a college student in Asheville (which I am) to help keep me upbeat. I warned her that I can be a heavy bleeder (learned that when I had my lobe piercing stretched for the first time), and shifted how she told me to so that she could access my ear.
She slid the receiving tube up to my ear, and told me to take a couple of good, deep breaths. As I inhaled the second time, she pushed the needle through. I tensed up from the sharp pain as she pulled the needle through and slid the CBR in right behind it. I bled surprisingly little, and the pain was much less than I expected. Just a sharp jolt as the needle went through, and then pressure as she put the bead in the CBR. Throughout all of this, Shannon was asking me if I was okay, which I was. She cleaned up the area, and then gave me a sheet with aftercare instructions. We talked about how to properly clean the piercing and she gave me a bottle of cleaning solution of some variety, telling me how long the piercing would take to heal and that I was welcome to contact her anytime if I had a problem. After gathering up my belongings, I headed back to the dorm to get a good look at my new piercing.
My daith piercing healed remarkably easily. It was quite sore and a little swollen for the first two weeks after it was pierced, especially if I forgot about it and slept on the side that was pierced. Conveniently, though, my outer ear shielded the piercing pretty well even when I slept on it. I cleaned it at least twice daily with a cotton ball soaked in a warm saline solution, and after the initial two weeks of soreness cleaned it with a cotton swab coated in the cleaning solution she gave me. After those first two weeks it was relatively pain free, except for a two week long infection caused by (stupidly) jumping in dirty pond water with a new piercing. I thought for awhile that I was going to have to take it out, but relentless cleaning eventually led to the infection going away and seemed to actually make the piercing heal faster. About a month and a half after it was pierced, I was pain free and could barely even feel the piercing. Three months later, I clean it normally when I shower and am able to wear ear buds without any problem whatsoever. Unless I mess with it (spinning the bead, which I tend to do), I can't even tell the piercing is there.
It's unique, was relatively painless, and healed easily. I love how it looks, and I love the comments I get on my "quaint" piercing. I absolutely love my daith piercing, and Shannon Ollis is an excellent piercing artist who I would recommend to anyone. Looking forward to being pierced by her again sometime soon!