I've wanted stretched lobes for a while now, but up until today I didn't have pierced lobes, nor did I have the patience to get them pierced at 16 or 14 gauge, then slowly stretch my way up. Looking for instant gratification, I sent off a message to Jim, inquiring about the possibility of just piercing them at 8 gauge. He assured me that would be fine. I made sure that he would be working Thursday (I prefer getting pierced by him) and then I spend the next few days alternating between freaking out and getting extremely excited.
At A Glance Author Phoenix Contact Phoenix@bme.anon IAM phoenixtx When It just happened Artist Jim Studio Wingnut Tattoo and Piercing Location St. Cloud, MN A few days after sending the message (which would be today, I guess), I made the hour long drive to Wingnut. Jim was sitting at the computer and looked up when I walked in. "Hear for the ears?" he asked. But of course. He asked what gauge I had decided to go with, and I responded that I was going with 8 gauge.
As the counter-girl (I don't know her name) made off with my form, Jim asked what I wanted to go with for starter jewelry. Before I even thought about it, he recommended that I go with steel tunnels. He started listing off the virtues of them, and I just nodded and said okay. By the third or fourth reason to go with them, he realized I had agreed: "...and, you're just agreeing with me, so we'll go for it."
Even though I had agreed to tunnels, I was still a tad nervous about it. My mother hates mods, and even though I had told her that I was getting my lobes pierced, I'm quite sure she is not expecting me to get my lobes pierced with jewelry that enables one to see through my ear. ...She'll throw a shitfit if she sees them before I can change the plugs, I'm sure. Plus, I just started a new job, but, oh well. They allow my nostril stud, so if I just wear my hair down, I should be okay...
I followed Jim back into the piercing room that I am beginning to know so well, and laid down on the little... table... thing. As he was gathering his tools, he asked if I was planning on stretching my ears. I am, but I'm not sure how far I'll go yet. I told him this, and he told me that he would pierce my ears slightly farther up in the lobe to ensure that future stretching would go well, and aid in future, healthy, stretched lobes.
After checking on seeing how my helix is doing (pierced a couple months back), he examined my lobes, and exclaimed, "these have never been pierced!" `tis true. I have virgin lobes, in a country where probably 90% of girls my age have lobe piercings.
My ears now clean and marked, I was ready to be pierced. To be honest, I wasn't expecting that my lobes would hurt more than my helix did. I suppose, though, the needles were a lot bigger this time around. There was a dull, pushing, aching sensation, and then I felt Jim fiddling around with the jewelry. O-ring on, he moved to my left ear. Same sensation, though this time around he had a bit of difficulty with the jewelry, which made the experience slightly more painful on that side.
I sat up, and he rattled off a little bit of aftercare at me: "Salt soaks twice a day, blah blah blah, you know what you're doing."
I'm kind of amused how my piercings with him have gone from "It's going to be okay, sweetie; it won't hurt." to "blah blah, you know what you're doing." I rather like it, and it's quite nice going to the same (trusted) piercer each time.
My ears were fine for the next few hours, though they throbbed a bit, which isn't exactly pleasant. I cleaned them, which calmed them down slightly. When I left the house shortly afterwards, I thought the worst was over with, and that the most I would have to deal with tonight would be perhaps some more throbbing. I was wrong.
Half an hour or so later, deeply engaged in conversation, I was asked, in a bit of a horrified manner, "Is your ear bleeding?" Promptly, I was handed two tissues and hustled off to the bathroom. Indeed, I was bleeding profusely, but only from one ear. The blood was covering a fair portion of that side of my neck, and steadily dripping more. I used the two tissues, and got a couple more to attempt to staunch the bleeding. It didn't work too well. I ended up dealing with the bleeding for about 45 minutes, which was somewhat awkward and embarassing.
As of now, my ears are fine (well, one has some blood crusted on it, but that's okay). I can't wait until they are healed so I can wear double-flared jewelry (so much nicer than plugs with o-rings!) and, eventually, stretch my ears.