As with most of the people here it seems, I've loved piercings since a pretty young age. With parents who don't even like the 8G lobes I already had though, getting permission for anything else was proving impossible. So, after long arguments with my parents and telling them I'm turning 16 and it's a big deal for girls and all, my mom finally gives in to my piercing obsession and concedes to my getting a snug for my birthday. Well, two snugs. And my helix.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When N/A Artist Roz Studio Monkey Bones Location Ohio We walk into Monkey Bones and my mom is reasonably wary, being a kind of small town conservative mother- the place is painted bright blue, mailbox decorated with flames, the guy was covered in piercings (well, duh,) etc. But after he made me sign loads of forms, checked my mother and my ID cards, filled her in on everything and took us to the back room, she calmed down a lot. White, clean, doctor-office smell and dentist type chair, all that good, sanitary jazz. He sits me down and puts the marks on my ear... but it's not where I want them. I tell him I want one snug higher up, not two low ones. Roz tells me that my snug isn't very pronounced, and while he could pierce it, it would just be loads of trouble for me, and would stress out my ear. Which, damnit. I ask him if there's anything he can do, and he tells me he could just give me a low snug and a rook. He marks it again, and, disappointed, I tell him to go for it.
I was completely comfortable the entire time, and Roz told me everything that was going on in my ear. I had no idea how many gloves piercers run through. I mentioned how everything was in a packet of its own, and how they must run through supplies like crazy, and he agreed, saying that's why piercings are so expensive. He also said since it was a birthday present, and three done at once would be a bit pricey, he took ten bucks off the final price for me.
First needle in was my rook. A little pressure, a little sting, and it was in, no big deal. The worst part was all the blood gave him trouble getting the end into the bar, so it took a little while to get it situated correctly. The biggest "ouch!" that came from my mouth was when my mother grabbed and strangled my hand. She was more scared of the operation then I was, apparently.
Second up was my snug. Same thing, only there was a problem with the piercing and he couldn't get the bar to go in, so there was some tugging as he basically re-pierced the hole. It was around this point my mother decided she didn't like blood and couldn't watch, and wandered into the waiting room.
After the snug, I started to feel a little dizzy, but nothing too bad and told Roz I was fine to go on with the helix. Easier and quicker than the first two, and he let me up to look in the mirror. I immediately fell in love with my rook, despite its not being my original idea. The snug took some getting used to, but I couldn't be happier with it, now.
He gave me aftercare tips, some anti-bacterial Q-tip type things, and sent me out. In the waiting room, I found my mother talking to four girls from my school, who were there to get their navels done. They all squealed their respective approvals/ "ouch that must've hurt"s. Later at school, one of the girls told me Roz had called me a "real badass" after I left for not even flinching.
I washed all three piercings religiously, (never did salt soaks, per Roz's advice,) but I also have the horrible habit of playing with them, especially my rook. About a month ago, my father commented on how irritated they all seemed, so mother dragged me back to Monkey Bones.
After being told I was about two steps from infection in my snug and rook, and the latter was torn a bit, Roz switched out the rook bar and put in a curved one, which was a lot more comfortable. A quick reprimand for playing with it, a lesson in using Dial, and I was on my way again.
My helix's scar tissue disappeared about a week ago, and my snug is going down. Unfortunately, my rook's seems to not be doing anything, except it's stopped bleeding for the most part, which is good.
My ears have had a LOT of complications since I got them done. No rejections or keloids, just things I do because I'm stupid, like play with them, or get my hair caught in it and pull on it.
I'm hoping to save my money up and get a daith and tragus later, but for now, this is good enough. Maybe by the time I get them done, I'll have enough self control to not play with them incessantly.