So my plan is to share my first body modification experience. I must warn it was not a good one as it is how I came to dread any form of needle (medical or otherwise). At that point I had never gotten blood taken. And I had been too young when my shots had been given to remember if it hurt more than it should. I entered in that it was about 10 years ago, but it was actually a bit longer than that. I should probably explain that over the years I have come to learn that I am extremely sensitive to metal. Even some surgical or hypo allergenic metals will cause me pain or discomfort. This experience was one of the first red flags that came up for me but was not the tell tale for my sensitivity. Basically metal hurts, a lot. When I give blood, I'm in pain the entire time the needle is in my arm. And I usually end up with a huge bruise afterwards. At first it was thought that it was the stuff they put on before hand. The iodine or disinfectant, but over time we have isolated it to the metal. Again I was not aware of any of this when I got my ears pierced for the first time.
At A Glance Author anonymous When Ten years ago or more Location toronto For my birthday I had begged my parents to let me get my ears pierced. Even back then I loved the way body art looked. I think it has something to do with being raised by bikers and bad asses. So finally they gave in and got me a gift certificate to get my ears pierced at some random hair salon that also did ear piercing. I've noticed that not a lot of salons still do piercing. In retrospect it's probably a good thing. I was so excited. There is something about getting your ears pierced that symbolizes the next stage in life. I was no longer a baby. Anyone remember 'Full House" the episode where Stefanie got her ears pierced and got in trouble because she was too young. I'm a geek I know but I remember thinking ha sucker I'm getting mine done. I remember how nervous I was. Especially when the girl had a bit of difficulty getting the dot aligned. I mean it's a hole being put in my body. And here I am, trusting this shaky handed individual. But I did because I wanted it done. I've always been the type to suck it up and not let my fear take over. I don't like anything having control over me, even if it is my fear. So I did it, and I was surprised at how much it hurt. My friends who had had their ears pierced said it was a slight pinch and that was it. The girl who did it told me it was normal for it to hurt and that it would go away eventually. I thought no way is this normal but I sucked it up because I was a big girl now. And I didn't want my parents to think I wasn't ready for it. More retrospect...I probably should have said something.
WARNING the next bit is a tiny bit gross.
I'm not sure how long it took for the next to happen. It may even have been that night. I woke up screaming and crying in pain. My parents came in to check on me thinking I had had a bad dream or something of that sort. I wish. In reality my ears had swollen to a ridiculous size and hurt more than any other pain I had ever experienced to date. Well maybe not to date. There was this one time I had my wisdom teeth pulled. The anesthetic didn't take. They used 2 vials of the stuff in my mouth and nothing worked. And too fully explain they had to chip away part of my bone. It hurt so much I cried and back handed the nurse. That is the worse pain I have ever experienced and this came close.
Not only were my ears swollen but they had long brown things dangling from them. I'm not sure what they were per say. Even my parents were at a loss. It could have been infected skin or puss or something. But it was about two and a half to three inches long. Now my parents are hardcore (bastards) and tried to get them out themselves. My parents eventually had to use pliers to take my earrings out. Now I do not remember much of my childhood (I like to keep that stuff bottled up inside, you know festering and such) but I remember this experience. At first we just assumed they used a cheap metal and I ended up being allergic to it. Even with that explanation I couldn't bring myself to get my ears pierced again. Not until I was 14. And to be safe we got it done with gold. That worked. I still have to be careful with metals, which is why I keep my body art tattoos. As much as I would love some more body metal, I don't think I could handle my nose or eyebrow or tongue swelling up and having to use pliers to get the piercing out. Or worse, an amputation. Shudder.