I'm a native Las Vegan and long-time member and contributor to the industrial/experimental/noise music-art scene. I would be leaving for med school far from home. I wanted to have something publicly visible that would tell others a bit about me.
At A Glance Author Dr.No Contact Dr.No@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Levanahcochavah Studio My Bathroom Location Vegas After much thought, I decided to pierce my earlobes and wear jewelry at 4g. So, I shopped for jewelry online for quite awhile. Stainless flesh tunnels with CBRs through them looked good. So did the delicious anatometal 4g titanium CBRs I'm now wearing. Because I worked as a psych nurse, corporate policy influenced my decision.
So, I ordered anatometal single-flare eyelets in 4g and a stainless 4g taper. I also ordered 6g needles. My adventure was about to begin.
I pierced my frenum the year before, but there was no real change in my life. I thought it was neat and enjoyed it. However, visible piercings are a bit different, as you probably know.
So, in the same gritty tenement bathroom where I had pierced my frenum, I prepared. Luckily, though, my fiancee had some experience shoving metal through people. So-
She marked my earlobes with a sharpie and after I confirmed positioning she rubbed my earlobes with betadine, let them dry. She then cleansed them with isopropyl alcohol. She had earlier washed her hands and now she removed the HUGE needle and lubed it with surgi-lube.
As a nurse, I have often joked about starting an IV with a garden-hose. The bore looked almost that big. But, when I put on my raconteur hat, I'm prone to exaggeration.
Despite the fact we are fluid-sharing partners, she was gloved as she screwed up her face attempting to get the proper angles and then she invited me to take a breath and confirm. I confirmed and she slid the needle through. Smooth. It hurt only a bit.
On a scale of 0-10, where 0 is no pain and 10 is the worst pain I've ever had in my life... I give it a 3. That's including that short spike of pain that only lasts while your flesh is being rent.
I had put the 4g taper in a 150mL pyrex beaker and pressure-cooked the hell out of it. I had betadined it first a bit and cleaned it with phisohex. But, hey- steam cleaning is pretty effective! Especially in addition to chemical sterilization attempts.
The taper was lubed with surgi-lube and inserted into the hollow end of the needle. After my experience shoving an unlubricated needle through my frenum, I asked for a liberal amount of lube to be applied to the taper and needle even after insertion. The tapering, on a 0-10 scale, was a 5.
She then inserted the first single-flare eyelet. My earlobe was too slippery, so after a hand-washing I applied the O-ring.
She then repeated the process on the other lobe.
They were swollen for a few days and sleeping on them was a PAIN. I kept having swelling afterward and bloody drainage. But, the bleeding was light so I did what I tell my patients to do, "Keep it clean and try not to annoy it."
But, I was persistent with the ibuprofen and careful slow sea-salt soaks and Q-tips. Eventually, I decided that the Q-tip cleaning was unnecessarily irritating the one lobe, so I stopped directly touching it. I persisted in my regular soaks. They weren't healing very quickly, however. And this after a few weeks.
I decided that I must have made a mistake in my choice of jewelry, or perhaps I had been too impatient. The back of one lobe was caked with dried blood and the other was dark purple and swollen. When I discovered that the one earlobe was suffering tissue injury, I decided to remove the O-ring from the back of it and put a CBR through it to help keep it in place. This, along with delicate treatment of the affected part proved marginally effective.
Finally, the anatometal Ti 4g CBRs arrived. The ring-opening pliers I had ordered had not yet arrived. So, I drove over to my local reputable piercing/tattoo studio and paid the nice fellow US$10 to put them in for me.
My earlobes healed up very quickly. Soon, I was able to observe a small space between my flesh and the jewelry. I didn't rush it, and the next thing that I knew they turned freely without discharge or discomfort.
I examine the fistulas and they are well-formed. The angle on one is a bit off, but not enough that I care. Eventually, I left my desert home to go to school. I've had no trouble at all with them. Except little kids.
Little kids do not bother to hide their amazement or interest. But, that's not really "trouble." And, now, I am the medical student with the large earrings.