The day started out innocently enough. I had woken up to my girlfriend calling me on the phone and telling me that her step-sister wanted to get a piercing that day, and if I wanted to go with them. Before this point, I have never really had anything puncture my body that wasn't by accident or a needle for a blood test/immunization. I had no preconceived notions about what I'd be in for that day, nor did my girlfriend whose only piercing were her lobes.
At A Glance Author sizemon When A week ago Artist forgot her name, but she was awesome Studio Skinner's Tattoo Works Location Hamilton, Ontario Unfortunately for us, many of the tattoo and piercing places in Hamilton seemed to close at 7pm on a Friday night, leaving us cold and miserable in the downtown streets in the dead of winter. The group of us got into an argument and my girlfriend and I headed back to my house and searched the Yellowpages for other shops in the area, this time calling ahead to make sure they were open. Once we found out that Skinner's Tattoo was, we rushed over.
As we entered the shop, we glanced around both excited and nervous at the scenery and started talking to the piercer. We had done a little bit of research into what we wanted but the girl was great and helpful about informing us of our options. She suggested the rook for me and the tragus for my girlfriend, which we both agreed to. After we signed all the paperwork and read over the aftercare sheets, she went to prepare everything she needed for us while we looked over the books of tattoos and pictures of people who had their work done here.
My girlfriend went first while I sat and watched from a distance, giving each other cheerful smiles. I tried not to pay too much attention though, since I'd rather go into this not knowing what I'd be in for instead of watching and getting nervous. Once hers was done and the area was cleaned up, I went up for mine.
She cleaned the area with alcohol and marked the area on my ear, letting me check it in the mirror before we proceeded. As I sat back down she told me something about using a slightly thicker needle, but honestly the nerves were taking over and I can't recall much of the specifics of the conversation. Following her instructions, I took a deep breath in and felt a huge pain in my ear for several seconds. "Hey, that wasn't too bad", I thought to myself. Unfortunately for me, however, it was only the halfway point. A second wave of pain hit my ear which was worse than the first, but it only lasted a few seconds until it died down and I was just left with a strong throbbing which dissipated with each minute that passed. I told her at this point that it was my first piercing, which she was surprised at, telling me how its one of the more painful ones to get. I guess I took it pretty well, as I didn't make a sound, instead opting to clench my teeth during it.
It didn't bleed too much but the top of my ear was fairly swollen for a couple of minutes while we paid ($40 +tip). The swelling went down once we got outside into the frigid air and I took a Motrin from my girlfriend for the throbbing. It probably wasn't the smartest idea but we ended up at a club an hour later, happy to show off our new assets to our friends who were performing that night.
We went back there the next day with my girlfriend's step-sister, who got an Industrial done. She wanted to have the bar put in right away but the piercer (Same girl, she even asked us how ours were doing) wouldn't, saying that it could be a source of problems that aren't worth going through - instead she just put in two hoops and put aside a bar she pre-fitted and told her to come back in four weeks for it. I much prefer that she chose to be safe and avoid unnecessary complications (which she explained to us fully), rather than someone who will do whatever the customer wants regardless of safety. I'll gladly ask her to do any other piercings I'd ever want done, knowing that she has the safety of her clients at heart.
It's been about 4 days now and it looks normal, but I still won't touch it except to clean it twice daily with a foaming anti-bacterial soap, swab it with a q-tip in an epsom salt solution, and also to soak my ear (I didn't except to be doing something so awkward every day) in the same solution. My body has already gotten used to not flipping over in the middle of the night, but I seem to forget it's there a lot when I answer the phone. Many of my conversations now start with "@%$#. Hello?" I'll also still get a slight throbbing every once in a while, but it is still a pretty fresh wound.
So far so good, lets hope the next two months go just as well.