I've been waiting to turn 18 since I was 12, which is when I realized I wanted my navel pierced...and immediately thereafter realized my mother would never allow it. But right after my 17th birthday, I somehow convinced her to let me get it done. Of course, I was very pleased. But what about my independent 18th birthday celebration experience? It's not like I didn't have a list of things that I wanted done, but I knew it had to be subtle since I was still living at home. I got my tragus pierced when I was 16 and adored it. Cartilage piercings were also pretty subtle, and I'd been eyeing the rook piercing for some time. My friend Pam had also just turned 18 and wanted a rook piercing, so naturally, we decided to go together.
At A Glance Author anonymous When Three months ago Artist Clay Studio Infinite Location Philadelphia I had never been to Infinite before, but I'd heard good things from both friends and BME experiences, and I passed it all the time when visiting South Street (quite a frequent event for a teenager living in the suburbs of Philadelphia). We decided to head there, and were pleased with our choice about half a second after we walked in the door. It was CLEAN, which is a major plus. It wasn't busy at all, so we showed our IDs, filled out the necessary forms, and set about the task of picking jewelry. My friend picked a curved barbell but I picked a regular CBR because it was the least expensive option and I hadn't expected to spend as much money as I had that day. We paid, and then we went out to eat because neither of us had had anything yet that day.
When we got back, we waited five minutes at the most for our piercer, Clay. We were led back to a private room (very clean). I don't remember the exact details, as this was three months ago, but Clay was incredibly nice and put my friend and me entirely at ease. My friend elected to go first, and Clay joked with us the whole time. When she was done and cleaned up, I hopped into the chair for my turn. Clay changed his gloves about a million times as he got out new supplies for me, including the Sharpie to mark my ear with (which I got to keep). He marked my ear and I checked out the placement (perfect). My friend held my hand as Clay told me to breathe in and out...and he pushed the needle through. It was even easier than I remembered it being with my tragus. The pain wasn't nonexistent, but it was fleeting and surprisingly minimal. I didn't hear any popping noises as the needle went through the cartilage. And of course, putting the CBR in was the worst part.
We were incredibly pleased. We tipped, went out into the waiting area, and bought soap to clean our piercings.
Everything was fine until later that night. I was with my boyfriend, showing off my new piercing, when I felt something warm running down the inside of my ear. I touched my fingers to it (in the unpierced area) and of course, it was blood. When I checked it out in the mirror, I could tell it was gushing. This had absolutely nothing to do with my piercing itself. At that time, I was anemic, and apparently, my blood was having trouble clotting. I did a salt water soak, and while it continued to bleed a little for the next few days, it stopped and the piercing was fine.
For the past month or so, though, I've had a bump around the hole of my piercing and some crusting. I toss and turn a lot in the night, and I can't seem to be able to not sleep on the piercing. It wouldn't be a big deal, except I got the CBR instead of the curved barbell. I'm going to change it, soon, and hopefully that will clear up the matter. I'm not supposed to change the jewelry for months and months, but I figure that continuing to irritate the piercing by sleeping on it will be worse for it than changing the jewelry and getting on with it. Early on, I washed it once a day with Provon soap in the shower, but since it became irritated, I've been avoiding touching it when possible, instead preferring to use H2Ocean spray. The lump seems to be getting better, so I'm crossing my fingers that it will clear up enough for me to feel comfortable with changing the jewelry.
I guess I have somewhat of a moral...always bring more than enough money so you can afford the jewelry that will work best for you.
Also...I had an awesome experience at Infinite and will most definitely go back for all my future work. I highly recommend it to anyone in the area.