Where to start....
At A Glance Author Zero_Trinity Contact Zero_Trinity@hotmail.com IAM Zero_Trinity When It just happened Artist Sque3z Studio Anomaly Location Pasadena, CA The very first time I had seen large gauge cartilage piercings in person, was when I went to Anomaly in Pasadena for the first time. My piercer Sque3z had both of his flats done at a large gauge. I had seen pictures of course on Bme before, but it was different seeing them in person. I was intrigued with the idea of maybe one day having a hole in my cartilage that was that big! But on that day I was only there for a nostril piercing. I had found my piercing studio after a long time of searching and because of the great people and the awesome work that the people that Anomaly do I keep returning to there.
I don't recall exactly when I had heard of the term dermal punch, I'm sure I heard it on either BME or Tribalectic. Anyway it seemed like an interesting thing to do...but after seeing some pictures of various punches it looked extremely bloody. Now I don't mind blood at all...but that much blood looked a little dangerous. After reading all of the pros and cons of dermal punching I decided that it sounded a hell of a lot easier to heal than having something done with a needle. You can get to a large gauge rather quickly and the healing time is shorter due to the tissue being removed. The cons being the blood and the loosing a chunk of your ear forever because cartilage just doesn't grow back. So it was a really big decision to make!
I had been to Anomaly only about a month before to have my industrial done, and I have had no problems with It thus far. I hadn't really been thinking of getting more work done so soon and I wanted to wait a little longer for my industrial too heal a little more. But I was lured in by the Anomaly guys. They were having a memorial day special and I could not resist! I could not decide on what to get and I was getting a little frustrated with myself. I started looking through pictures on Bme again. While looking at the pictures of large gauge cartilage I came across Stephen's pictures ( Stephen from Anomaly) of his newly punched flats! Once again I became intrigued with idea of having mine done. And decided that this was a sign that my naked ears would soon be dermal punched.
My sister had originally asked for that Saturday off (We were supposed to go see the new pirates movie on this day) two months in advance! Sadly she did not get the day off. I was sad, I really wanted her to get something pierced. I didn't want to go all by my lonesome. So I texted my friend Christina, to see if she was up to go. She was up for the trip, so we made our plans together. Saturday came quick and I told everyone at work what my plans were....they all thought that I was crazy. I met Christina at the Train station (We call it the Bee station, because it has a giant bee in the front) at 2pm. We hopped on the greenline train and were on our way. The train/bus rides took about 2 hours before we got to Pasadena. First we had to stop for a potty break and something to eat. We stopped at Target for some greasy pizza and the bathroom. The butterflies in were starting to fight in my stomach. We were almost to our destination.
We arrived at Anomaly around 4pm. Their was one person getting something done and two other people waiting to get something done. Me and Christina looked around at the jewelry and I wished my lobes were bigger so I could put the pretty jewelry in them. Christina had never been to a piercing studio before and was in awe of all of the jewelry, she especially admired the wood plugs. She was curious about stretching and how the jewelry goes in so I explained everything the best I could. When the two people waiting left we went to sit down on the couch. Sque3z, came up and asked what were doing today and I told him that we were going to dermal punch my flats. He looked happy to do so. I had been debating on what gauge to go with and my final two choices had been either 2 gauge or 0 gauge....mostly because I already had some eyelets. After some consideration I decided on 2 gauge because I could always stretch later. Sque3z didn't know if he would be able to make my industrial work with my soon to be punched cartilage. But he would try and make it work. I was willing to give up the industrial if he wasn't able to make it fit. I told him as long as they both were even and symmetrical I didn't mind if they were high up, me and sque3z have a thing for symmetry. After we made the decision on what to do I gave him my jewelry and made my initial on the spore test slip for the autoclave and me and Christina waited. The butterflies had subsided a little, now I was just growing anxious. A few other people had come into the shop while we waited. Sque3z was finally ready and so was I and we got up to go to the piercing room. Christina was put in charge of taking a video for me, since my sister couldn't be there I still wanted her to see it. I think Christina was more nervous than I was. I got into the chair while Sque3z finished setting up and getting ready. As usual gloves were changed frequently and everything was perfectly done. It took a while to mark each ear. My right ear was first, this is the ear with the fairly new industrial. The industrial bar had to come out for the marking. Sque3z marked the ear a few times before settling on the perfect spot that he thought would work with the industrial. After the right ear it was time to mark the left ear which was by far easier considering there is no industrial in that ear. He looked at me from every angle and then used a mirror over my shoulder to compare each ears placement. It was almost time! After getting the opinion of a few other people everyone decided that you could not possibly get any closer/perfect placement. I was happy with that. Sque3z was going to do the punch and Tyler was going to help.
We started with my left ear. They were going to use the punch and taper method. I don't really recall exactly what size they used. I'm going to assume they punched with 4 gauge and tapered up with the 2 gauge...I could be wrong though. So I was ready to go and Christina was ready to record me. Sque3z started to go over the breathing exercises with me...I breathed in slowly all the way in and then all the way out four times. On the fourth time Sque3z told me it was going in and I felt the sharpness of the punch pierce my ear. I am not going to lie it did hurt, but not like I expected it to hurt. It was a sharp burning pain but it was very bearable. I felt the warm blood trickle down my ear. If it wasn't for the video that Christina, took I wouldn't have gotten to see the procedure I later learned that they used a cork on the back of the ear to catch the punch on the other side. They guys kept asking me if I was okay and in all honestly I felt great! I was absolutely fine. Next it was time for the taper to go through...it was cold and it burned slightly when it went through, The jewelry was inserted and Tyler and Sque3z cleaned up the blood on my ear. My left ear actually started to clot very quickly and for that I was happy.
Next it was time for Mr. Right ear. The same procedure was followed, but this time we had to worry about my industrial bar. The bar was removed and this time it hurt a little more. When the punch went through I told everyone that that one hurt more. I think it might have to do with all of the movement of the industrial bar. I felt the warm gooey blood start down my ear and then the taper once again which felt tighter this time and stung more. The guys asked me how I was doing and I was still fine. And they commented on how I did an awesome job on not moving and joked around that one day they were gonna make me flinch! I got my chunks of cartilage in a little baggie and I gave it to Christina to hold for me...they are now in my freezer. After the jewelry was in Tyler was put in charge of putting my industrial bar back in. The big question was...was it going to work with the new jewelry ...had Sque3z placed it right??? The answer was YES!!!! He had to use a taper to taper the holes back open but it fit perfectly with my new metal. So then I only said "Gee, I thought I would have bleed more" and wouldn't you know it, not even a minute after I said that my right ear started bleeding for a good 20-30 minutes. It seemed to not want to stop! Eventually we just ended up leaving the gauze on the back of my ear after the bleeding had slowed. The entire process took some time, although I really couldn't tell you how long it seemed like at least an hour to me, but that might be because of everything going on. Me and Christina, were ready and butt was a little numb.
There were more people outside now and they were all waiting for their piercing. I waited to pay and Sque3z gave me and Christina giant anomaly pens! The guys gave me some gauze and qtips, just in case there was any spontaneous bleeding on the bus ride home. After some high fives and goodbyes me and Christina were on our way back home. It was a little late when we left, around 7pm or so and it was getting a little chilly. When we got outside my ears felts the cold wind and started to sting. My endorphins were starting to ware off. We grabed some starbucks and waited at the bus stop, where I watched the video for the first time. On the ride home me and Christina laughed about the day and I was stared at by some weird guy who kept feeling his ear. Its been 2 days since I had my flats punched. I am extremely happy with them! After we left I had been expecting to bleed and put Christina in charge of watching for any random blood leakage, but they bit didn't bleed the rest of the night! I left the gauze on my right ear over night just in case of bleeding. Still no blood. I washed my ears in the shower the next morning and removed the bloody gross gauze from my ear and washed both of my ears with some antibacterial soap and afterwards cleaned up any dried blood with some qtips. My left ear was bruised on the back side but wasn't really sore at all. My right ear was another story it was sore and tender, but nothing a few ibuprofen couldn't take care of. This morning when I woke up, I was surprised to find that neither of my ears hurt at all ( well not unless they are hit by accident) and I think I even slept on one of them a little. They are doing very good and as for the dermal punch procedure... I would do it again in a heartbeat. And if you are interested in dermal punches I highly recommend it!!!! Now I have to go and do a sea salt soak....