Yesterday I decided to get a piercing. I knew I wanted something in my ear because I just got a new haircut where my ear is cut out, and it shows constantly. I've had other cartilage piercings unsuccessfully before, my rook and a half assed industrial. The rook gathered scar tissue almost immediately and the industrial was pierced completely wrong and also gathered some nasty scarring. I have healed one helix piercing successfully with no scar tissue, but I thought on a tricky placement it would be pretty much inevitable. So I thought, this time I need to have a plan.
At A Glance Author Aubrey McKee Contact Aubrey McKee@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Tony Studio Focus Studios Location Covington, KY I had read on here (BMEzine) about some clients having success having their cartilage pierced at a higher gauge, and smaller jewelry inserted. This gives the piercing room to grow to the jewelry rather than to grow around the jewelry, therefore (hopefully) reducing the chances of unsightly scarring! I'm really hoping all of this turns out to be correct for me.
So I grabbed a friend and headed to the best piercing shop in all of Greater Cincinnati, Focus Studios. Tony and Chelsie of Focus Studios have been piercing me for going on five years now. That means I love them lots. Chelsie and Tony have their own shop now, which is the only place in Main Strasse that offers piercing and is also a lovely art gallery. They're both extremely talented piercers, but through the course of events, Tony has become my primary piercer. I've had more than enough reasons to say, "I will never go anywhere else," among these is a set of nipple piercings (not pierced by anyone at Focus) I've been fighting with since last November. Tony has been patient and we have tried almost everything to get them to settle down, and they're finally starting to look happy.
I asked Tony to pierce my snug a gauge higher once we determined the placement of the piercing. At first he wasn't sure if I would have enough room "I don't want to just rip your snug out with the needle," but he was willing to try (which is all I really ask). He also explained that it was likely to bleed more this way, but it's just a bit of blood, after all. I rarely bleed when pierced by either Tony or Chelsie. I don't know if it is their style, or they have a secret trick, or what but it definitely works for me. I bring everyone I know to get pierced there, and they always bring their friends. Obviously they're doing something right!
My friend was getting an industrial and wanted me to go first, so we waited a moment while he sterilized the room and set up his tray. We went back, I sat down, and he started to mark me. I wanted it slightly diagonal, so we had to mark it a couple times before it was right (which is well worth the extra five minutes and numerous glove changes). He decided to use clamps instead of piercing it freehand, so that we could use the larger gauge needle. Luckily my snug is really pronounced so using the 14-gauge wasn't a problem. He opened the clamps, placed them on my ear and after a moment, lined the needle up. Then of course it was the old deep breath in, deep breath out. He pierced on my second deep breath in.
Whoa! I think I forgot to breathe out! It was the weirdest sensation ever. It didn't really hurt, but the feeling of the needle going through that part of my ear was just really odd. The 16-gauge jewelry just slipped right in, but then he had to wrestle with the ball. The top ball was threading, it just wasn't threading all the way. We tried a different ball, same story. Finally after about five minutes the top ball was on, and we know for a fact its never coming off of that barbell. The piercing got a little mad at the movement of trying to thread the ball, and started to bleed a bit. It was nothing like what I had expected. I expected a river of blood running down my neck (like during my industrial, also not pierced at Focus). In reality it wasn't anymore than what I have seen on other peoples cartilage piercings. I'm just not a bleeder. He cleaned me up and I hopped off the table to look at my new piercing. The placement was absolutely perfect. I love when my piercings are new, all red and angry but with no scar tissue.
He skipped the whole spiel about the aftercare because he has pierced me so many times. It's basically the same as any other piercing. Clean it with clear antibacterial soap, salt soak once in the evening. Personally, I don't do this. I prefer to take a LITHA approach to my piercings, and it seems to have worked so far. I do think I will be soaking this one though because I remember how much better it feels afterwards. So this little baby will be getting its salt soaks regularly. I'd really rather prevent the scar tissue from forming in the first place if it's at all possible.
Before I went to bed, I took two ibuprofen to prevent it swelling while I slept. This morning it wasn't swollen at all. I cleaned the blood crusties off with warm water on a q-tip (no soap). I've been a good girl and haven't hit it at all so far today which means I am on a roll. Its great because a lot of times hair will get tangled in the jewelry of cartilage piercings, but mine isn't even close to long enough to do that now so that will be a big help with healing. I just have to watch out for the clothing! It hasn't bled any more than right after it was pierced and it hasn't swollen at all (thank you ibuprofen!). So far it has been really happy and I aim to keep it that way.
In conclusion, I want to say that Focus is the greatest piercing shop on Earth. I will never go anywhere else ever again, it only leads it complications that Tony ends up solving after months of hard work. If you're in the Cincinnati area and you want a fast, happy piercing, I'd definitely recommend them. If you want a cheap, shitty piercing, I can't help you. Focus is definitely higher priced but well worth every cent. You get what you pay for so you might as well insist on the best. It's also worth noting that they have an apprentice whose name is JT, and he is cool too.