I've had a lot of big things happen to me in the way of my piercings recently. One good thing is that I turned 18 a little over a month ago. One very bad thing is that the piercer that I've trusted to do all of my piercing up until now moved across the country. Aside from him trusting me as a practice dummy even though I was underage, he gave me a great deal on my piercings, and he's seen parts of my body that only boyfriends and doctors see. Needless to say I was really upset to find out that he'd be leaving to try his luck in San Diego and leaving me to find a new piercer here in Massachusetts.
At A Glance Author Robin Graves Contact good.libertine@yahoo.com When It just happened Artist xjoex Studio Hole Shot Location Amherst, MA The tattoo artist that did my first tattoo when I was 17, worked at a shop where the piercer was inexperienced and not very knowledgeable about her craft. But, in between my first and second tattoos he switched shops. This worked out great because when I went to get my second tattoo I got to meet Joe, the piercer at his new shop. My tattoo artist, Tim, said great things about him as did one of my close friends who'd gone to him to get her conch's done. But, moving along, I met him, liked him, and when he did a fantastic job changing the jewelry in my sternum piercing I decided that he was trustworthy and that he was worth the price increase that I would have to endure.
I talked to him about the piercings that were on my list to get in the next few months, and because most of them are very unusual, he doesn't get to do them often, or ever, so he was very excited to have me as a new client. I decided to do them in order of how long I've wanted them, and the one I've wanted the longest, that I didn't already have, was a vertical tragus. I want both of them, but for the sake of sleep I decided to get them a couple of week apart.
So yesterday, I had really wanted to talk to Joe about my sternum piercing. It's not doing to well, so I wanted to discuss my options as well as discuss getting dermal anchors in my chest. Whether that happens after my current jewelry falls out or in addition to it is yet to be decided. As I was getting ready to go I thought "why not today?" It took about a half a second to decide that today was as good as any to get my vertical tragus, especially since I was going to the shop anyways. So I called a couple of friends to find one that was free. (By the way, I don't care how many piercings you've gotten, it's always more comfortable to have moral support with you!) My friend Matt thought it would be great fun to come with me, so I picked him up and we headed out.
It took about 20 minutes to get to the shop; which was plenty of time for me to get used to the average pre- piercing butterflies. We walked in a Tim, the tattoo artist, check in with me on me nearly 2 week old tattoo. A few minutes went by and Joe joined us and I talked to him about my sternum. I'm sure my new sternum story will be here a couple weeks. But, when that conversation was done, I told him that I wanted to get my vertical tragus done. I randomly chose my left ear to be done first, since I'd be back in a week or 2 to get the other one. Joe fetched the release form and did the paperwork and all that crap and then he, Matt, and I went back into the piercing room. I sat down and Joe set up his needle and jewelry and cleaning goop. He sanitized my ear, and then made target marks. It took a couple of tries to get them just right. He got the needle ready and told me to take a deep breath. I did and in went the needle. I prepared for it to take longer than most piercings so when it took a few seconds to come out I wasn't surprised. It hurt a little when it was actually going through but when it was out I could barely feel it. Putting the jewelry in was a piece of cake.
I'm very happy and it looks great. I left the shop and it hurt a little for about an hour. I even slept on it last night by accident and it still doesn't hurt. But, I suppose it's all relative because I've had a good amount of pretty serious piercings. My ears looked great before but in 2 weeks they'll both look perfect until I think of another great ear piercing to get! Thanks Joe!