Let me start off by saying; my mom isn't cool. Now, she's not terribly un-cool either, but she's not very big on body mods, and that being said, isn't very happy whenever her 15 year old daughter needs her consent to get pierced. We had worked out an agreement that I could pierce my ears as long as I didn't stretch anything (one of her pet peeves). So, in February of 2005, she took me downtown to NEXT! so I could get my ear pierced (yet again).
At A Glance Author Ally Contact Ally@bme.anon IAM Twitchy_McSplat When Two years ago Artist Jacob Studio NEXT! Location Vancouver, BC I had gone to NEXT! for all of my previous piercings (tragus and industrial) and was very happy with the cleanliness and customer service etc. So, as I was at the counter chatting with a piercer about the rook piercing I was about to get, what size jewelry and so forth, my mother comes up to the counter and asks to be shown what a rook piercing is. So Jacob (the piercer) pulls out the plastic-y ear (next to the plastic-y penis and vagina) and shows her. Now, this is where the "not terribly un-cool" comes in. My mother actually says that she LIKES the way it looks. I was shocked. Then she asks Jacob about the healing time, pain factor and other things. I was still incredibly shocked that my mom would actually think a non-lobe piercing was esthetically pleasing. So after she finished chatting I picked out my jewelry (a 14 gauge CBR with a purple ball) and was waiting to pay when my mom looked at me and said "I think I want to get one too". I pretty much had a heart attack, right then and there. But after listening to her ask MORE questions, my hopes faded. My mom has a problem with not following through with things, and even though she had given birth to two kids, she was afraid the pain would be too much.
After about 20 minutes of debating my mom delivered another shock, she was actually going to do it. So, we paid and went into one of the rooms. It was dark yellow, and had candles with the Virgin Mary on them. It also contained the "dentist like" chair that so many stories tell of. Next obstacle was deciding who went first. I volunteered my mother, because then I knew that she couldn't back out. She agreed and Jacob, my mother and I all chatted about Oprah (who had gotten her ears pierced with a gun on TV a few weeks before) and my mom was trying to describe her "happy place". Jacob marked the spot on her ear and she asked me to inspect. It looked good to me so Jacob started the count down. 1...breathe in...2...breathe out...3...breathe in...*pierce*...breathe out. She actually did surprisingly well. No screaming or flailing and there was no blood at all. My mother still said it hurt worse then giving birth.
Now it was my turn. At NEXT! they give you a little cotton ball with essential oils on it to smell to help you relax. So I was sniffing away and Jacob marked a spot on my ear and I approved (without really looking at it), because I assumed it would be in the same spot as my moms. He did the breathing countdown again and boy, did it HURT! I have a pretty high pain threshold but as my first piercing with a curved needle, I have to say it hurt more then my previous ones. Also, I'm a bleeder, so there was some blood, but when I looked at my piercing in the mirror I noticed that it wasn't in the crevice between the ridge and the helix, but a little to the right (away from the crevice). I was a little disappointed, but still very happy. We tipped him and then left.
Since I'm a bleeder my ear looked a lot worse than my mothers, but I stuck to the LITHA method for the first day or two, and then sea salt soaks and glycerin soap. It was tender for a week or so after and was one of my few piercings that didn't develop a keloid (I'm part black). However, my mother (and this is where the un-cool part comes in) thought that the pain was too much, and after only a week or so, we went back to NEXT! so they could take it out for her.
Now, two years later I'm still very happy with it, and have learned to love that it's a bit off center. The ring just lays more like a barbell then on its side like it should. I had to go back a month later so get a new ball because the old one had a flaw that made it "jingle" every time I moved (drove me nuts). I have to say that it was a fairly easy piercing to heal because it's out of the way (not sticking out like my industrial) and I left it alone most of the time.
I haven't been to NEXT! in more than a year, and have heard that its standards have gone down (they are now a piercing shop/tattoo parlor/hair salon) so I can't really recommend it too much anymore, but all of my experiences there have been good. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!