Let me start this by saying I was a strictly no-holes, no-ink girl. Always have been. My sister got her ears pierced when she was 5, and all I could do was hide my eyes and wait for it all to be over. Yet, there was a part of me - a tiny little part - that was jealous. That felt like I was missing out on something.
At A Glance Author Kari When A month ago Artist Josh Fish Studio Ace High Tattoos Location Johnson City, TN So through the years, my ears stayed pristine, and I always wondered when I looked at girls whose ears were pierced (no modification, even just normal lobe piercings) - what gives? Why can I not bring myself to do this thing that everyone has done?
And then I got the bug.
But not just any piercing would do. I decided on transverse lobes - I'm a medical student, and didn't want anything that I would have to take out for "professional reasons," but also, I'm not the flashiest girl, and I wanted something strange, yet understated. I tried going first to a studio that advertised body piercings, but when I got there, turns out it was a day spa (complete with massages, pedicures, hair-doing and such), and it was obvious that the girl did not want any part of this. She kind of looked at my ears, kind of measured, but I could tell she was dodgy about the whole thing. (ADVICE: Even if a piercer says they've done a piercing before, if they only mess around with your ears and do any amount of mealy-mouthing, FIND ANOTHER PIERCER). She ended up giving me a name, Josh Fish at Ace High Tattoos, and from there, it was a love affair.
I made an appointment to go speak with him, see the studio, and make sure he wouldn't wimp out on me like the first girl did. Oh, no, he absolutely did not. In fact, he was excited about it, because no one in the area has this particular piercing. He took me straight on back, cleaned up, took about half an hour getting the angle and the markings right (thank you Fish!) before even thinking about breaking out the needles.
I was way nervous, having never been pierced before, but he was quite kind (he'd smash me for saying that - he has a reputation to protect, you know :) ), and the ordeal lasted about half an hour after the initial half hour measuring. I got both ears done at the same time, despite advice from a friend saying that I should only opt for one at a time. If you're gonna go, might as well go for it all, even if it does make sleeping a little difficult. (ADVICE: If you must sleep on your side, put your arm under your head and make a little crevasse for your ear to rest in.)
He instructed me to breathe in and out with the entry and exit of the needle on either side of my lobe. The needle exiting hurt more than the needle going in, and the small pop of the skin breaking was kind of gross. He makes his own jewelery, which is nice, because he had just about every size of barbell, including one that was an absolute perfect fit for me. I had originally thought I was going to have 16g jewelery, but he talked me into a 14g, probably because my lobes are so fat. He was right about that. The second ear hurt worse than the first one, probably because I knew what was coming. Still, not at all the worse pain I've ever felt - sort of like a burning and a fullness. I guess I would liken it to having your blood taken at the doctor's office by someone who's not the best at taking blood. Speaking of which, I barely bled at all from the procedure. Very nice.
The next day, of course, I had small to mid-sized plums where my lobes used to be. The bruising and swelling was pretty nasty, but typical. Fish has been diligent and wonderful in checking in with me, making sure everything is okay, and with routine cleanings and sea salt soaks (ahhhhhhh), today they are quite lovely.
The punchline is EVERYONE notices them. I got engaged recently, and people notice the piercings BEFORE the big diamond I got on my hand. I'll be talking to someone and they'll immediately focus on my ears and wait for me to finish a thought before asking some sort of weird question, my favorite of which is "Do those go all the way through??" My fiance is warming up to them - he had a bad experience with piercings.
The other punchline is, now he might have to warm up to a set of cartilage spirals pretty soon :)