You may remember me from a previous experience – I pretty much wrote the book on what NOT to do after I skipped several stretches and obtained a staph infection (which nearly overtook my bloodstream) on my way to 4 gauge last time. Since then, I have longed to have holes in my ears again, but the idea of slowly working my way back to 4 gauge seemed like a daunting and impossible task. When I heard of a place that would be willing to pierce it at a high gauge, I was forced to move out of state for almost a year and a half.
At A Glance Author Aisha Contact Aisha@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Pamela the Wonderful Studio Obscurities Location Dallas, TX I finally got my chance recently, wherein my mom promised to pay for my ear piercing as a late Christmas present (which by the way, she didn't. The total came to 85 dollars, and she only put in 35 of that.) We arrived in Dallas borough of Oak Lawn at the beautiful shop Obscurities, but unfortunately, my mom failed to inform me she had no ID prior to that. I had also misplaced my birth certificate temporarily; it was not a great day. I returned on January 10th with my grandmother who has joint custody and primary physical custody (and thankfully, the paperwork and identification to get the job done). This was when I met Pamela, the gorgeous and charming piercing artist who did my ears. I'll take this moment to let you know that she's really precise and really personal – I would recommend her to anyone. While you're at it, check out the whole shop, there is some amazing artwork in that shop, and if you want an L.A. Ink quality tattoo in Dallas, you should go there.
Anyways, Pamela had me wait 5 minutes while she autoclaved and sanitized all the necessary materials while she explained that she would pierce my ears to the side of the scar tissue, and she'd use a 6 gauge needle followed by a 4 gauge taper and my chosen jewelry, a shiny pair of flared titanium tunnels. When the time was up, she led me into the piercing room, where I saw the needle for the first time. I'm not going to lie to you, a 6g needle is pretty daunting. Knowing that you're about to have it shoved through your ear is nearly harrowing. I trusted Pamela, however, and I knew that this was what I wanted.
With the first lobe, my right, the pain was sharp and stinging, but unbelievably brief. It wasn't much worse than giving blood. The harder part was the subsequent taper and jewelry, but I was too high off of endorphins, adrenaline from the excitement, and a little lightheadedness from the breathing techniques she showed me. Onto the left ear she went, and I'm going to be blunt here – it hurt like hell. I could feel the blood drip down my neck, as if taunting me. The burning was almost unbearable for a moment, but I steadied myself, and focused on the thought of my beautiful new lobes. She announced that it was all done and showed me my ears in the mirror, which I admired adoringly. I could see through my ears! It was a big moment for me. She asked me if I was feeling okay, and told me I was a little pale, but once I steadied my breath, I felt fine and told her so.
At the front, she gave me the sea salt and anti-microbial soap along with reviewing my aftercare instructions with me. I was to start that day with ice and cold sea salt soaks, the small package of salt was to be dissolved in one gallon of distilled water.
If you have read my previous experience, you know that I learned the lesson of taking care of your piercings pretty roughly last time, so as you may have guessed, I have religiously pampered my pretty little lobes, and I'm pleased to say that they've healed well thus far. I thought I would stop at 4 gauge, since it had previously been my goal size, but you know what they say about the stretching bug – it catches on fast. In another month or so, I'd like to make the stretch to 2 gauge, and after that, who knows?
In summary, yes, there are sometimes happy endings to bad stretching stories, but you have to A) be patient and actually listen to the reasonable advice any good piercer will give (i.e., if they tell you wait until a month after it heals to stretch, just WAIT), B) take care of your own body. Body modification is not about always fighting your own body. Are body mods unnatural? Yeah, sure they are. Does that give you license to abuse yourself and risk infection, rejection and possibly death? No. It's just not worth it.