=The first time anyone tampered with my ears was when I was three years old in the Rideau Centre in Ottawa. As a kid I whined and moaned until my mother finally let me get pierced. I screamed and got a lollipop and I don't think the earrings stayed in my ears for more than five minutes.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon IAM knifefight When A year ago Artist Jayme Studio Urban Ink Location Toronto
So suffice it to say I've been interested in getting stuff put into in my ears for a long time. I'm 18 now, and I was 17 when the procedures I am about to write about took place. I had been lusting over stretched ears for quite the long while, and as a poor student who only managed to get on-and-off menial jobs, money was scarce. I looked into scalpelling and it seemed a viable option. Since I wouldn't have to constantly buy new jewelry to size up and I would instantly have a hole in my ears, it seemed like the more awesome option, both financially and aesthetically.
I went in to see Jayme at Urban Ink and she said she could do the procedure. For those who are curious, it cost about $215 (Canadian, obviously, since I live in Canada). It took about 45 minutes in all and I was hardly nervous. I lay down and Jayme did all of the typical sterilization stuff. Her apprentice Laura watched, and the shop owner fellow Dave took a few pictures/video of me bleeding all over the place. I could feel the blood fall out of my ears and onto my neck/hair. It was a weird feeling. The whole time I didn't wince or make any faces as though I was in pain, strangely enough. I didn't cry and I just crossed my arms on my chest. No crying, no making faces. I have to say, I'm proud of myself for being so hardcore about it, not to brag or anything. It hurt, but what body modification procedure doesn't? The pain mostly came afterwards, when my ears actually started to realise what was going on.
I went home with bags of gauze over each ear - they kept bleeding and my ears stung like a bitch. The next morning, I awoke to realise I had bled all over my pillows. I was late to school because I cleaned up the blood on my pillows/myself/my ears - so if you get scalpelled, arrange to wake up a lot earlier than you normally do in order to be on time for whatever it is you need to do. Just incase you need to clean up any mess.
The jewelry Jayme decided to put in - I'm not certain why she chose what she did. It was threaded 00 stuff - I'm not too sure on the specifics, except for the fact that it was the worst possible idea ever. I had received my first piercings (snakebites) in February, and when I got my ears scalpelled it was in March of the same year. I probably should have done more research on appropriate jewelery for scalpelling procedures, but I made the mistake of trusting Jayme in this regard.
When I came in a few months later, in June, to have Jayme check on how my ears were doing, she tried to unthread/open up the jewelry. She was able to successfully remove one ear's jewelery (my left ear), but my other ear's metal wouldn't budge. Jayme tried soaking my ear - still no luck. I think she also tried to open it with pliers. She talked about the possibility of just forcing it through, but decided it would be too dangerous to attempt, as it might split my ear open. Jayme eventually decided that the only way to get it out was to scalpel my ear again (as well as my left ear, in order for both of them to be the same size). I was a bit pissed off about this, as one reason I had chosen to scalpel my ears in the first place was because I would only have to endure it once, but I decided to try to approach the situation positively. I was planning on stretching my ears once they healed anyway, so it was just a bit expedited.
This scalpelling procedure went by essentially in the same way as my first procedure. Lots of blood and scalpels, etc. More appropriate o-ring 9/16 jewelery was selected, which, in retrospect, is what I should have chosen initially for my scalpelling to 00, since it isn't threaded and blood can't really get stuck in the threads. The second scalpelling was $45. I got a bit of a discount because it shouldn't have happened in the first place.
It happened due to Jayme's ridiculous jewelery suggestion for the first scalpelling - as a piercer who has been practicing for 20 years or something, she shouldn't have even considered selling me that jewelery, even if I had been the one to suggest it. I should have also been educated enough to deny her suggestion - I still think, however, it should be the responsibility of the piercer to not use poor judgement. Whatever - I learned something, she probably learned something, so I'm not complaining. Jayme has pierced me tons of times since and I've had no other problems except for this particular one - the choice of my 00 jewelery. Maybe she was having an off day. I will give her the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time, for anyone thinking of getting their ears scalpelled, PLEASE, for the love of god, be very careful about what jewelery you decide to get! Don't make the same mistake I did!
It's February at the time of this writing - 11 months after the initial procedure in March, and 8 months after the second scalpelling. My ears are healed up just fine at the moment and are doing just fine. I'm scared shitless of stretching them because the outer lobe skin is so thin, due to uneven scalpelling. The portion of my lobe that is closer to my face is a lot thicker, if you know what I mean. If I stretched, I'd be terrified of pushing the exterior lobe too far (since it is thinner), and potentially breaking it open and fucking me over royally. So I guess that's the price I have to pay, but I'm not too upset about it. I think the size my ears are at the moment suits me quite well. If I ever decide to size up again, I'll probably get scalpelled again, though if it will be by Jayme, I am not quite certain. I'll get the inner part of my lobes evened out to the same thin-ness as my exterior lobe, so everything will be even. That said, that scalpelling would have to be the farthest I go.
I suppose every body has its limits.