So when I first went to Prix, it was because I was in my dorm at UCLA when the ball on my tongue piercing fell out and down the sink. I was so impressed by the cleanliness of Prix and fell in love with the tattoos of Kim there. So fast forward two years and I am at Prix to get my second tattoo done and I see a picture of a daith piercing with a custom heart ring in it. I thought to myself: "Must have it!" So I talk to Roger who shapes the jewelry onsite and he has me pick a color of titanium, which I happily chose pink despite how cliché it is. After shaping the jewelry, he explains this strip that turns black to indicate that it has been autoclaved. Then he has me initial the strip to show that it was indeed a new strip then stuck it in the autoclave with my jewelry. I found this a very reassuring and professional touch.
At A Glance Author devthekoala Contact devthekoala@bme.anon IAM devthekoala When A week ago Artist Roger Studio Prix Body Adornment Location Los Angeles Then he sat me down in his chair and cleaned out my ear then marked where the piercing was going to be. He warned me that I would just have to trust him on the placement as the daith was going to be hard for me to see where his dots were. I had looked at plenty of pictures of his work so I had no qualms there. Another thing he warned me was that it was not an easy piercing because of the constrictive space of where the daith was. He changed gloves in between the cleaning and marking of my ear to a new pair when the actual piercing was being done, which again is not something I notice a lot with some piercers. So after 8 or so minutes of the autoclave, the strip came out saying it was all squeaky clean and it was time for the actual piercing. He showed me what was going to receive the needle and then had me practice breathing exercises. I always thought the breathing exercises were a bit silly, but it is a good thing to focus on if you a nervous person I suppose. On the third exhale, he pierced my ear.
Now I had already had my left inner conch done, so I expected that pressure then that nasty pop as the needle gets through the thick cartilage. What I did not expect was how much that receiving tube or whatever that was hurt when it was all said and done. "Oww" was basically my eloquent response to the whole ordeal. As soon as he took that off and put in the jewelry, all pain was gone. He warned me not to play with this piercing and to treat it gently and not move it about. The cool thing is that everything seemed disposable, including the receiving thing. I swear it was cleaner than the dentists' office!
He suggested just soap and water because he said it would be hard to accomplish salt soaks given the awkward position the daith is in. The only problem is that the first night I got too much water in my ear canal and that caused it to itch like CRAZY! All night long I was awake, and I think I ended up hitting the jewelry trying to scratch my ear. So obviously that approach was not working. So now I am using a mix of Jojoba oil, Tea Tree Oil, Eucalyptus, and Lavender Oil applied VERY sparingly with a Q-tip then the excess cleaned away with a Q-tip in warm water to help remove the dried white blood cells. So far so good, there is no swelling or excessive discharge, although I worry because it is very hard to clean without being able to see the actual piercing. I found that a compact held in front of a mirror works good to see the piercing but it is very hard to swab and do so at the same time. Roger also warned me not to move the jewelry because of irritation, so I am very hesitant to use the Q-tips. I tried putting an ear plug in to keep the water out of my ear canal, but that just hit the piercing so that idea was a bad one.
Despite the aforementioned dilemma, I am very happy with this piercing. It barely hurts and looks awesome. Not to mention I get increasingly bored with captive ball rings and like the fact that the heart is unique. I think eventually I will be back to get a heart in plain high polish because pink does get old after a while.
Roger said to check back in in about a month to let him know how the piercing was going and to give him a call or email in the meantime if I experience any problems. All in all I could not have asked for a better piercing experience and I highly recommend Prix on Sunset Blvd for anyone looking to get a tat or piercing.