| At A Glance | |
| Author | Mindy |
| Contact | Mindy@bme.anon |
| When | A week ago |
| Artist | Greg |
| Studio | Rock-A-Billy |
| Location | Lauderhill, FL |
The actual procedure...hoh boy. He told me to breathe in, so I did, but he didn't do it as quick as I would have liked him to. He waited a couple beats after I breathed in, I actually had enough time to breathe in and out rapidly then breathe in again. The top hole hurt SO bad, it was literally a burning sensation, like it was on fire, and I think that's why I could hardly feel the second hole. He fiddled around with it a bit after the initial piercing and I was expecting more but he was already done! It didn't really bleed, but neither did my tragus. It looked/looks freaking awesome, but my ear was REALLY sensitive to any sort of stimuli afterwards (the A/C in my car, the wind, my hair), and whenever I took a step, the dull pain made itself known. That only lasted about an hour, though- not unbearable at all. :) I didn't take a shower that night, just because I didn't want to chance getting my hair caught in it ALREADY, so I took one the next morning. Let me tell you, it is so irritating to have to untangle your hair from around the bar. I've started showering with all my hair sweeped to the right side, as my piercing is on the left.
He gave me an aftercare sheet which recommends sea salt soaks and dial soap, BUT I'm in a few groups on myspace, and mostly all of the piercers in them are adamant about using ONLY saline soaks-NOT sea salt soaks- as it is difficult to get the ratio of salt to water perfect, an imbalance either way could harm you more than help you. Also they are against Dial or any other kind of soaps since they contain chemicals not conducive to healing(i.e capable of irritating the piercing) and could dry your skin out, causing itchiness, thus causing you to fiddle with it more.
I was cleaning my ear twice a day with Dial and doing the sea salt soaks, and yesterday(4 days after getting pierced), my ear was so red, so hot, so shiny and so swollen. So last night I went to Walgreens and bought a can of STERILE Saline Wash(it has to be in a can so it's pressurized and STAYS sterile), squirted a little bit in a cup, heated it in the microwave for 10 seconds(the warm water helps soothe pain), then dipped cotton balls in it and held them onto my ear for 5 minutes. Afterwards you're supposed to take the can of saline and spray it directly onto your piercing to wash it off, then take a qtip and remove any crusties you may have, since they'll be softened up :)
The piercers on myspace AND my piercer all recommend NOT to get two seperate piercings and then put the bar in later, because they might not heal at the correct angle and then the bar wont fit properly. I'd have to agree with them, I'm glad that I got the bar right away. And plus it's just instant gratification to have the bar right away rather than waiting for the rings to heal.
Today my ear is feeling and looking MUCH better, and the only thing I plan on using from now on is the saline. It's only $8 at Walgreens, and for a healthy ear, it is well well well worth it!
Be very careful to not bump it. Yesterday my coworker went to touch my hair and bam! he barely even TOUCHED my ear yet it was throbbing for the rest of the night. Putting the warm/hot saline on it made it feel a little better but it was still pulsating as I tried to fall asleep, and that was like 3 hours after originally getting it bumped;x
I think a major reason mine keeps getting bumped is because the bar is SO FREAKING LONG. It seems a bit unnecessary, I'm going to go get a shorter one as soon as I get another day off. Because the pain just RADIATED from my ear for too long after getting hit.
I don't think I'll be getting any more piercings, but then again, that's what I said after getting my tragus re-pierced last year. Who knows when I'll need more therapy? ;p
