I have been a pincushion for a while now. It all started when my friend Sharona came back from Fakir Intensives with her piercing certification. She has been using my willing self to practice all sorts of piercings on, as I am hardly one to complain about extremely cheap, new piercings or the pain that goes with them. Yesterday I received two more piercings from her, and I cannot stop grinning at myself in the mirror.
At A Glance Author Becca Contact lanternspike@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Sharona Studio Adrenaline Location Vancouver Sharona called me up in the evening, and wanted to know if I would come down to the new shop where she just started working for a little practice session. Naturally, I said yes, despite the fact that I had no idea what I wanted done. I leapt up, put a package of assorted extra jewellery bits and pieces (just in case), threw on my coat and traipsed out the door. The shop is only a 10 minute walk from my house, which is dreadfully convenient. She greeted me at the door with a smoke, and we discussed our options. I showed off my assortment of jewellery, and we agreed on a septum, as I had a retainer for that and Sharona had some fancy new septum clamps that she wanted to try using. She also wanted to do a rook, and being the greedy little thing I am, I said yes to that too. Two piercings in one sitting: I took a deep breath and assured myself I could handle it, I have put myself through worse.
We carried on into the studio, and into the piercing room, which smelled reassuringly sterile. That certainly comforted me as I had never been in the studio before. Her boss (forgive me, I cannot remember his name) came in and introduced himself, and proceeded to oversee the operation. He was really nice, and proved to be an excellent teacher, so Sharona is in good hands. As my septum retainer was being sterilized, Sharona got herself all set up: needle, clamps, thick sterile solution, qtips for my filthy nose (just kidding, I hope). I hopped up on the chair and made myself comfortable. As comfortable as one could get in a dentist chair under the anticipation of extended pain, that is... And before I knew it, we were ready to go. It was neat, I was expecting to have to take out my nostril rings for this, but we didn't have to at all. Sharona and the boss man discussed placement as I stared on, she changed her gloves, found the soft spot with her fingers and then applied the wildest looking pair of clamps I had seen, as I am used to seeing a septum pierced with a receiving tube and careful deliberation. These things looked like scissors with horizontal tubing on the ends, which I suppose makes sense. She got them in the right place, clamped down (no pain as of yet), and slid the needle through slowly and carefully. Now, I have had slow piercings and lightning fast ones, and I can certainly say that I don't notice more pain with either method. This particular piercing was almost too painless, all I felt was a wee pinch and some pressure. Then there was a bit of confusion as to how to get the clamps off, the boss man laughed and showed Sharona how to slide the needle through further so they could be released without catching the needle and hurting the hell out of my nose. She slid the retainer into place without breaking the connection to the needle, but I must admit that there was so much pressure from the jewellery going through that I moved my head a bit and made it harder on myself. Advice to anyone: Stay still! "\Ãw€ë Piercers love it and it really makes the pain less, I swear. We all broke out into smiles, and Sharona stared into and around my nose for an ungodly amount of time, making sure she had done a good job. She swore up and down that it was way too easy, and I laughed, knowing she was pleased with her work. The clamps really do make for an easier, straighter piercing, and if that is cheating, sign me up, I don't mind!
I took a good look at my nose while Sharona was setting up the equipment for the rook piercing, and tried not to think about more trauma, for despite the lack of pain during the piercing, my nose was beginning to throb and feel a bit sensitive.
Finally, Sharona was ready to go. I let her clean my ear, and watched her bend the needle into a u-shape for ease of piercing such a small area (and I really do have tiny ears). The boss man had me lie down, which I am not used to, but I must say, is easier on the piercee than sitting up, you don't have to tense up to fight the pressure of a cartilage piercing. She slid the needle through after making a brief placement mark, and I was astonished to realize that there was practically no pain once again, just a lot of slow pressure. The ring was in before I knew it, but it took eons to get the bead in, poor Sharona kept dropping it on me. I wondered why she was having so much trouble (I didn't mind, I just felt bad for her...I know how bloody frustrating trying to get a bead in can be) It turns out she was having trouble because she wasn't using ring closing pliers, she was trying the boss's suggested method of supporting the ring and closing it with only the one pair of pliers. I was told that once she gets the hang of this technique, she won't have to use ring closers at all, and that will make life much easier at clean up time, I imagine. So finally the bead went in, and I sat up to look at my ear. It was rather pretty, very delicate and I was extremely pleased. After all this, I hung out for a bit, and then strolled on home, just blasted on adrenaline (the chemical in my body, not the name of the shop, sorry about the pun) I had a smoke on my way, and that made me lightheaded as hell.
So far the new wounds feel pretty good, I slept on the side opposite my pierced ear, and attempted to keep my nose away from getting crushed. I keep inadvertently bumping my septum, which hurts every time, and I am sniffing like a coke addict, but that is to be expected, I suppose, when something foreign is lodged in my nose. I shall have to prepare some sea salt soaks for them, and I plan to be a good little girl and not touch them. So far so good, I might just have to let Sharona pierce me again, although we seem to be running out of space. I'll just have to use my imagination, I suppose.