My Bridge/Earl Piercing.
At A Glance Author phoenix_rising83 Contact phoenix_rising83@hotmail.com When Three months ago Studio Mad Tatters Location Bradford, PA I've wanted a bridge, or earl (whichever name you prefer)piercing for a while now. I love the way they look on some people, but think they look terrible on others, so that is why I hesitated for so long. I'm so happy that I finally stopped hesitating and got it done. Here's my experience.
I had wanted the piercing for quite a while, and for the few days leading up to it, I was thinking about it all the time, and wanting it more and more. I had been reading articles and stories from people who had them, and the general opinion was that it was one of the more difficult piercings, so I was a bit nervous. I always get the 'jitters' before a piercing, but I was actually really nervous about this one. Then came the day, I spent most of the morning talking to the few different piercers I know about pricing, healing time, and so on. Finally, I decided to go out to Bradford, to Mad Tatter's, the shop where I had gotten my labret pierced. I heard that their apprentice had finished up his apprenticeship and was hired on full time as a piercer, and that he had experience with bridge piercings. So there I was, talking to him about it. He told me I was a 'crazy girl', which he meant as a joke, but I began to wonder if I really was crazy with as much as he was mentioning the pain factor on this one. He kept telling me that I needed to be aware that some people find this particular piercing to be very painful, and apparently he has had some bad experiences while doing this type of piercing, as he mentioned people passing out and/or vomiting afterwards. My mind was everywhere at that point. I should not have been so nervous, as I have had some piercings that other people would call 'extreme' or 'painful' before, and they did not bother me at all.I waited for him to finish getting everything ready, and I was so nervous. I remember going through portfolios and books of tattoo designs to take my mind off of it. I even considered blowing it off and coming back when I was not so nervous, but I stuck it out. Finally, he called me in and had me sit down. It all went very, very quickly. He marked the area to be pierced, and after my approval, he started working with the clamps. They were uncomfortable, I will say that, but no where near as bad as I had come to expect from hearing about other's experiences. It was mainly just a lot of pressure, they did not 'hurt' at all.It was just a bit of pressure. To be honest, I didn't even feel the needle itself. I felt a little bit of pressure, opened my eyes, and the needle was in already. I was shocked that it happened so quickly, and that it was virtually painless. The he put the jewelery in, just a quick little slip, that actually felt kind of weird, sort of like a tickling sensation, and I was done. I remember sitting in front of the mirror at the shop, just staring at it. I loved it. I couldn't stop looking at it. I was one of the people it looked fabulous on. It looked so good. It did bleed, however. Not really bad, but enough to be annoying anyways.It was a slow bleeding one, every time I thought it had stopped, it would drip a little more. I eventually got away from the mirror and paid him, tipped him, thanked him many, many times, and then left. Afterwards, it got a bit red, not real bad, and I did get a headache from it, just as the piercer told me I would. A few pain killer That was two months ago now. The healing has been very neat and very smooth. I had a small problem with the jewelery, and had to switch to a titanium piece, but it's been smooth since then. I also started out with a surface bar, and ended up with a curved barbell to help relieve some pressure, and it works beautifully. I love this piercing, it is by far my favorite out of the 7 that I do have. It's not even visible within my range of vision, I cannot even feel it there. It's very, very comfortable, and I am very satisfied with it. I would definitely tell those who want this piercing, but who are hesitating, that there is no reason to hesitate, the experience was wonderful. But be prepared for the questions and comments you will get about it. Some are negative, but that is to be expected. Most people who have something to say about it to me, are just curious about it. Be prepared to answer questions like 'Is that pierced through the bone?', and 'That really had to hurt!'. It doesn't really bother me at all though, I don't mind sharing my experience with my piercings with others. I rather enjoy being able to inform some people that are naive on the subject, and some have actually been grateful to me for clearing up some things they were uncertain about when it comes to body piercings. I hope this helps someone in making their decision on getting a bridge/earl piercing!