Having a significant other who is not modified can be tough. My boyfriend was always passive when it came to my piercings and the stretching of those piercings. He didn't like them, but he didn't hate them. Sometimes he would make the occasional comment about my lobes getting larger or about all of the plugs I buy. While he would never prevent me from getting any modifications that I wanted, he was never excited when I went to get a new piercing and he would never pay for me to get one.
At A Glance Author Tiffani Contact Tiffani@bme.anon IAM 94 hours of regret When Three months ago Artist Dave Studio Braindrops Location San Francisco, CA Well, that was up until about three months ago. I guess my whining and complaining finally made him give in and pay a man to stab a hole in my skin. He didn't want to pay for anything too extreme though so I chose something that is somewhat mainstream now: a nostril piercing. He agreed to that particular piercing and I was overjoyed. Now I just had to wait for him to get some money.
I cannot remember how I chose what day to get it pierced. It was probably a combination of my boyfriend having money from taxes and also our boredom that day. So we headed to San Francisco with his mother and plans to go see the movie 300 on Imax at the Metreon after I got the piercing.
We made our way to Braindrops on Hayes Street with no problem since I had been there many times before. Of course it was difficult to find parking but that is expected in San Francisco. As we were getting close to the shop and I had it in sight, I notice that it looked closed. With thoughts of my piercing possibly not happening, I ran across the street to read the hours sign. Apparently, since the last time I had been there they now are closed on Wednesdays. The reason for that probably being that they have a new second Braindrops on Haight St.
I had heard before that it was only a few blocks away from the first shop but I had never been there yet so I was not sure which way to go. Since parking was already difficult to find we just left the car where it was and started walking. I had an idea of where it was located but my boyfriend's mother was afraid of getting lost so she went into the gas station on the corner to ask for directions. Once we knew which way to start walking, we began our journey.
We found the new shop with little problems. Upon entering, I was excited to see that this one was larger and more open (the ceiling in the other shop is kind of low). I walked towards the counter and recognized Emily who was always there to greet me when I went to the other shop on Hayes Street. I was glad she was there because I am always nervous when I am in a place I have never been before. I told her I wanted a nostril piercing but that I wanted it pierced at 14 gauge. She said that it would probably be done with a labret stud, exactly what I was expecting. She then asked the man next to her if that was what he would do, since he was the piercer. He agreed and he told me that he would set up the piercing room and call me when he was ready.
My boyfriend and I sat down on the couch and began looking at their tattoo portfolios while his mom went next door. After a couple of minutes, Dave called me into the piercing room. My boyfriend followed, probably because I made him but I like to think he did it for support. The walls in the room were covered in blue and green tiles. Towards the left of the room as you walk in was one of those medical tables you see at the doctor's office.
Dave asked me which side I wanted to get pierced. At first I said left, then I changed to right, and then I asked my boyfriend which side. I didn't really care which side I got this time because I will eventually be getting the other side done also in a few months. He agreed that the right side would look good because I have the left side of my lip pierced at the moment. Dave then asked me why I wanted to get it pierced at a larger size than is usually done for nostrils. He asked if I was going to stretch it in the future. I told him that I was probably not going to stretch it I just don't like getting any piercings smaller than 14 gauge. Smaller than 14 is just doesn't look good to me.
I have an eight gauge septum and I was wearing a captive bead ring in it at the time so I asked Dave if he needed me to remove it for the procedure. I figured it would be in the way especially since I have small nostrils but he said it was not necessary. I was surprised but said ok and sat down on the medical table. He took a few minutes to mark my nostril and then handed me a mirror to check the mark. I looked at it for only about five seconds and replied, "That looks good. Whatever you think looks good, I trust you." I then laid back on the table. As he was getting everything ready, I looked to the ceiling with my hands crossed on my chest like I always do when I am about to get pierced. I like quiet right before so that I can relax.
When Dave was ready he took a little while to line the needle up with the mark. When he was ready, he told me to take a deep breath in and then out. When I let the breath out, he pierced my nostril. To tell you the truth, it did hurt and my eyes were watering a lot while I squeezed them shut. He remarked, "Yeah, 14 gauge does hurt a lot more than the smaller ones." The next part I don't really remember mostly because I was paying more attention to the pain and also because he was so quick. What I do think happened was he inserted a taper and pulled the needle out, then inserted the labret stud from the inside. He screwed on the ball and after he was finished I sat up slowly. He asked if I was okay to stand up and I was so I thanked him and my boyfriend and I went to the counter where he paid for the piercing and a bag of aftercare supplies.
As my boyfriend was paying, I went back in to the piercing room to thank Dave again and put a $20 bill into the tip jar. He deserved it. I still have no idea how he got everything done with my small nostrils and my eight gauge septum jewelry in the way. I also went in there to ask him if the shop does dermal punching. He said they do but that they like to do it after closing because it is a more intense experience than regular piercing. I then asked him if his large gauge inner conches were dermal punched because I wanted to get my inner conches done. He explained that his were pierced and stretched over a long period of time. He told me that stretching cartilage is much different than stretching a lobe. He explained that it has to be done very slowly and patiently. I then asked him if I would be able to dermal punch my tragus and what is the biggest size he thought my tragus could handle. They are on the small side. He told me I would be best piercing them and stretching them to see how big they could go. I thanked him for the advice and went back out into the main room.
I had been lusting after their sweatshirts since the last time I had been there to get something pierced. As we were walking out, my boyfriend remembered this and urged me to buy it now while I had the extra money. They are a little expensive ($50) but they are of great quality and they have cool designs on it. I turned around and asked Emily about the sweatshirts and the sizes. I told her that I wear Youth Large t-shirts and she said a small in their sizes would fit me well. She let me try on her personal sweatshirt which was that exact size and it fit well. Dave had to climb up above one of their rooms to reach the sweatshirts which made me feel bad but he was okay about it. He could not find a small but they did have a medium which fit okay. Emily assured me that it would shrink in the dryer so I bought it.
Later on in the day, while we were at the movie theater I began to feel really dizzy. It was probably because it had been a few hours since I had eaten anything. I bought some sour candy and we went in to watch 300 on Imax.
I had a little problem healing the piercing but it was my own fault for becoming lazy. About two weeks after I got pierced, it began bleeding everytime I washed it. A week after that I got the beginnings of the dreadful nostril bump. Two weeks later, I got really sick and the bump grew larger. I had the bump for about a month before I realized that it was only there because I was lazy and wasn't doing my sea salt soaks everyday. After I began doing the soaks again and I changed the jewelry to a glass piece, it healed quickly and I have not had any problems since.
I love the piercing and whenever I look in the mirror it seems like I've always had the piercing. I know I am going to get the other side done, I just don't know when. Probably sometime in November or December. Hey, maybe my boyfriend can pay for it again.