My name is Alex. I am a needle phobic, and I don't mean I flat out don't like needles, I'm talking HIGHLY phobic of needles, I pass out, I cry, I almost faint, and most of the times I throw up. I haven't seen a doctor in about 5 years because I'm scared I'm going to get a shot, and I have an ovary condition, so you can see where that is not a good thing. I also have only been to the dentist ONE time in my life because once again I'm scared he's going to use needles with me. Luckily though I have really straight teeth, never had a cavity, and I've never had braces, so I never saw the need
At A Glance Author Alex Contact alexandrasandwich@yahoo.com When A week ago Artist Dorian Studio Aces Tattoo's Location Denton,Texas On to the story now that you know how incredibly scared of needles I am.
All my cousins have a small stud in their nose, I'm Filipino, and I have A LOT of cousins. And everyone always said I would look cute with one. So after contemplating for about a week, I decide. Okay I can do this. Now mind you, I have a very, very small start tattoo on my stomach, I got that the day I turned 18. And when I got that tattoo I was mortified. I cried, I kicked, I screamed, I was insane but I did it. And the reason my tattoo didn't scare me as much as a piercing was because simply a tattoo isn't stabbing through me if that makes sense, it's simply just scratching against me. Or at least that's my state of mind.
Anyway, seriously back to the story.
I decide to do it. It's a Saturday night; I have my boyfriend, my friend Lauren, and my friend Gooch (yes that is really his last name). We go to Love n' Hate tattoo shop in Lewisville where I got my tattoo done. Now, all that day I've been putting an ice cube on my nose to numb it, yea I know pretty silly, but I'm telling you, I can't do needles. We get there, I meet Dan the piercer. He is being SO nice to me, he understands how scared I am and he is trying to comfort me the best he can. We go into the room, he starts preparing all the stuff, (which by the way if you have an extreme fear, don't go into the room until everything is prepared so you don't build up anticipation) I start freaking out as I see the needle, and I mean I'm starting to hyperventilate. To make it short I didn't go through with it, I got too scared.
Sunday comes around; I'm disguisted by my actions. I decide lets give it another shot, I round up my boyfriend and our friend Austin, and around 3 pm that after noon; I start drinking and numbing my nose. I figure if I'm drunk I'm a little bit more loose, and well obviously we know why I'm numbing my nose. 7 pm rolls around, we go back to Love n' Hate, Dan see's me. I say I'm ready. But this time I ask him to prepare everything before I go in there so the anticipation doesn't build again. But as we went in there it didn't help, I acted out way more then I did last night, probably because how drunk I am. Well all in all, I start crying harder, I was a crazy ass bitch lets just say that. I didn't get it done again. But I feel so bad for wasting this guys time, I mean really bad.
Monday comes, I realize that my fear is more then I thought, but I decided to start off by call Dan from Love n' Hate and apologize for what I did, sadly he wasn't working that day but I asked his co worker to relay that message, hopefully he gets it. But I start to goggle needle phobia and it turns out it IS a pretty serious phobia, because like I said it prevents me from seeking medical attention. But as I'm googling I come across one minor solution to slowly overcome this fear, it's a cream called EMLA, and what it does, it numbs the skin, it temporarily stops the nerve cells in that spot. And they give that cream to people with my phobia, it's doctor prescribed, but I thought to myself how perfect it is. Number one, because I really want to get this piercing, not because of the fashion aspect anymore, but because for two nights I let my nerves get the best of me, and I don't like that feeling. And number two I know I could go to the doctor at least with somewhat of ease. I called up my boyfriend and see if he could get that prescription for me from his mom, his mom is a nurse. He gets me the cream and I decide to think about it that night.
Tuesday is around the corner. I research nose piercing all day, I read other stories on this website for some kind of comfort. And this was it. I'm going to do it. Today was the day to overcome the fear. I decide not to go to Love n' Hate again, because of how ashamed I was for Saturday and Sunday and I figured they probably didn't want to deal with me again. We find a tattoo parlor by UNT campus called Ace's Tattoo, I called up that place earlier to tell them how I am and what to expect. They said okay they would do their best. I get off work at 5:30 and I start to put the cream on my nose, around 615 my nose is getting pretty numb. We leave to go tot he place, this time just me and just me. And I keep applying more; I want my nose numb as hell. 7pm, we get to the place. Dorian greets me. I tell her my condition, I tell her to get everything ready before I even step foot there and she says okay. I'm excited and nervous, and I know my nose is numb, I drag my finger over it and I feel a small sensation. She has me step back where she is, lays me down on a very clean, looked like a dentist chair. I'm happy I at least get to lay back a little bit. I decide to close my eyes the second I lay down. She asked me if I wanted her to count down, and I said no. I don't want to know anything. I lay as calmly as possible. My boyfriend is holding my hand, I feel a small sensation, I'm thinking it's the clamps, and then I feel a painful pinch. And all of a sudden I hear "it's over now" and I'm am pleased.
That was it. She did it. And I took less then a minute. Now I must say that it was a pretty painful pinch, but it wasn't horrible, I didn't tear up or anything, I didn't flinch, I did nothing. The girl said I took it better then most people who don't have my phobia. It's a good experience, and a good way to overcome this fear.
If you're at the extreme like me, I recommend getting that cream, closing your eyes, and breathing deeply. I'm happy I did it, and I'm proud of myself.
I would recommend Ace's Tattoo's and Love n' Hate to anyone, they are really good at what they do, and they are also very clean and professional.
If you want to e mail me about any questions, or suggestions or just anything about a needle phobia, let me know :) I hope this helps at least one person.