Every year in Edinburgh there is this massive theatre festival called the Fringe Festival. My school's drama program was voted as one of the best in the country, and we were asked to come and perform a show at the festival. Needles to say, the trip was the best experience of my life, but I came back with a little more than I thought I was going to ...
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon Artist Tails Studio Ground Control Location Edinburgh, UK Since I was fourteen, I've wanted my eyebrow pierced. I love my eyes, and I thought a piercing there would look great. My parents never were keen on the idea. They had no qualms about ear piercings, well, lobe piercings, but that's where their tolerance stopped. At the time of the trip I was still seventeen. I had worked out a deal with my parents that when I turned eighteen, six months later, I would be allowed to get my eyebrow done since they didn't have to take any part in it.
However, once my school arrived in Edinburgh, it seemed like everyone went piercing crazy. This studio, Ground Control, had an age limit of sixteen for piercings, and people were quick to take advantage of that. I envied friends who came back from their with their shiny new piercings, and listened as they said how the place was good, clean, and they'd reccomend it to someone else.
Finally I couldn't take it anymore. A few days before the trip was over I called my parents and told them exactly how I felt. I really wanted the piercing, but I wasn't going to get it unless they were okay with it. It really bugs me how people get piercings against their parent's will. A piercing should be a good experience, and it should be about celebrating your body. It should NOT be about added frustration and doing something you didn't really want to do just because it annoys someone else. Anyway, ranting aside, my parents somehow said yes! Off I was ...
The piercing experience itself was fine. The equipment was autoclaved and there was a lot of rubbing alcohol and the like. Tails let my friends come in and, when he inserted the needle into my eyebrow, made them take pictures of me with it sticking out of my forehead! At the time I wasn't too amused, but looking back on it, and at the pictures, it was hilarious. =) I felt a pinch when the needle went in, a little tugging as the hoop went in, and that's it. The pinch from needle heart less then some of the upper lobe piercings I've had on my ear. I had my eyes closed and asked when it would be finished, and, to my surprise, it already was. You know that's a good sign ...
When I first looked in the mirror I was dismayed to see my piercing bumping out of the area, but Tails said that in a few days it would settle in. One thing that bothered me, though, was that it bled A LOT. I'm not one who enjoys the sight of blood so I was pretty flipped. After ten minutes it stopped bleeding, but I did notice little bits of blood seeping out here and there for the rest of the day. Ew ...
For the last few days of the trip I cleaned the piercing whenever I was in my dorm, and the swelling went right down by the third day. I was sore for maybe a week, but not enough to interfere with anything. I did have to get used to accidentally brushing my hand on my face and not dressing or undressing too quickly. I had a few painful accidents at first.
About a month into the piercing I experienced a mild infection. It started swelling up again and I got a lot of crusties. I applied antibiotic cream to it and that healed up in a few days. It got re-infected a few weeks later, but the antibiotic cream made it go away quickly.
Now, almost a year later, I've changed my piercing -- 5/16" 16g captive -- and it's great. It's become such a part of my that I don't notice it anymore, and I mean that in a good way. I love it! Since then I got another ear piercing, but this time in my cartilage, and I want more. I'm thinking of getting tattoo as a graduation present to myself this summer (class of 2001! yeah!), and possibly a navel piercing. Of course I can't say that I'd go back to Ground Control, such being it's across the Atlantic and all, but I would reccomend the studio for anyone who is in the Edinburgh area. Ask for Tails because he was good, and his sense of humour made me feel immediately at ease. And don't get pierced as a form of rebellion! That's not what it's about!