I have only recently been interested in getting a bridge piercing. I had seen a few of them before but didn't really like them.
At A Glance Author Tamsin Contact wrapped_in_plastic84@lycos.com When A month ago Artist Alex Simpson Studio Area 51 Location Basingstoke, Hampshire, England It is quite an unusual piercing, especially on females, and I only know a couple of people in my town with it done. Originally I wanted a vertical bridge but was told I didn't have enough to pierce, and I wanted something higher up on my face as all my other facial ones were lower. I'm not too keen on eyebrow piercings (plus I like to be symmetrical) and don't think they'd suit me anyway so the bridge, once I had seen more pictures and done my research, was my next choice.
It was my birthday the day before my piercing, which I got a couple of months ago, so I decided to get it done as a present to myself. I went down to Area 51, where almost all of my other piercings have been done, and took my boyfriend for moral support. I have 16 piercings now but I still get a bit nervous before I get there.
I told Alex what I wanted and had to wait a few minutes until he had done someone's navel, so I started looking through a selection of 1.6mm barbells, but the ones there had fairly small balls so I chose some larger ones from a separate cabinet which I thought would look better.
At this point my boyfriend, who is scared of needles, decided not only that he couldn't come in with me for the actual piercing, but he suddenly needed some fresh air and a cigarette!
Once I was in the piercing room Alex took his time marking up while he chatted to me and I felt more at ease. I wanted mine slightly lower than most of the bridge piercings I had seen so that it was more level with my eyes. He explained that it might take a bit longer than most of my other piercings and that I might want to close my eyes. The needle entering the first side was very minimal pain, and going out the other side hurt slightly more but it certainly wasn't unbearable. I didn't close my eyes, and it was quite amusing to see this long needle suspended between my eyes! Alex lubed up the barbell and slid it in, and when I looked in the mirror there was no traces of blood (which I was quite surprised about as I have heard of people getting it running down their faces) just a bit of redness and pen marks!
As I was leaving I noticed that, unlike most people I have spoken to with bridge piercings, I could see mine all the time being placed lower. This took a bit of time getting used to but it doesn't really bother me. Alex also gave me a shorter barbell to change over once the swelling had gone down.
It was definitely one of the least painful piercings, probably about the same as tongue or navel, and hurt a lot less than my lip piercings, although these were done a couple of years ago so I can't really remember those too well now. I'm sure if it was that bad I would have remembered it!
As for healing, it's not completely healed yet but I'm really pleased with it and it's comfortable now. For the first week or so it was a bit uncomfortable to raise my eyebrows or open my mouth really wide but now I don't notice it. I have been cleaning it twice a day with 1/4 sea salts to 8fl oz hot water which is working very well. I've had it done 2 months and there was only minor swelling, which went after about a week, and so I still have the original barbell in for the moment. When it's fully healed I'm thinking about getting two small cone spikes to wear instead of the balls. As for future plans, Alex joked that seeing as it was done quite low, there would be room for another one above it once I had run out of things to pierce! For the moment though I think one is enough for me!
Before I got this piercing I used to get a lot of people staring at me in the street and making comments but now I get a lot more. I have had a lot of people asking questions about it, probably the most common being "Does it go through the bone?" but also the usual "Did it hurt?" and "Can you see it?" This is a really nice piercing but if you're not prepared for this kind of public reaction then don't get it done! Otherwise, go for it, it really wasn't painful and it's quite an unusual piercing.