At A Glance Author Rachel Contact rampagingcatfish@aol.com When It just happened I've wanted my eyebrow pierced for about two years now, but my desire to get it done really intensified as it got closer to my eighteenth birthday. So, for about a month, my friends and I have been planning a trip to the tattoo and piercing place where my friend's boyfriend had gotten his tattoo done last year. I had never been there before, but heard from my friend that it was very clean and they had done a really great job on the tattoo.
I turned eighteen about two weeks ago, but wanted to wait until I got my braces off this past Friday before I got anything done. So, yesterday, three friends and I went to get our respective piercings. One of them wanted to get her nose pierced and another wanted an industrial. The shop was pretty small. I didn't notice it being dirty, but it wasn't particularly clean, either. There was no one else in there, so we didn't have to wait very long. The guy behind the counter seemed nice, but he couldn't answer many of my questions. I'm sure that should have tipped me off.
I decided to go for it anyway, and went first. After I gave him my driver's license and filled out all the paper work, I followed him into a small room with a large blue dental-type chair. It had a huge window that my friends stood outside to watch me being pierced. I was relieved to see that the piercer changed his gloves a lot and seemed to know what he was doing. However, I would have liked him to spend a little more time explaining to me what he was going to do. I thought I would be able to choose my barbell, but apparently they only have one barbell for piercing. It's big, ugly, and silver. The piercing was over before I knew it. Putting alcohol on it took longer than the actual piercing. It hurt more than I expected, but the pain wasn't too bad. I bled quite a bit and it really swelled up, but since then, the swelling has gone done almost completely. It's a completely different experience than being pierced with a gun.
My friends got their piercings next. The nose was quick like mine. My friend really flinched and later said that it was the most painful thing she had ever experienced. Something went wrong with the threading during the industrial piercing, so that took a little while longer. According to the friend who got the industrial, it didn't hurt at all. Then we all followed the piercer to the cash register and he went over aftercare with us. We were supposed to go to a drug or grocery store to buy some betadine. We went to Walgreens, but they were all out. Later on, I went to the grocery store by myself and picked up both betadine a epsom salts. I've been cleaning it with betadine three times a day and soaking it in salt and water twice a day. The last thing I want is for my eyebrow to get infected.
My parents had been really discouraging ever since I told them of my plans to get pierced a few months ago. When I came home, my dad seemed determined to completely ignore the piercing. Apparently, my mom was expecting something smaller, so she keeps commenting on how large my barbell is and saying she'll like it much better when I can put something smaller in. I'm really dreading the reactions from people in my ultra-conservative neighborhood and extended family. I'm going to college soon, so hopefully I won't have to see any of these people again until my eyebrow has healed. But, then again, I'm hoping to use this to shed my good-girl image. I didn't actually think of that benefit until later, but I'm sure it will surprise a lot of people and impress some others.
The first night wasn't too bad. I was expecting to wake up in pain because I had rolled over onto the right side of my face, but I always caught myself before that happened. I do keep accidentally brushing my hand up against it. I hardly feel it, so it's easy to forget it's there.
As of right now, I'm unsure about my piercing. I really like the placement, but I'm not too fond of the jewelry. I don't even know what gauge it is, the piercer never bothered to tell me. I don't know whether or not the barbell is curved. I also wonder whether or not I'll ever be able to wear a CBR, the piercing seems a little big for that.
I would really appreciate people with knowledge of eyebrow piercings and jewelry to email me and give me some advice. I don't really know what I'm doing and it would help me out a lot.