Well, I finally got up enough courage to get a piercing. I had desired one for quite some time, especially after observing how beautiful they were on my girlfriend. But I had always been under the impression that they hurt terribly and were incredibly sore afterwards for days and days. At least, that was my observation. As you'll soon see (like the title suggests), I was proven wrong.
At A Glance Author xchococatx Contact xchococatx@bme.anon When N/A Studio Ground Zero Location Indiana So just recently, she and I decided to go to Indianapolis, to their local Ground Zero, where a friend suggested a good friend there who just happened to be a piercer (with lots of experience). After talking to him, I decided to get my right eyebrow pierced. The parlor was a pretty cool place, lots of tattoos that they were willing to do and barbells and such for sale. I had fun looking at everything before the session. It was very reasonably priced there and I was even picking out jewelry for future piercings. We had to wait about half an hour, and the wait did not help me because I just kept getting more nervous. I was sweating and almost freaking out but my girlfriend calmed me down. She had had the same piercing done in her left eyebrow but with more painful results than I hoped to get. She had not gone to as reputable a piercer. There was a hint of optimism in me after I realized that if I did this I would be able to conquer that fear of mine. Not to mention my girlfrien d would be proud of me.
Finally we were asked to go to the back room where they do all the piercings. My eyebrow was swabbed and he marked the placing. We redid the marks about 4 times before I was satisfied. I mean, it's a permanent hole, I had to be SURE of the markings. I gulped as I saw the clamp go right by my eye. That is the scariest part because everything is so close to your eye, which is a pretty vital organ. The clamp hurt a bit because it was so tight and then I felt the cold metal against my eyebrow and only remember saying "ahhh..." but my girlfriend was right there holding my hand. The piercer was a really nice guy (I don't remember his name) but he kept me calm and had some music playing during the event so that was nice. It was metal. I am glad he could still concentrate through all that noise. But I trusted him.
While it didn't hurt as much as I expected, removing that bit of skin was a very unique feeling. Almost as though my whole eyebrow was being pulled upwards and out. But once the needle was through, I kind of felt relieved; like my skin had been pierced through and I was still there: conscious, alive, and breathing. The ring was inserted in and some of the blood wiped up. The threading of the jewelry hurt worse than the actual piercing. I decided to get a ring because I thought it looked nicer, even though the piercer said it would not heal as well as a barbell but oh well. It was something I'd have to live with for a while and he wouldn't. It wasn't so much the blood that scared me, just that there was metal going through my skin and coming back again...it kind of freaked me out because it was done to me, not someone else (and so close to my eye); but I got used to it.
It was really only sore for a few days but the look of it makes up for all the discomfort. The aftercare was simple. Just wash it out with any anti-bacterial soap twice a day and don't touch it with dirty fingers, etc. Plus, since it's a ring I should rotate it a little at first so it won't heal to the ring. Also, it was a little bit of a problem sleeping because sometimes I would roll onto the side of my face with the piercing and it would hurt! But after awhile I could train myself to avoid that. I became a bit hesitant at shows when the mosh pits were so rough, but as of now, I have yet to have an incident happen to my poor brow.
So, I was proven wrong about piercings. If you're confident enough about it, or at least have a little bit of optimism, it won't hurt too bad and has a lifetime of memories afterwards (especially from all the looks I get!). I think it definitely one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had and plan to do it again sometime with another type of piercing, hopefully a piercing that is more extreme.