Like many teenagers, I wasn't allowed to get anything pierced until I was out of my parents' house. This motivated me to graduate from high school early. I did that and got an apartment with some friends. I was so excited to finally have my independence. I had a job and didn't need anything from my parents anymore, or so I thought.
At A Glance Author Sarah Contact Tippi18@yahoo.com IAM PunkRawkPrincess When Five years ago Artist Burt Studio Asylum Location Ames, IA That first weekend I was out on my own I had planned to get my first piercing to celebrate my freedom. A friend and I went down to the Asylum (a great piercing studio) and make my dream a reality.
I was nervous walking in. I knew what I wanted but I wasn't sure if they would be able to do it. Soon Burt, the piercer, came out and asked me if I still wanted a bridge piercing done. (This is a piercing that goes through the skin between the eyes on the bridge of your nose.) I smiled and said "You betcha!" He told me that he had never done one. In fact he said he didn't know any piercing shop in Iowa that had performed one of those before. He also assured me that he could do it since he'd seen it done before at a convention. I was a little weary but my excitement outweighed my good judgment. The weird thing about it was that all the employees were invited in the room to watch him do it.
I was so excited that I hadn't even thought that it might hurt. Finally before lying down on my back I asked "Is this gonna hurt?" He gave me this evil grin and said, "You'll have to tell me." I had pinched the area between my eyes and it didn't seem like it would hurt.
He took his time marking the spot between my eyes. All the time spent marking it was making me anxious. I looked at where he had marked it and gave him the green light to continue. My friend was more freaked out than me. She had to leave the room and not watch.
Now since this piercing is done between the eyes, you get a very up close and personal view of the needle right before it goes through the skin. At first I thought I should close my eyes, but then I decided I wanted to watch! I watched as the needled moved, but I didn't get a good sight of it going through. When the needle was all the way through I could definitely see both ends of the needle sticking out. It was a cool sight. It reminded me of The Hellraiser.
He put a straight barbell in. I could run my finger down my nose and feel the barbell under my skin and I could even move it around.
People would ask, "Don't you get cross eyed looking at it?" or "Doesn't it distract you if you see those balls all the time?" Truth be told, I couldn't see the balls unless I really crossed my eyes and tried. They weren't in my viewing spectrum.
I left the piercing studio a brand new girl. I felt beautiful. I felt strong. I felt independent. I felt unique. I didn't know anyone who had this piercing and I loved the shock factor it created.
I had to return to my high school to show all my buddies. I just wanted to walk in like nothing was different and shock them. It was the first thing everyone noticed. It definitely was a shocker and I loved the attention. Even being called a "freak" was ok because I was different. I was unique. If someone didn't know who I was personally, they at least knew of me with my hip new metal appendage.
After doing more research on bridge piercings and talking to other piercers, I learned that I should have a curved barbell instead of a straight one to lessen the chance of migration and basically make it more comfortable.
I switched the barbell to a curved one and it did make a lot of difference. I could flip it and rotate it through and watch the skin raise and lower. It was fun to play with.
It healed nicely and stayed put for a couple years. A trip to Paris was the turning point of this piercing. Over there, it got infected pretty badly. My teacher told me to take it out but I had read that if you take an infected piercing out the holes would close leaving the infection blocked inside. I refused to take it out. I went to a doctor who didn't speak any English so it was hard communicating my problem. He saw it was infected and gave me some stuff to put on it.
After returning to the states, the piercing was pretty red, swollen, and irritated. It lasted about another year until I finally gave up on it. It had started to migrate out and by this time it was time for me to get a more professional job.
It hurt parting with that piercing. I had a little ceremony with some friends as I took it out. I ran my finger over my nose where I had always felt the bump and it was gone. For awhile I could still feel where the piercing had been. It left scars that eventually faded. My parents thought the worst thing would be to have scars left. Ironically, I am saddened that the scars faded.