This is a horrible piercing experience I had when I was 13 or maybe 14. I had always been interested in body modification and because my parents we're fairly lenient they had allowed me to get my nose pierced and my ears several times at 12. But as I got older I wanted something less mainstream as at my school nose piercings had been very common.
At A Glance Author JB Contact JB@bme.anon When Five years ago Artist unknown Studio Body and Nail Location Metrocentre, Gateshead, uk
I will point out that although I liked body modifications, my knowledge of the procedures was VERY minimal and I can now see how unprofessional the "studio" I went was.
Anyways, on with the story. I was 13 or 14 and had finally convinced my parents that I would be able to take care of an eyebrow piercing, so they caved in and finally said 'fine' and took me to the only piercing studio that I knew of. We arrived and asked the girl at the studio to pierce me.
She took me into a small dirty room with a table with a cotton sheet on it and told me to lie down while she prepared the equipment. She put on gloves, but did not change them once during the procedure. During which she was pushing her hair back and scratching her face. Next she clamped my eyebrow with a clamp that had not come from a sterile package nor did it look like any apparatus that should be used in a piercing studio, more like it should be stored in a garden shed. Next she placed a blood splattered towel on my chest, which even I knew could not be right, so I let it slide slowly to the floor. After that she pulled the needle and the jewelery from the sterile packaging (whew) and pierced me. It wasn't too painful, but thats not what I'm telling you about.
Anyway we paid far too much for the piercing it should have cost 20 pounds but after they had forced us to buy their crappy aftercare kit which consisted of some unknown liquid and a few dressing it cost about 50pounds and would have been much cheaper to buy some antiseptic liquid and a lot of dressings.
Anyway go forward 3 months my piercing had settled down very well and I was very happy with it. But then it began to swell. because of the length of time i'd had the piercing I wasn't sure why because I cleaned it twice a day still but this swelling continued, my parents tried to prise the ball off the ball closure ring but it was quite impossible and we phoned the doctors but as it was winter and the christmas period I couldn't get an appointment for about 2 weeks but as the swelling wasn't huge or that uncomfortable I though it could wait, after a few days it began to settle down again, but alas, the swelling came back, much worse than before and in about 2 days had swelled to roughly the size of half a ping pong ball and I couldn't open my eye. So my Dad took me to the doctors and demanded that i was seen to.
After 20mins of waiting and people sitting only on the other side of the waiting room from me I was called in to see a nurse. The nurse tried to take the ball closure ring out but it wasn't happening so another nurse was called and the two of them pulled either side of the ball with tweezers till it came undone. (the ring was not actually a ball closure ring but in fact a ring with a ball stuck to one side of the opening like an earring you would buy in an cheap jewelery shop) Anyway although the ring was out the matter of the huge lump of pus was still to be attended to. I was sent to hospital and after 2 hours of waiting to see a doctor, he prodded my eye and sent me on my way to the hospital across town where the unpleasant procedure of draining my eyebrow took place. it was painful as the doctor did not allow the local anesthetic to set in before she sliced a hole to suck the pus from. But I was glad to be rid of that... disaster
I don't know how much of the infection can be attributed to that particular studio, but many people from my school also sported wonky oozing piercings from them. I went back a few weeks ago with my friend who wanted her ears pierced and noticed more things that are wrong with that place, none of the employees have any certificates from body piercing courses, there is no autoclave and when my friend got her ears pierced they let the girl who "thought" she knew how to do it pierce her.
I'm done now but this very bad experience did not put me off body modification I have had over 30 piercings since then (19 currently including my eyebrows) all of which healed nicely and we're done by professional, friendly piercers at the studio I visit often (p.x piercing in Newcastle,England, if you happen to be in the area I highly recommend them)
I will warn all people going to be modified to check out the basics of proper piercings procedures, what hygiene should be expected and what equipment the studio should have. And if they try to sell you their own brand of aftercare products at stupidly high prices, refuse and buy you own brand of antiseptic lotion which will be much better value and sure to be what it claims to be
Thank you for reading.