For years, since I first got into piercings, I've loved the idea of a monroe or madonna. I spent weeks on bmezine looking through pictures and stories, until I came across the medusa. That was it, I fell in love with it.
At A Glance Author lemon Contact mannequin.republic__@hotmail.com When A month ago Artist Nicole Studio Hype Location Newcastle, UK However, at that time I was still at school, which didn't even allow us to wear ear piercings. I must add here that my medusa was not my first piercing, I already had my nostril, labret and belly button pierced, and have been hiding them all for school. My mam, of course, wasn't keen on me getting piercings while I was still at school, simply because she didn't want me to have to take them out.
It came the time when my GCSEs started, and I only had to go to school when I had an exam. So I asked my mam if I could finally get the piercing one day, the day of my second last exam. The conversation was short, and ended in me (quite immaturely) saying, "You know I'll just get it done anyway!" and slamming the car door. To cut it short, she finally gave in, later that day, to my pleas.
Off I went into Newcastle, my best friend Ricki at my side. Originally I went to Newcastle Jewellers, where I'd previously had my nose pierced. That plan went quite awry, as, after a twenty minute wait which did my nerves no good at all, they didn't have the right jewellery in stock.
I wouldn't be stopped there, and was determined not to go home without the piercing. Ricki told me that Hype was a good place to go, so we decided to go there instead. I was starting to feel sick with anxiety by this point, and when we finally found the place I was shaking uncontrollably.
I told the guy on reception what I wanted, and he handed me the consent form to fill in. I almost couldn't write my name I was shaking to terribly. I finished filling out the form and was told that there were a few people getting pierced before me so I'd have to wait about 10 minutes.
Ten minutes passed painfully slowly, and after what seemed like hours Nicole the piercer came out, I paid her £20, and she led us downstairs to the piercing room. The studio was clean and proffessional looking, and the staff were all very pleasant.
Nicole asked me if I'd rather sit or lie down, I said I'd like to sit up so I could watch in the mirror. She chatted with me whilst getting out the needle and clamp, etc, which calmed my nerves a bit. Though now I have no idea what she was saying, & I was blabbering like a fool trying to put off the actual process for as long as I could.
Nicole cleaned the area she was going to pierce and marked it. I looked in the mirror to see how I liked the placement, and of course I loved it. Next came the clamps, a deep breath in, and the needle went through. I won't lie, it was painful. Not agonising or enough to make me flinch or cry out, but it made my eyes water a bit. Nicole asked, "do you want a minute before I put the ball on?" and I said yes, wiping my eyes and taking a few deep breaths. When I was ready, she screwed on the ball, went through some aftercare and told me to be careful because the balls often come loose and can fall off and said that it looked really great and that my face really suited the piercing. I looked in the mirror and I couldn't believe how great it looked! It really did suit me perfectly. Nicole handed me an aftercare sheet, and I went on my way.
Afterwards, it started to throb horribly. I decided on a quick stop at Boots for some paracetamol, then went to McDonalds to get a drink. Oh, dear. I couldn't move my upper lip at all, so drinking through a straw was almost impossible. The swelling was minimal, ibuprofen kept it down and after an hour or so the awkwardness of moving my mouth had nearly gone completely.
Now it's almost fully healed, with no complications or infection. I cleaned it twice a day with sea salt solution for the first few weeks, and made sure to keep my mouth as clean as I could; as a smoker I had to remember to keep my cigarette intake down to a minimum just to be safe.
Anyone who's thinking of getting a medusa, go for it! It's my favourite piercing so far, everyone I know loves it. If you're worried about the pain, it's over in a second and is beyond worth it!