At A Glance Author Bud Contact Bud@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Lance@amillioninc.com Studio Amillion Tattoos and Piercings Location Austin,TX
I had been considering getting a PA for almost five years. For various reasons I had always put it off, but it was at the end of December of 2004 that I finally worked through all the excuses. So I decided to start looking for studio here in Austin,Tx and as a New Years Resolution to get one. I read a lot of posts on this site and it was very helpful in finding out information. I had talked with three different studios here in Austin but finally decided on Amillion Tattoos & Body Piercing. As it happened the day I went in I looked around the shop and my first impression was quite nice. It was very clean and had a professional layout. I spoke with a gentlemen at the counter and asked if there was someone that did piercings in and he told me it would be just a minute and they would be right with me.
A few minutes later a man came from helping from some other customers and greeted me. He said his name was Lance and I told him that i was considering getting a PA. We sat down and talked in length about the piercings and his expierence. I was very excited when he told me he had over seven years of piercing knowledge and on top of that was the owner. This made my final choice alot more comforting. Everything I have read that can go mainly wrong on a piercing is most likely to happen due to the lack of knowledge of the piercer. After talking for about 20 minutes, I had to leave and thanked him for his time. Before leaving, Lance gave me his info if i had any more questions and told me to not hesitate to contact him. 90% of all of my hesitations were gone after speaking with Lance that day. The other 10% being the actual process it's self. I returned on January the 7th to make final plans this weekend to get the piercing done.
On January 9th at approx 3:30 I headed to Amillion to get the PA. As instructed before hand I ate something about an hour before going up to the studio. When I got to Amillion, there were two piercings ahead of me, but the wait was very little. It gave me enough time to fill out the paper work. From talking with Lance, I had decided on an 8 gauge due to me wanting to eventually get to a much bigger size later on. Final choice was an oxidized Green captured with silver ball. I figured if i was going to have this for a long time to heal up, might as well add a splash of color instead of the normal silver. Lance took me into the studio which I had already seen on my prior visit. I've seen doctors offices that didn't compare to the cleanliness and profession appearance of this room. Everything was neatly arranged, with excellent condition equipment. Lance had me observe the sterilization process. He stated he did with with all customers to show them that all items being used were being prepared properly. After everything went into the Sterilization unit, we talked more about what the process was and more of the cleaning info. I had read about the Sea Salt, different type of ointments etc and had questions about which is best. Lance gave me info that I found very helpful and then told me about what exactly was going to happen. During the talk he asked me if I was nervous yet and I found that I was amazingly calm.
The buzzer went off and Lance removed the tray with the clean and sterilized equipment. As he set up he instructed me to lie down on the table. Lance continued to talk with me and was still at ease. However, once he started to make the markings for the piercing was when the realization finally hit me. I could hardly focus on what he was talking about and he noticed. He started talking to me and having me respond and it helped me calm me back down. Now having been in the hospital before for surgery the placing of the tube inside was barely a slight discomfort. I barely felt any pressure. Lance told me to start taking breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth as we had talked about. So I did and then felt a sharp pain. Now granted my biggest concern was that my only reference for having a piercing done was my left nipple which
when I got it had almost made me pass out. So I was expecting the worst. To my surprise it felt more like the type of pain that you would get when someone would come up and frog you really hard on the arm or leg. The pain is sharp and kinds of sends a jolt through your entire body. The soreness of when you rub that arm or leg after the initial hit was about the sensation of the ring going through. The entire time Lance was talking to me and asking if i was alright. Much to my satisfaction i was not feeling faint or anywhere near the affects I had been worried about. Lance shortly after told me it was done and all he had to do was put the bead in. That was when I finally relaxed. I looked down and there it was. Its really hard to describe the emotion. Excitement from doing it, the complete satisfaction of it being everything you thought about and more on the way it looked. Lance showed me how to pack it and gave me instructions on how to wear a non lubricated condom for the first seven days to prevent any problems if it began to bleed. So after my friend was wrapped up and put away we went to the main lobby.
It was in the main lobby that it finally noticed something. Unlike getting frogged on the arm or say getting your finger slammed in a drawer. The initial pain of the impact was one thing, but there was always a soreness and throbbing much like in a Bugs Bunny cartoon of a finger swelling and pounding like a heart. There wasn't any.. NONE! At first I told myself, well the soreness will set in later, it's just adrenaline pumping. I thanked Lance and gave him a nice tip. (very well deserved) and I can promise that he has a customer for life. One thing I will mention is, that was never really an issue for me; but, Amillion was about 30% less expensive than all the other studios I had talked with in Austin. Some if price is a factor for you, I would suggest talking with them. They beat the price and I can't imagine better service anywhere else.
Well I got home and a couple of hours later, the dreaded first piss came up. Still no soreness I would like to add, but i figured it would hit me when i took this piss. So I removed the plastic cover and removed the loose padding. The part that was very slightly bloody I left and didn't try to remove. I allowed the stream to wash that part off and it came off with no problems. The sensation I was not prepared for was the there was a build up from when I pissed. At first the pressure was uncomfortable and the only thing i noticed, so "controlling" the flow allowed me to relieve the pressure and just let it flow in parts. Then I was done, a slight tingling but no burning nothing. I re wrapped with fresh padding and cover and went on my way. Six hours after the piercing still no throbbing or pain when urinating. During the night I woke up with a hard on and feeling slight pressure. After coming awake I realized that the pressure and ache wasn't from the piercing but from the need to piss again. So went to the bathroom again. Still no burning or irritation. Re wrapped and covered and went back to bed.
It's 8:30 am right now and I decided to wait till now to write all of this. Much to my surprise I had very little bleeding during the night. I would compare it to the same small amount that I had when i got the piercing actually done. The only discomfort I have felt so far is from the rubber band i use to keep the plastic cover from coming off. In a way i'm glad I waited for as long as I did. Mainly for the reason of that I was able to find Amillion Tattoos and Piercings. The place is awesome and so is the staff. If your in the Austin check this place out. Heck even if your not in Austin, it would be worth the road trip.