Ever since the beginning of high school, when I was first "introduced" to body piercings, there was one in particular that I could not wait to get- a surface piercing. The one that I dreamed of getting, wanted desperately to get, and "needed" to get was a wrist piercing. At that time (about 6 years ago), piercings were not as popular in the area that I grew up in- which was perfect for me! I didn't want to get something that I saw everyone else showing off... I wanted something truly unique- and trust me, where I lived, a navel ring was considered different.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Chad Studio Skin Art Gallery Location Addison, TX I researched online at a variety of different websites, including BME, and visited several tattoo/piercing parlors to get info and check them out. Being from Dallas, near the Deep Ellum area, I had a wide variety of choices for shops and artists. A lot of the artists were very helpful in giving information. It's always best to go into the shops beforehand anyway just to get an idea of how clean the place is. Luckily, a lot of my friends had piercings, so I knew what to look for when walking into a place (autoclave, etc.).
Several piercings- through- high school- later, my 18th birthday rolled around...finally! I actually waited a few months before getting my much desired piercing- this was the one that I had been waiting on my 18th birthday for, so by all means I did not want to rush out and get it just for that reason. I wanted to make sure that I really wanted it. I first went to Ace in the Hole, in Deep Ellum, where Chad worked originally. He had done several of my boyfriend's surface piercings, so I felt safe with him doing it since surface piercings is still a touchy subject for a few artists down there in Dallas. The rush, the exhilaration- it was a pure adrenaline charge. First, Chad had me stand up with my arms straight down by my side. He cleaned the area first then made two small dots on my wrist where the barbell would be entering and exiting my skin, and then had me look at it to make sure that's where I wanted it. This one was done horizontally on my left wrist. After the m arks where made and I approved it, I had to lie on the table with my arms flat down beside me. Honestly, the worst part of it was the clamp which was not bad at all. He clamped the skin, making sure both dots lined up with the holes in the clamp. I made sure to watch that he got a new needle from an unopened package, which he did of course. My boyfriend at the time sat and talked to me while Chad got everything ready, but all I could think about was what I was about to have going through my skin! "Take a deep breath", I remember Chad telling me. It was done! I hardly felt it. I sat and stared at this new, amazing piercing that I had waited 4 years to get. I was in love. Chad gave me the after care instructions, suggesting that I use provon soap (which really is the best- I use it on all my piercings), and sent me on my way.
Unfortunately, I have bad luck with the type of barbell used in my wrist piercing. It was not a normal, steel barbell, but rather a plastic looking one made out of Teflon (there are quite a few names I've heard used to describe it) so that it would conform to the inside of my wrist, creating less risk for it to reject. After two weeks of having my beautiful piercing, one of the beads came unscrewed because part of the threading on the barbell had broken off. This of course caused the barbell to fall out. I tried desperately with no luck to get the barbell back in. I ended up driving almost an hour out of my way to go back to Chad that day and get it re- pierced. He used the same type barbell again since he did not have any tygon at the time. For those of you that don't know what that is, it's a small plastic tube that can be cut to any size (and is usually used for surface piercings like napes, wrists, etc.). It is less likely to reject that the barbell that I had at the time. This time, the piercing lasted a bit longer- almost a year. The only problem with this piercing was that I kept catching it on things, which made it reject faster than it would have had I been more cautious with it. Let me tell you that catching a wrist piercing on anything does not fell too good all- its definitely not a piercing for someone that has that area exposed a lot to anything that could rip it or pull it. I gave up on my attempts of surface piercing for awhile, until 6 months ago I decided that for Christmas I was going to buy myself something- a wrist piercing!
Chad no longer worked at Ace in the Hole, but had moved to Skin Art Gallery. Since he had done two of my previous wrist piercings and one other piercing of mine, I wanted him to re-pierce my wrist. Once you find an artist you are comfortable with, I suggest always going to them because they usually give you better advice and you know what kind of work to expect from them. Once again, he had me stand up straight, cleaned the area that would be pierced, marked me, and told me to lie down. This time, I chose to do a vertical piercing on my right wrist. The adrenaline rush and exhilaration were still there- I was so excited, its like I was getting my very first piercing all over again (even though by that time I had about 10!). Same as before, I hardly felt anything. It's the strangest feeling have a needle going through the skin on your arm. This time he used the tygon which worked out perfectly! I've never been happier with a piercing, or an artist!