I never thought I would ever have an inch and a quarter 12 gauge Surface Barbell in the back of my neck!! Over the last Twelve years of my life I have gone through numerous piercing and tattoo sessions. But none like this one.
At A Glance Author Scott Contact Scott@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Jimmy Studio Diablo Rojo Location Austin, TX It was a week before Thanksgiving when I can across this Dancer at the Gentlemen's Club I Bartend at "The Yellow Rose" Austin TX, when I noticed two steel balls on the back of her neck. I quickly called her over to my bar and inquired about what it was. She told me it was a nape piercing and she had had it for about a month. She quickly headed off towards stage and left me standing there fascinated by what I had just seen.
Just recently I had been restretching my earlobes back to 2 gauge at a local shop called Diablo Rojo in Austin TX. I stopped by there on my way home from work and told Jimmy (my piercer) "I wanted my Nape down right now." He took a look at my neck and said he didn't have any jewelry big enough to go in my neck. He said he would have to special order it. To make matters worse it was a week before Thanksgiving and getting the jewelry in may be delayed with the holiday. I thought to myself great...So I asked if he could at least get it to me before my Birthday on the 1st of December. And he said no problem. So he took the measurements and decided to go with a longer barbell 1 1/4 in. in length and a 12g instead of a 14g barbell. I briefly asked about tygon and he recommended the surface barbell as his preference. So I put down my deposit and Jimmy ordered the Jewelry.
During the next week I searched night and day on the internet reading about Nape piercing. As the week passed on I was about 50/50 on whether or not I was actually going to go through with this. I was constantly reading horrible descriptions about how many people were having problems with their piecing. Just about every other one I read had an unhappy ending. Most of the piercings were done with a needle in the descriptions I had read on the internet and on this site. I was concerned and to make matters worse my jewelry can in and the risers on the surface bar were to short. Another week he told me. This surely wasn't making it any easier!! I was about to give up, but I had already put a deposit down. A week later and here it was! I'm Ready.
The day was here. I showed up at Diablo Rojo with my girlfriend Angela ready to do it. I talked in depth with Jimmy about the procedure that he was going to use. He told me he was going to use a different procedure called the Punch/Taper method. He told me it would be a much easier and faster healing process because he isn't actually piercing through anything. Ok then let's do it I said.
I took off my shirt and he carefully measured out the exact location of the piercing. When he was done and it was checked and rechecked by everyone in the shop I laid face down on the table with my head hanging just off the end. Jimmy started what to me was the most painful neck massage I have ever had. It was brutal, but you got to loosen up the skin to make it work. He said it was next to impossible to loosen my skin due to the fact that I have a very large muscular tough neck. Enough of that, next he pulled out the 10g Dermal Punch. He decided to use a 10g so that the 12g would have room to settle in. Jimmy lined up the first of two holes and told me to take a deep breath and let it out. Upon exhale I felt a lot of pressure then like a pop as the punch entered and exited removing a perfect 10g hole from my neck. He then added pressure with some gauze until the bleeding stopped. Then on to the other side. Again pressure in and out. Once all the bleeding had stopped it looked like I had 2 perfect vampire teeth holes in the back of my neck. Next he attached a taper to the end of the barbell and began to work the taper through the hole between the muscle and subcutaneous layers through the dermis. It wasn't going. After about 10 minutes of tying to manipulate the taper through the fatty connective tissue Angela (my girlfriend) couldn't take it. She had to sit down before she passed out watching. Meanwhile while Jimmy is trying to work the Taper through there is little to no pain. Jimmy called for his partner and fellow piercer Richard to come in and lend a hand in manipulating the skin so that the taper could get through. I few tugs here and some pressure there pop pop pop and through the connective tissue it went and out the other side. Balls on. And DONE!!!
After laying there and being beaten on for 20 minutes or so I jumped up got one hell of a head rush and ran for the mirror. "I LOVE IT" I said! Piece of cake. Two months have gone by and not a single problem. I did have on little problem with the balls bumping my collared shirts so I decided to put flat disks on instead. I am so happy with it! I am so glad I went through with it and didn't back out. I strongly believe that the punch taper method is much less invasive and heals a hell of a lot faster with little to no problems. To all of you that are looking for an extreme piercing and live in the Austin area Diablo Rojo is the place to be. Just ask for Jimmy the owner or Richard and they will take AWSOME care of you. Thank you guys so much for all you time and knowledge of the industry!
Scott
aka "Hollywood"