I have been modifying my body via getting piercings and tattoos for over six years now. I used to have quite a collection of unusual piercings (conch, stretched lobes, nape, vascular fernum, etc.) because I dated a piercer for many years and used to serve as his "target practice". However, one day, a few years ago, I decided (on a whim) to remove all of my piercings except one: my naval, (which was for reasons too long to explain here).
At A Glance Author Dara Contact Dara@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Michael Studio Trilogy Location Memphis, TN Now I'm not sure what possessed me to remove all of my piercings, but one thing is for sure: I missed them almost immediately!! I decided about a year and a half ago (about three years after I had initially taken all of my work out) that I wanted to get something re-pierced. It took me about another six months to decide which piercing I wanted. My conch piercings were my absolute favorites but the pain that they caused just was not worth it (to me), so I decided on my nape. If you are reading this, I'm sure you know what a "nape" is, but just in case: a nape piercing is a surface piercing that goes through the back of your neck, below your hairline.
I have always been a fan of surface piercings; I think there is something about them that is very sexy. I am actually a bigger fan of chest surface piercings but I just do not have the extra skin. Another reason I chose my nape is because my best friend (who is a very straight laced conservative who has no piercings of any kind or tattoos) had decided to get hers done not too long after I had originally taken mine out, so I thought it would be kind of neat if we had "matching piercings." (Silly I know, but cute).
I live in the country in south Texas, very far from any tattoo or piercing studios so I decided to wait (even longer!) until I went to visit my family and best friend in Tennessee for Thanksgiving. Technically I could have just driven a few many miles to a place closer to where I live, but I used to live in Tennessee and I am very familiar with a certain studio there, so it was a comfort issue more than anything.
When I finally went to get my nape pierced again, I chose to go to Trilogy tattoos in Memphis, Tennessee. I have been there before to get my lobes stretched and to get tattoos done and I have even had my nape (re) pierced there once before when it was pushing out, and the atmosphere is really great as well as the people that work there. Everyone is very friendly and they know their stuff.
I have known Michael (the piercer that I went to) for many years (from when I used to live in TN) so we caught up for awhile and then I told him what I was interested in doing.
After I filled out the paperwork, he took me into the back room. Michael's whole set up is really rockabilly and fun; it really helps make one feel at ease, but for some reason, I guess because it had been so long between body modifications for me, I was really, very nervous. Michael could tell and he was totally cool about waiting a few minutes for me to relax and he helped out by cracking some jokes and acting silly.
I still had the scars from my old piercing so he pretty much just followed the dotted lines. First he drew two dots over where the needle would go in and out and then he showed it to me in a mirror. My hairline is a little wonky so it took a few times to get the dots on an even level. He was very sterile and used more then one pair of gloves and the whole thing was over in seconds. He asked me to breath in (which was kind of unnecessary because I was already holding my breath) and then he slid the needle through. He immediately followed with a slightly curved barbell (we picked a barbell normally used for a tongue piercing and he curved it slightly with a pair of pliers). Then he showed me his handiwork with a mirror. As always with Michael, it looked fantastic. We briefly discussed aftercare, and that was that.
Needless to say, I am very happy that I decided to rejoin the ranks of being "pierced". I am also very happy with the position choice that I made because before, I had many visible piercings and they often caused problems with my job or when meeting other people. Now I can enjoy having a piercing that I find sexy and slightly edgy as well, while remaining discreet and nobody has to know my nape is pierced unless I decide to show them.