body mod and new experiences

i never thought piercings were a big deal.

there's the given standard lobe piercing that all little girls get, some when they're babies, others when they're a little older (for me it was for my 6th birthday). standardly done with the gun. a piercing that little girls beg their parents for because the other girls have them, and it makes you look "older".

little girls are odd.

those girls turn into teenagers and find that they want a navel piercing, because they look sexy.

navel piercings creep me out.

other girls venture into other body mod when they turn eighteen, ear cartilage piercings, nostril piercings, tongue, labret, eyebrow. some do it for fashion, others rebellion, others for personal belief, others because they turned eighteen and feel they need to get something pierced.

i just did it because i felt something was missing from my ears.

anyway, when i turned six, i wanted my ears pierced by my aunt mary. i didn't see anything weird with a family member piercing me, but i guess she didn't feel completely up to it, so we went to a jewler. in devargas, i think it was called chavez jewelers, on the corner across from the candy shop. i remember about four or five family members took me. after being shown all the birthstone studs i could pick from, i picked a turquoise one (no idea what month, all i knew was that topaz was ugly yellow, and turquoise was my favorite color at the time). i sat down, the lady piercer/employee there marked my lobes, got the gun, put the stud in, and pierced me. from what i remember, it was a seriously painful moment, and i think i might've cried a bit. i was a little wimp back then. anyway, i loved that i now could show off my pierced ears to my little friends, and that the jewelry was turquoise studs.

fast forward a little over two years ago (2001). my brother got it into his head that he wanted his ears pierced. he was too afraid to do it with the gun, so he got my aunt maria onboard to do it (my aunt's an old hippie. 'nuff said). i went with him, since i was totally into piercing and figured he needed some moral support. after he got pierced, they had an extra pair of gold hoops left, and would i like my ears pierced too? i said sure, i'd been thinking of getting a second lobe piercing anyway. i thought my aunt's diy method was pretty good for just finding things around the house. a sterilized sewing needle, betadine, rubbing alcohol, ice to numb the ear, and cork. i put the ice on my lobes while my aunt put the gold hoops in betadine. when i thought my ears were numb enough, she drew a dot where she thought the placement would be (if i'd have known i was going to get another piercing a year later i would've had her place it closer to my first piercing). i said ok, and she got the sewing needle and put the cork behind my ear. a quick stick and she had my ear pierced. getting the hoop in was a little complicated, since the hoop had a little curve at the end of it, but she straightened it out and put it in. lather rinse repeat and i had both ears done.

this happened on the fourth of july. later that day we had a little party with a fraction of my mom's family, and i joked about how i would make it a tradition: every fourth of july i'd get my ears pierced, and when i was old enough, piercings would change to tattoos. i thought it was a pretty good idea, not for liberation or anything related to independence day (although my family tagged those things onto the tradition), just a good date. guaranteed one year of healing time between piercings, in the summer so i could get used to them. a good idea.

of course two was not enough. i needed another set to balance them out. so july 3 one year later i went back to my aunt (i see nothing wrong with diy lobe piercings) to pierce me again. i bought another pair of gold hoops from walmart and switched them with the ones i got pierced with. so, using the same hoops we used before, she set up to pierce. same procedure, same experience. except the placement on my right ear was off, so she had to pierce it again. no big deal with lobes. so i now had three sets of lobe piercings.

when people say piercings are addictive, they aren't kidding (especially when you don't have a bad experience to make you want to stop getting pierced). in april and may of this year i started seriously thinking about a helix piercing. i didn't think that i'd be able to fit another lobe piercing, so if i wanted another piercing (and i did) it would have to be cartilage. i googled for information on cartilage piercings and got some really great sites. i also found bme. i got educated in the do's and don'ts of cartilage piercings, mainly that you should NEVER do it with a gun (actually you shouldn't do any piercing with a gun, and that in most states piercing with a gun (except for lobes) is illegal). i learned healing time, aftercare suggestions, placement names. i read piercing experiences over at bme and learned the cons of piercings: keloid scarring, cartilage cracking (with guns), infections. after all that, i still wanted the helix piercings.

so in june i started looking at studios. i went to aware (hailed as the best studio in santa fe), but when i walked in i just got this really bad vibe. like i wasn't supposed to be there. maybe it was an off day, maybe i was having an off day. i don't know. anyway, i went over to fallen angel here in española. the moment i walked in i felt good. sawbones was awesome. he answered all my questions i had about cartilage piercings, and talked to me about the horrors of the gun. i decided right then that that was the place, and told him that i'd be in july 3rd.

since i was still seventeen, i had to have my mom come and sign for me to get pierced. we were babysitting my little cousin at the time, so we brought him with us. we walked in, signed the papers, and payed for the two piercings. sawbones had me come into the little piercing area and sit down on the chair. there was this other lady there, i guess an apprentice, so we talked a little bit while sawbones got the stuff ready. he washed his hands and layed all the piercing stuff in their packages on the little table. he put on the gloves, opened the packages, and put sterilization stuff on them (even though they were already sterilized right out of the package). he said he was going to put in 14 ga jewelry, so we would pierce 13 ga. he asked me where i wanted the placement, and i showed him. i didn't want them on top, it didn't look right to me, so i put them off to the side of my ear. he marked my ears with a marker and showed them to me. it looked perfect. so he clamped my left ear and got the needle ready.

throughout that time and before that we had been talking about cartilage piercings. about how they're supposed to be one of the most painful piercings ever. once they found out i wanted both ears done, not just one, they kept stressing to me that it might be painful. but i was going to get them both, pain or not.

sawbones asked me if i was ready, i said i was, and the next second he had it pierced. i didn't think it was the most painful piercing ever. i didn't think it was painful at all. heck, my lobe piercing hurt more that this one. i think they were kind of amazed, because i didn't flinch or tear up or anything. i was just sitting there smiling the whole time. putting the jewelry through was the oddest feeling of the whole experience.

i read on bme all these accounts of the piercer telling you to breathe, and on the count of three they'd pierce. he didn't tell me to do any sort of breathing (although i did some yoga breathing anyway) or count to tell me when he'd pierce. i thought it was fine though, it worked out perfectly for me. he was very quick and very professional (and sanitary. everything in original sterile packaging and gloves were changed several times), and i was very happy with the whole experience. i don't think any instruction on breathing or counting down to piercing would have made any difference.

and about the whole hearing the "pop" with cartilage piercings... i didn't hear it. just another little thing that was different with me.

so he finished up the right ear, same as the left. i looked in the mirror afterward and felt that they were absolutely perfect. i thanked him and walked out with my mom. i could tell she was nervous about the whole thing, but my parents have never had any problem with me getting pierced, and she knew i knew what i was doing, so she was fine with it all.

i did the aftercare, washing with antibacterial soap 3 times a day (which quickly turned to two times a day since i'm so lazy). i didn't start sea salt soaks until about a month and a half, maybe two months later. in all, they hurt like a bitch whenever i touched them, which was only when i was washing them, and whenever someone else touched them. i had them decently semi-healed when i went to the state fair and totally fucked them up with one ride, essentially re-piercing them. definitely not fun. and right now i'm back to the point i was before i went to the state fair.

i still really really like the piercings, they've just become more of a hassle now is all. i don't terribly mind still sleeping on my back and not my side, and the daily upkeep isn't hard. it's just that it's so damn painful when anyone touches my ears (oh yeah, i love it when people randomly come up to me and grab the sides of my face, smashing my ears. it's such a great feeling). i need to change the jewelry to 18 ga, and maybe that will help with some of the discomfort. at least, i'm hoping. i really don't want to lose the piercings, but with everything else going on right now, if they don't stop being angry bitches they'll have to go. i guess that was my reasoning for writing this post, i don't know what to do about them.

and to think i entertained the idea of getting another pair for my birthday.

if/when they finally heal up (i still have eight months to go), i'll definitely think of getting another helix piercing. i won't do tragus, since i think it's too small, and daith piercings look really painful, so i'll stick with helix. i actually really like labret piercings, but with my summer job (that i'm hopefully getting), they wouldn't be thrilled with a loud facial piercing. so.

of course the next project and possible fourth of july tradition piece will be the tattoo, but i'll either have to somehow convince my dad to let me get it, or find a temporary living space until i go to college to be able to get it.

mmm. any piercing stories of your own i'd love to hear them. or go to bme and post your own there.