I somehow doubt you recognize me, dear readers, but just for the record, I wrote up an experience about eight months ago that was about my navel piercing and first jewelry change.
At A Glance Author Brandi Contact royal.e.fuct@gmail.com When A week ago Artist Qui Qui Studio Kaleidoscope Location Springfield, MO Well, after the navel piercing, I was hit by the bug. Big time. It was very persistent and demanding, and finally I decided it was high time I succumbed to my year-long desire to get a daith.
My roommate and one of my best friends since middle school, Laura, was looking over my shoulder one day as I perused pictures of daith piercings on this site, and Laura promptly decided she liked the daith too and wanted it something awful as well. Evidently, I had created a monster.
We decided that we'd go together on Valentine's Day (which was about two weeks away from that point) and get the piercings. Just to be silly.
Well, Valentine's Day rolled around faster than I could have expected, and Laura and I headed over to Kaleidoscope, hoping with all our little hearts that Qui Qui, our favorite piercing guy, would be there. He was, much to our relief.
I brought a printed copy of my previous BME navel experience in and Qui Qui gave me $10 off, as promised. That was awesome. Coupled with my $20 gift card from my friend Mary for my 21st birthday in October, I only had to spent $15 plus a $5 tip for my daith piercing. Beats the heck out of $45, eh?
(And no, Qui Qui, I'm not expecting you to give me the discount again next time I come in for a piercing, haha.)
Laura decided she wanted to go first, and fortunately stayed calm throughout the procedure, so I didn't get any more nervous than I already was (and believe me, I WAS!) Qui Qui did a fabulous job, and her daith piercing looked really cool. It's almost a forward pinna, if you catch my drift, but it's neat.
Then it was my turn. I swear there were about a million panicked butterflies creating havoc in my stomach, but I was determined to do this.
Anyway, I explained to Qui Qui that I wanted the traditional low daith piercing, not a high one like Laura had, since it was more external and prone to getting caught in my hair/knocked around. I wanted the one that sits inside the ear, perfectly centered, and looks darling. I fell in love with that look over a year ago after spotting it on several users' pictures on BME, and wanted it so much.
Qui Qui took a look at my left ear and reluctantly announced that my ear wasn't anatomically suitable for that particular look. Turns out I have a ton of snug and a ton of rook, but not much daith, and certainly not the pronounced ridge necessary for what I wanted.
Bless his heart, the man spent about ten minutes reaching a compromise with me, and he figured out a way to pierce my funky, shallow ear in a way that is similar to what I wanted originally. He's a genius, and he actually LISTENS to his customer and wants them to love their piercing. He doesn't just insist that he knows best about everything (which some piercers I've checked out have been known to do) or pierces what he wants without consulting the piercee; he tries to accommodate the customer. It's very reassuring to know he wants you to walk out satisfied with the results of his work.
He finally had marked me to both our satisfaction, and I hopped back up into the chair and watched as he removed the 16-gauge stainless steel captive bead ring from its little sterile package, bent the needle so it'd fit better into my ear, and got the receiving tube ready.
I took a few deep breaths and steadied myself. "Better Than Me" by Hinder was playing on the radio, ironically enough (as it always reminds me of the ex I'm striving to distract myself from by getting pierced in the first place) and I focused on that and gave Laura a nervous thumbs-up.
He placed the receiving tube where he wanted it, then lined up the needle and pierced me without warning. I probably twitched a bit, but I don't really remember. It just kind of startled me, but maybe it was best that way: I can't tense up for something I don't know is coming, right?
It hurt, and pretty damn bad, to be brutally honest, but only for a second (and what's a second of pain compared to years of enjoyment?) I felt the needle go through, and then lots of pressure. To the best of my knowledge, there was no popping/crunching sound, but don't quote me on that. The pressure was an odd sensation. Not enough to make my eyes water, and I certainly didn't go into shock or pass out cold or anything, but yeah, it hurt. Still, Qui Qui got that needle in fast, especially for such a weird placement that was so hard to see. I have to say I'm impressed. Experience shows.
He then trimmed the needle, removed the receiving tube, and began the delicate process of jewelry insertion. He had a bit of difficulty getting the hematite ball into the tiny CBR that was nestled deep in my ear at this point, and at one time uttered a quiet "Oh, shit" that had my stomach twisting at the prospects (the jewelry almost slipped out, or something, still not sure and okay with that ignorance), but the jewelry was inserted and closed with the bead and everything worked itself out in the end. No worries.
After giving my violated ear a soothing bath of what I assume was piercing cleansing lotion, he let me hop down off the chair and admire his handiwork in the wall-length mirror behind me. I practically melted. It was love at first sight.
It wasn't quite what I had come into Kaleidoscope hoping for, but I liked it better. (Honest.) The result of the compromise Qui Qui and I reached was a little more unique than the run-of-the-mill daith piercing. It was a bit higher, and partially hidden by my
rook, but peeked out rather nicely and looked awesome.
I tipped him (I wanted to tip $10, but Laura forgot to bring cash, so I gave her $5 and gave Qui Qui $5 myself, but oh well, better than nothing, I guess) and thanked him profusely, then we headed home. It was so incredibly cold out, and that kind of hurt the piercings, but we survived.
I decided to call it my "daith-ish." And that's the official term now. Coined by Brandi. :) Daith-ish®.
I have had my daith piercing for a week now, and so far, it's been okay. It's a little sore, but that's to be expected. I'm not sure if it's swollen or has developed bumps yet, but I'm taking ibuprofen just in case. I haven't tried sleeping on it much, but I don't foresee any issues there, as it's pretty well protected by my rook and conch.
I clean it at least twice a day with this piercing cleansing lotion I received with the piercing, using a cotton swab and gently rubbing it onto what I assume are the entry points of the piercing (I can't see the holes, so I'm just blindly guessing.)
I also figured out a rather innovative way of soaking it. I had used sea salt soaks religiously on my navel piercing, and it was so soothing and accelerated healing like you wouldn't believe, but I wasn't sure how I could manage to soak a piercing like the daith. I came up with a brilliant plan, if I do say so myself. I would get some hot (but not scalding, of course) water, mix in some sea salt (about an eighth of a tablespoon of salt per cup of water), and soak a cotton ball in it. Then I would press it against the piercing as much as possible without hurting it, and put on a pair of old, useless headphones (I can't take total credit for this, as I wanted to use earmuffs and my friend Sarah suggested the headphones, which work much better.) It sounds ridiculous, but it works and leaves my hands free. I usually go through about two or three cotton balls per soak, but it's worth it. It relieves the pain and itching.
I actually ordered some H2Ocean from Amazon, and it should be here relatively soon, so I'm hoping that'll make my life a little easier and give my poor cotton balls a break. I've heard H2Ocean's pretty amazing stuff.
Quite a few people have stopped me to look at it, and ask questions, which I'm happy to answer. Turns out daith piercings aren't very common at all in my college town, so I'm the go-to girl now. :) The main question posed to me is, "How the hell did THAT get in THERE?" Haha.
For prospective piercings that I'm itching for, I want a snug, a tragus, a helix, and a conch. As for the other stuff...who knows? :) I'm sure I'll think of something.
If you're thinking about having your daith pierced, go for it. It hurts, granted, but only for a second and then you have this cool-looking ear piercing for years! If you have any questions, feel free to email me at royal.e.fuct@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!