I had never seriously considered having any kind of body piercing, especially not for any personal gain or reasons of self-expression. I admit that I had always admired piercing's, especially tongue piercing's; these mostly modelled by my favourite early-teen punk/dance band members, but the thought of the pain deterred me.
At A Glance Author Prodigy Contact Prodigy@bme.anon IAM Prodigy When A year ago Artist Unknown Studio Unknonn Location Afflecks Palace, Manchester Fast forward to early April 2002, after recently splitting from my [current] girlfriend, I was, to say the least, in an emotional mess. I spent months moping around, watching myself deteriorate. We had minimal conversation, mostly over instant messages, where she mentioned I should have my eyebrow pierced, as it would apparently really 'suit me'. Desperate to get back with her, making myself more attractive to her seemed, at the time, the best thing to do.
I had no prior knowledge of body piercing, had never heard of BME, and had no idea of studio locations.
So while in Manchester on a shopping trip, I stopped by Afflecks Palace, and quickly found the piercing studio.
I don't remember the name of the shop, but the staff were friendly, and it looked clean and well presented. After mulling the idea over for an hour, I decided to just go for it.
There were no other people in the shop, so I was able to choose my jewellery, sign the necessary papers, pay and go straight into the piercing booth. I chose a barbell, as I did not like the idea of having a BCR in my eyebrow, for the fear of having it ripped out.
I sat down on the medical-type bench, and my piercer, who I can only describe as 'the guy who looked like Fred Durst' explained the procedure to me. He marked the area and had me confirm it in the mirror; considering I had no knowledge of eyebrow piercing's, I just nodded naively. On went the clamp, which squeezed tightly, but not painfully. I was told to take deep breathes and count to three, so closing my eyes I counted, 3...2...pierce. It was done, no pain, just a little burning sensation. I felt a small trickle of blood go down my eyelid, which was quickly wiped away by 'Fred'. The barbell was inserted, and fastened, and I was all good to go.
I had a big grin on my face, I loved the look of it and I loved the rush. As I continued my shop around, I suddenly felt light headed and rushed to the nearest canteen to find some high sugar-drink. This quickly passed, and I was on my way again.
Upon returning home, I loved the reactions I got from having this piercing; for once in my life I felt a real sense of self-confidence. For a little while I was the envy of my friends, who had never had anything pierced, except maybe their ear lobes. Since that day, a few of them have had their eyebrow pierced also.
Aftercare was fairly straight forward, I used sea-salt soaks, twice a day, and had no real problems -- a little tender every now and then, but apart from that it seemed fine. I quickly changed the bar after 2 months to a curved barbell, which felt much more comfortable in my eyebrow and allowed it to drain that little bit more easily.
It was not until later that summer that I began developing problems with the piercing. As I was working long shifts in a hot environment, it quickly became dried out and irritated, producing a lot of lymph in a matter of hours. It began to look scabby and sore, forcing me to retire it. I miss the piercing, it felt some part of me was missing, I felt a true addiction to being pierced.
This may sound like a sore experience, but I don't want it to come across as that, If you are considering having your eyebrow pierced (and for reading this, I imagine you are!) definitely go for it. Whether it is your first piercing, or your 20th, it will be one you will enjoy and love. It is painless and can be personally very rewarding. Just ensure you choose a reputable piercer, and try not to do anything on a 'spur of the moment' basis, plan and you will have a successful piercing.
It has been just over a year now since I had it done, and I have had many more piercings since. Although it was my first piercing, it holds a valuable lesson to me. I never did get the girl back, and as I look at it now, I am glad. It taught me not to get pierced for the reason of pleasing others, but to get pierced as a way of self-expression; individuality and helping you achieve your ultimate goal -- being who you are.
I have plans for having a double eyebrow piercing soon, and hopefully turning it into an orbital piercing, but this time I will be getting pierced for the right reasons.
If you have any questions/comments, feel free to IM me on IAM, or visit my forum, IAM: Prodigy.
Thanks for your time.