Before I begin, let me say this – I detest needles. They scare me. Maybe it's from a scary pediatrician, maybe I sat on a tack as a little kid, I don't know. I just do not like needles. They scare me.
At A Glance Author Demoness Contact nightshadesk8r@yahoo.com When Three months ago Artist Me Location Grosse Pointe, MI
Pain too. Pain is a new one for me.
My boyfriend, one of the sexiest men sent to the earth, changed my thoughts of body modification and made it seem like a great possibility. He had already had his labret pierced, and was about to add his ears, eyebrow, and septum to his collection. As I watched him get pierced over and over, I realized that it couldn't be so bad.
I finally decided upon piercing my bridge about a year before I did it. I had a friend tell me that you only see it on "collectors" and that it wasn't all too common, which was an awesome thing to hear – I hate to look like most of the people I deal with! However, I couldn't get it pierced – at least not safely. I was underage in America and had no way to get to Canada. Also, my parents would not go for piercings of any kind, much less one they'd never heard of.
One night I just got sick of waiting for me to finally get older and clear the stupid piercing laws (and i wasn't up for a swim across the Detroit river at all!). I took out a mirror and set it on my desk, and went to get a sterilized needle that a friend had left with me for some reason or another. I sat at my desk and tried not to look at the point of the needle too long, because I didn't want to freak myself out before I had even started. I glanced in the mirror to decide where to place it, and decided on a spot a little below where the bridge of my glasses would normally land.
Swallowing all last minute doubt, I grabbed the needle and pushed. I must have been anxious about the needle, however, because I didn't push hard enough for it to pierce completely through the other side. I could see the tip of the needle and knew I had broken the skin on the other side, but I was so unnerved by the needle and the surprise at the needle not going through all the way, I left to go grab a drink (still holding the needle to my face, probably not smart). I came back up to my desk and pushed the last bit through. Looking at myself once I had gotten the needle through, it was a shock to realize that at long last, I had done it!
I saw my boyfriend a little later in the day and he helped me fit in a ½" 14g barbell. My bridge had swelled up pretty badly, but it wasn't anything a little ibuprofen and some Epson salt couldn't take care of. I cleaned it out, took care of it, and even named it (his name is George, by the way). A week of two later, and after the swelling had subsided, I went out to the nearest mall and got some properly sized jewelry, a 3/8" barbell, and some different-colored ends. I was in love with my new piercing!
So, yes. Now, fast forward to about 6 weeks later. George was healing fine, no problems at all, and I had even convinced my boss to let me work with it in, which was a minor miracle considering I work with young kids most of the time. Then, the unthinkable happened – I ripped it!
It wasn't intentional on my part, nor was it malicious intent from anyone else, but nevertheless I caught the edge of the barbell on one of my rings and, as I moved my hand, it ripped. That was an interesting feeling, to say the very least. I put my hand up to my face, and wiped a good amount of blood away less than a second after it had happened. When I had first pierced it, there was almost no blood whatsoever and, needless to say, I was scared. I ran into a bathroom to go check on poor George and saw that there was a trail of blood leading down the right side of my nose, along with a throbbing pain in between my eyes. I wiped the blood away, cleaned it out, and went on my way as best I could. For some reason, however, after it was ripped it had begun to require a fair amount of maneuvering on my part to get the barbell through the right side of the piercing, even after it had healed somewhat. Strange.
After going through all this, though, I don't regret it. I have the most random people coming and talking to me, people that I would never have talked to on my own. They ask questions, they tell me that they've never seen anything like it before. It's very, very cool!
The moral – Do not be afraid of uncommon piercings, and DO NOT PIERCE THYSELF AT HOME! I am a bad example!
-Demoness