Originally I had planned to be getting a vertical medusa piercing when I entered the studio. But having talked things over with John (my piercer) I decided to go with my cheek. I've wanted my cheek since I was about 14, and having been to a various studios I've never trusted anyone enough or felt comfortable enough with anyone to let them do it. This may seem strange since I have genital piercings yet I wasn't willing to let them do my cheek. The thing with cheek piercings though is the tissue is so thick, and there are veins and such likes and i guess i was just scared for one reason or another.
At A Glance Author x m i s s t r i x i m i s t a k e x Contact angeldeelite666@aol.com IAM -EyE-KaNdY-KiD- When A month ago Artist john archibald Location york - england As soon as John offered me 2 different types of anaesthetic and explained each one to me i was really taken aback. None of my other piercers had done this but John, being a trained anaesthetist was definitely in the know. I decided that since i was going with my cheek, the second anaesthetic option would be best. This involved some new cream that had just come on the market, supposedly stronger than EMLA, which I left on for an hour, taped over like a window.
This bothered me greatly since I couldn't feel any numbness... what I didn't know was it was only numbing the tissue inside of my cheek and I had 2 more anaesthetics to go. John asked me after about an hour if I was ready. I decided not to question the EMLA like cream and said that I was as ready as I'll ever be. I mean, c'mon... what's a bit of pain anyway.
We went through to the back and he asked me to sit up on the couch. He talked me through what he was going to do and showed me each piece of equipment (sterile). He then asked me just as a kind of general knowledge quiz which needle he'd use... which anaesthetic etc. I think this was just to calm my nerves. It didn't work cuz I was nervous as hell.
He handed me a piece of tissue and asked me to tip my head to the side... (He wanted to angle the spray as much as possible onto the area to be pierced)... after a couple of minutes I spat it out. All the time he was checking I was ok... that I was comfy, not too nervous etc. Next came the anaesthetic for the outside of my cheek. It was a spray; I've never seen it or used it before so I was a little unsure. He told me to hold the tissue under my nose and only to breathe through that... the fumes get you high as I later realised when I was unable to keep breathing through the tissue.
When all was done, all equipment was ready and I was feeling pretty numb I gave him the go ahead. Working out where on my cheek the ball would sit... he asked me to check the placement and I asked him to move it further across if possible. He said he could so we did that and the next check it was perfect.
It all went pretty quickly after that. He tipped my head to the side, clamped my cheek (this was a little uncomfortable but only because I have a small mouth and he had to pull outwards to get inside). He told me to take 3 deep breaths and that was it, slowly and relatively painlessly the needle went through. If anything it felt a little tight. So I sat there a little in shock, John making sure I was ok he cut down the canula which was at present sticking through my cheek and proving a little uncomfortable. I rested for a few minutes while he changed gloves and sorted out my jewellery.
For the insertion of the jewellery he asked me to tip my head again and open as wide as possible. In doing so I knocked the canula out so he had to work quickly to get another one in. This hurt. I think it irritated it somewhat, which probably caused the quick swelling I was to later experience. Getting the barbell in was a real task. (I chose a barbell instead of a long labret simply for comfort and the fact id been told by others with cheek piercings that its better for healing)
Because of all the saliva Johns gloves got really slippery and he had to change several times before getting the ball on.
When we were finished and I was all cleaned up he gave me advice on aftercare and told me I was to go buy some savlon wound wash. By this time id already swelled loads and was in a considerable amount of pain so all I wanted to do was get home and sleep it off.
A few days passed and I was so swollen I could hardly talk... I was in pain just to smile and agony if I laughed. To make matters worse I was suffering from severe paranoia since my friend Emma had told me about her cheek piercing sinking into the inside of her mouth and the skin growing over, then it got infected and she had to have it cut out. This really scared me. I just kept on cleaning it, mouth washing after any food, drink and cigarettes. I really took care of it. After a week the swelling still hadn't gone down and I was still in loads of pain. I knew this wasn't normal and I knew I should have called John but I couldn't have bared him touching me, it hurt so much. I left it a few more days and the swelling started to go. A few days later I was fully comfortable with it and one evening when I was stoned I got paranoid... I realised that I hadn't checked whether the inside ball of my cheek stud was still visible. I went to wash my hands then I probed around. Realisin g that it wasn't and that my worst fears had been confirmed I called John in a real panic. He told me to get down to the studio that minute.
He'd taken a special trip back in at 8:45pm to sort me out... my father stayed out front talking to his wife (this gave me some assurance) and John took me into the studio. He put on his gloves and had a look. First he tried forcing it but it was in deep. I don't like forcing piercings through at the best of times (and that's just the 1.6mm bit) this would have been a whole 8mm ball. I jokingly said "why don't you just be done with it and cut the damn thing out" and he looked at me and replied... "well actually, now you mention it, I think that's the only way". I was a little taken aback but I realised that this was the only way. I lied down on the couch and he sprayed me with xylocaine again... I spat it out and he made sure I was ok. Examining me again he told me that my cheek must have swelled up to about twice the size he'd expected and that I should have gone back in. Which is all well and good in hindsight. While I tried to relax he arranged a bigger barbell for me sin ce it would clearly swell again after the scalpelling.
I tipped my head on its side once more, opened my mouth as John made tiny incisions to the inside of my cheek. He'd do this repeatedly for a couple of minutes then put down his scalpel, grab my cheek and force as hard as he could (causing me great discomfort) but nothing happened. He cut away a bit more and tried again. Still nothing. After about 10 minutes of cutting we finally got it through. I was feeling extremely sore but id discovered a way of handling the pain towards the end. It was quite fascinating. At the beginning of the cutting I was squealing and swearing, but half way through I just gave up. Realised it was achieving nothing and I actually started to enjoy the sensation.
We changed the bar to a bigger size and I asked that when the swelling went down I could come back and have a PTFE bar. (PTFE ball on the inside for minimal tooth/gum erosion and surgical steel ball on the outside for well... just to match my other surgical steel jewellery). He said it would be a good idea and that I could have it inclusive in the price id paid in the first place (which for the record was £35)
I went back 3 days later, the swelling had gone down and I was ready for my PTFE bar. That was the last I saw of John as far as my cheeks concerned. I've had no trouble since and its healing beautifully.