Two years ago now, when I was 18, I was bored in town one day in February. So I decided I wanted my ears pierced. I knew nothing about piercings, and the only place I could think of to get them done was Claire's Accessories. I didn't know that piercing guns are bad, in fact I didn't even know what a piercing gun was, but I didn't want to go to Claire's as you have to sit in the window.
At A Glance Author Juno Contact Juno@bme.anon When Two years ago Artist Viv 1st time Studio Yum Yum Location Nottingham So I dismissed getting my ears done (and 2 years later I still don't have normal lobe piercings!), and thought about other things to do.
I'd wanted my navel pierced vaguely for a while, but never thought I'd get it done. I'd like to reiterate here that at the time I knew absolutely NOTHING about piercings. But, I decided to get it done and went along to Yum Yum with £15 cash, as I thought it couldn't be that much more than that.
I looked around, and saw they had different prices depending on what you got it done with. A BCR, whatever one of those was, was cheapest at £25. So I went in search of a cash machine and got the extra £10 out. I then went to a cafe for a coffee as I was very nervous.
When I went back, I asked for it and signed the forms. Then Viv took me through to the studio, and I took my coat off and tried to calm down. I stood up while she marked it, and then she asked me if it was in the right place. I said yes, and so I half lay/half sat on the couch while she did it. The clamps didn't hurt too much, and the piercing itself was not as painful as I expected it to be.
Afterwards, I listened carefully while she went through the aftercare sheet with me and then went on my way.
The next morning, when I took the dressing off, it was covered in dried blood and generally looked disgusting, even though I'm not normally squeamish! I cleaned it like I'd been told, and hoped it was OK. For the next few days I felt slightly sick, but my friend's sister also experienced that so I think it's perfectly normal!
I managed to hide it from my dad for 2 weeks, as I knew that he wouldn't be impressed (even though I was 18!). I also did a lot of research into piercings, and fell in love with the idea of getting a VCH which I later got in June.
Everything seemed fine to my inexperienced eye at least, but then in early Septembert it went red all over, hurt a lot and produced a lot of icky yellow pus. The idea of going back to my piercer never occurred to me, so I just gave lots of salt soaks and TLC. Then, literally overnight, the distance between the holes shrank from 11mm to 6mm. The next day, it was at 4mm. Combined with the redness, soreness and general ickiness, I sadly decided to take it out. I thought it wouldn't heal, and if it did it looked stupid at only 4mm long anyway.
Fast forward to the next February, and I decided to get it re-pierced. I'd done a lot of research, had several other piercings and generally knew a lot more than I did before. So I was confident that if I had a barbell instead of a BCR I'd be able to keep it.
The 2nd time, I'd moved to York and so went to see Jon at the York Body Piercing Studio. He was nice, and the procedure was basically the same as before. It cost £35 as I decided to get a double jewelled barbell. This time it hurt even less than before, and the barbell made it look so pretty.
I loved it even more the 2nd time, and cared for it properly. The first time I often twiddled the ring with dirty hands, but the 2nd time I did not touch it except for cleaning. So I was very disappointed when, in early September, the same thing started happening. This time there was less redness and soreness, but the pus was a scary brown colour. And skin started to grow over the barbell. So I decided to take it out again.
I have no idea why both decided to go wrong in September. I treated them both completely differently. Maybe it was just they only wanted to last about 6 months. Maybe it was because I'd been to Reading Festival (a music festival with moshing, no washing facilities, mud and tents) at the end of August. Maybe it was the aliens!
I'd like to get it redone sometime, but if I do, there's no way I'm getting it done in February!