The day I turned 18 I decided I was going to go and get something pierced. I drove to the shop with not much of an idea as to what I wanted to get done. I had thought about my tongue for about 2 years, so I figured that would probably be it. Once I got there and checked everything out, though, I changed my mind and decided to get my eyebrow and septum done. After getting all the jewelry picked out and filling out paperwork, I headed back to get poked. The piercer was super cool and made sure that I was relaxed and everything. I already had one ear stretched out to 5/8" at that point, so I was pretty familiar with everything.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon Artist John Studio Red Dragon Location DC We decided to do my septum first since most people I had talked to that had theirs done said it was painful. After getting everything prepared, he told me to take a deep breath and wait for the count of 3. Of course, at 2 he pushed the needle through. At thst point I thought "Well, different pain thresholds for different people", since I didn't think it hurt at all. After finishing up with the septum we did my eyebrow. He told me he wasn't even going to bother counting to 3 since I already knew he would push at 2. After getting all the jewelry in place and everything, he gave me all the after-care information and told me if I had any problems to give him a call.
I've gone back to that shop a few times and had my lebret done twice, my eyebrow done again, and both my nipples done. I was definitely skeptical and more than a little nervous before I actually got anything done, but once the first two piercings were out of the way nothing really seemed all too bad to me. The healing for those first two piercings went really well since I (obviously) stuck right with the care sheet. I did run into a little problem when I wrecked my bike and pretty much landed right on my eyebrow, causing infection (hence having it done for the second time). I tried pretty much everything I could to heal it up, but given the fact that the ball on top of the barbell actually went into my eyebrow (pretty much stretching it from a 12 to what i thought was about an 8), I just took it out, let it heal and had it pierced again. Once I got over the initial hesitation about getting anything pierced, I sort of made it a point to get something pierced whenever I could. Even after I moved a few hours away from where the first shop (and the only piercer I'd ever dealt with) was, I found new places and new people.
After I moved, I started working at a shop (whose name really, really isn't worth mentioning). After working there for a little while I started getting more and more into piercing and body modifications in general. I started apprenticing under the piercer there (pretty much the only person worth a damn at that shop), who luckily was into a lot of other stuff, like implants and such. He taught me a lot about piercing, allof which made me so much more comfortable and want to get more stuff done. After a few other facial piercings and actually piercing the guy I was apprenticing under a few times, I worked up the nerve to go ahead and get a PA.
This was without a doubt the scariest thing I've ever had to prepare myself for ahead of time. I had thought about it for a really long time and once I decided I was going to do it, I couldn't let myself not do it. Since I was apprenticing under this guy, I felt pretty comfortable on one hand, but on the other, I was super nervous. I told him that I wanted to wait until everyone that was getting tattoed and everything to leave and for the shop to close. Of course, that only gave me more time to think about it and more time to get nervous.
Once the shop was cleared out we started to set everything up. I pulled out the jewelry and the needle, which probably wasn't too smart since I pretty much started freaking myself out by thinking where they were going. I went and got a glass of water and tried to calm myself down while he got everything else prepared. When he called out and told me everything was set, I seriously thought about just running. I somehow managed to get up and go into the back room to get it over with.
Now on top of the fear of what I was about to have done, I was pretty apprehensive about "exposing myself" (for lack of a better way to word it) in front of some guy. After finally getting over that and setting my self up to get pierced, he started to get the needle and everything ready. I swear to god I felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest, slap me in the face and ask me what the hell I thought I was doing. I was shaking like crazy, sweating, everything that comes along with being scared out of your mind. When he finally asked if I was ready, I just sort of mumbled and nodded. I layed my head back, closed my eyes and got ready to have to scream at the top of my lungs. He actually finished the whole 3 count and then I felt the needle go through. I know it only took a split second, but it felt like the slowest thing I have ever experienced. I didn't actually have to scream, although it did hurt like holy hell. After he got the jewelry through and finished everything up, I covered everything back up and layed there for what felt like an eternity.
The next few days were a pretty big pain in the ass (well, not really the ass.. but let's not get technical). Walking a little funny, taking a really long time to go to the bathroom, that kind of stuff. The healing went really well, even though it obviously took a bit longer than any of the facial piercings I was used to dealing with. The only thing I was really a little worried about at that point was how it would effect any sexual contact, and after a while that proved to not really be a problem at all.
Yeah, it hurt, I was scared as hell, but now I don't really feel like there's any piercing I would get that I would be super afraid of getting done. I mean, all the fear, all the pain, it's all temporary. Just get yourself together, make sure you're ready and get over it.