I had never heard of a hand web piercing, and have never seen one on anybody, but I decided that it would be a cool place to get pierced. I look it up and found out, right here on BME, that you can indeed get your hand web pierced. I researched it and read every experience I could find, and I knew I definitely wanted it. The problem was, my mom was never going to let me get a piercing, she wouldn't even let my sister get her eyebrow done. I didn't know how I was going to convince my mom to let me get it done, but I called Avant-Garde and asked about the piercing anyway. It was going to be $35, which I thought was really good, I had expected it would be a lot more. I made an appointment, then went to tell my mom. I thought she would flip and tell me to cancel it, but she actually didn't seem to care much. She said yes, and the thing she was most concerned about was price. I think she was just glad that it wasn't something on my face.
At A Glance Author Thea_na Contact thea_na@yahoo.com Artist Brent/Jim Studio Avant-Garde Location Milwaukee, WI So, then I had to wait, and wait, and wait. The appointment wasn't for a week. During that time, I pierced my nose my self (see experiences) and my mom got kind of mad. She said I couldn't get the hand web unless I took out the nostril stud. Finally, I convinced her to let me have both.
Finally, the big day rolled around. We got to the studio a few minutes late, but they didn't make a big deal of it. Once we there, my mom started to get nervous, and wasn't really sure that she wanted me to go through with it. The people were really nice, and explained everything to her and made her feel better, and finally she signed the consent forms. The piercer wasn't there yet, and my mom had to run to the bank to get cash, so I had to wait for a while longer. I was getting really nervous. It wasn't the pain; I was just worried about someone else shoving a big needle through my skin. Finally it was time to get pierced. Brent called me back and had me take a seat. I was really nervous, but he joked around and calmed me down. Jim was the more experienced piercer, so he watched and made sure Brent did everything right, since this is a rather uncommon piercing. Brent cleaned my hand with iodine, then traced lines in my hand where veins were, and checked the way my hand moved, and finally marked the spot. He asked me if it was okay, and I said yes and then Jim checked everything again. They clamped my hand and shined a flashlight through, just to check for veins again. Finally they were ready. Brent asked if my mom wanted to watch, but I said I guess not, which was fine with me. They took out the needle, and it looked huge. Actually it was only a 14 gage, but it seemed bigger to me. I turned my head away, and held my breath, but Jim told me to keep breathing. Then, I felt the needle slide through. It didn't hurt at all! There was absolutely no pain, not even a pinch. I turned my head back and saw the needle in my hand. They corked it, and it just felt a little uncomfortable, cause my skin was being stretched. Then Brent slid the barbell in, and pulled out the needle. There was just a slight pinch, but it didn't really hurt. Then he cleaned the area and tightened the ball on the barbell. My hand was pierced, and I couldn't stop smiling!
Brent went through the aftercare, and gave me a pamphlet. It was actually for navel piercings, but he said they are similar. I thanked him and left. On the way out I showed it to everyone else waiting, and they thought it was cool but really weird. I was so happy I actually started jumping up and down out on the sidewalk, and some people looked at me really weird. Once I was in the car, I realized that we hadn't tipped them. I'm so sorry guys! I'll tip you double next time, because I definitely intend for there to be a next time. It might not be for a while though, cause my mom doesn't want me to get any other piercings.
So, some other facts about hand webs:
· They are in an area with a lot of movement, so the do get ripped out a lot. This is why you should use thicker jewelry (at least 14 gage).
· They take about 6 to 9 months to completely heal.
· They're unusual, and in my opinion very pretty.
· It didn't hurt!
· I love my piercing!!!!
· Avant-Garde is the best place to get pierced!
Update: It's been about a month since I got my piercing, and I love it. I've had a few problems, though. First, after a couple weeks, it got infected. I guess I wasn't getting the soap inside the piercing enough. I was in Europe at the time, so I couldn't go back to the shop and get help. I just tried to clean it with peroxide, which didn't really help. After a while it got a little better, but it never completely healed. Then the skin started peeling, and I realized that the piercing was growing out. Right now its still in, but I don't think it will be for long. I plan to let it grow completely out, and then get it repierced deeper, behind the scar tissue.
So, thanks for reading, and if you have any questions e-mail me.