I was 15 and my friend decided she wanted to get her belly button pierced so her and a group of friends (including me of course) went with her for support and out of curiosity. This incited a lot of talk about different piercings and so forth, and I had already had the idea of piercing in between my thumb and index finger, I thought it would look cool and it was definitely different and wouldn't prevent me from getting jobs like facial piercings do. So I brought it up with the piercer and talked to my friends about it. They all thought I was completely insane, but as they already thought I was insane before that so it didn't put me off much!
At A Glance Author Beth Contact Beth@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Rachel Jamieson Studio Physical Graffiti Location Morley, Western Australia The only piercings I had already done were two lobe piercings and a cartilage piercing in my left ear and 3 lobe piercings in my right. These were done unprofessionally at a chemist with a gun, which I would not recommend because it is surely a great deal more painful that it would be with a needle! And it swells so much! They all got infected a bit, but I kept them clean and they all healed.
The piercer said she would do a hand web near my thumb but didn't recommend it because of high rate of rejection, she said I'd have better luck in between my fingers and not my thumb. I went away and forgot about it for a month or so and then one day my brother came home with his septum done and it re-ignited all my thoughts of piercing my hand. I researched it on this site and read about the risks and other peoples experiences.
I talked with my brother and his girlfriend Mel about it and she decided she wanted to pierce her nose, so on the spur of the moment we went down to the piercer and my brother waited outside with his phone so he could pretend to be my Dad as we required permission because I wasn't yet 16.
I went first- it was done with a captive bead ring to allow for the swelling, and in between my index and middle fingers, on my non-dominant hand (left). Rachel the piercer knew how to deal with people like me, don't pussy foot around, get it over with!! She answered all my questions, explained what she would do and how they complied with the Skin Penetration Code and sat me down in a chair. I was making jokes the whole time to try and relax.
I looked up at the ceiling as the needle went through and yes, I did scream, it was more to let the tension out that from the pain, it hurt like a bitch for about 5 seconds and throbbed very mildly for the next hour or so. The pain really wasn't that bad, it was definitely bearable and worth it! It bled a little, but stopped very quickly, I got up and started laughing and waited for Mel to get her nose pierced. We paid our $66 each and left.
Only afterwards did I think about the fact that I was a diabetic, and that that would effect how it healed. I suppose it is healing slower than other people would but to anyone else who might be worried because they have something that might cause a similar problem, just take extra care and make sure your condition is well managed!
I bather it regularly in salt water and kept it dry until it was almost back to normal, which took about 4 days, at night and during work (where I am a check-out operator) I taped my index and middle fingers together to restrict movement and things getting to the piercing. I did this for about a week.
Since then I have just kept it clean and used diluted tea-tree oil on it, which I later read isn't good for the piercing, but this is what my piercer told me to do after 3 weeks. It seems to have helped anyway. It didn't get infected, it did swell at one point about 2 weeks after where I hit it on something and irritated it. I put camomile teabags on it to draw the swelling out and it went down fairly quickly. It hurt sometimes when it got cold and the blood flow wasn't as good as normal. Keeping the blood flowing is important and not drying the skin out in air-conditioned environments.
It has been 6 weeks since then and I just forget it is there! I love it so much though and would be incredibly upset if it rejected, which I'm afraid it may be doing. I have recently noticed it has moved towards my palm about 5mm. Hopefully it is just moving to a more comfortable position where there is less pull on it. Fingers crossed!
The reaction to my ring has been interesting. Most people say things like "Oh My God, that is so gross!!!" or "Why the hell did you do that???" or "That's very weird...but cool!" To the 'Why?' question I answer, Why do you pierce anything? Why do you pierce your ear? I like the way it looks, its different, and doesn't stop me from getting jobs, so it's better than a facial piercing in that respect! People often don't like it at first as it is a new concept to them, but a lot of them come around and grow to like it. I know I love it and would hate to lose it.
My mother saw it the day after I did it, and she was definitely not pleased! She had a good talk to me about respecting her and made me promise not to get anymore done, though I have a feeling I'm going to break that promise some day soon as I want my bellybutton done, but an inverse piercing instead, just to be different! I also would love a vertical hood piercing! I will need awhile to summon the courage for that one!
But as it goes, so far I give this piercing the big thumbs up and would encourage anyone else to do it!!!