I'd been obsessing over getting my nape pierced for over a year, and since I'm only 16, naturally I had to spend large amounts of time finding information about it so that I could get a parent to sign for me. I looked at plenty of piercing places in the area, but a lot of them told me I shouldn't get the piercing at all because it would migrate out, or told me that they wanted to put a straight barbell in it. I have a couple of friends with pierced napes, and they all told me to find someone to use a staple, because it would let the piercing heal better, and might lessen the chance of it migrating out. Finally I talked to the guy (whose name I unfortunately can't remember) from Il Bacio on the phone, he told me he used staples for this kind of piercing, and so I got a price and he told me he'd have the jewelry in the next day.
At A Glance Author aly Contact aly@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist don't remember Studio Il Bacio Location Cinaminnson, NJ I went the next day, and was disappointed to find out that he hadn't gotten the jewelry yet, so I'd have to come back the next day. This bothered me mainly because I have a total of three piercings, and they're all in my ears. This was my first surface piercing, so I didn't know what to expect at all, and naturally I was really nervous. Anyway, I came back the next day, he showed me the jewelry, answered all my (probably stupid) questions about it, and explained what he was going to do so that I wouldn't be wondering what was going on. He let me bring my friend into the room with me, which would have been a better idea if she wouldn't have had a running commentary about the size of the needle, and how gross getting the back of your neck pierced is.
He told me the clamp would probably hurt more than the needle itself, and he was right. I watched him unwrap the needle and get the jewelry and clamp ready. I was comfortable with the cleanliness of the room and tools, which is something I was really worried about, because I've heard so many horror stories, and since this was my first real piercing I didn't already have a place that I knew and trusted. Everyone I had talked to about piercing in general, especially surface piercing told me that the best place to go around here was Infinite, which is a problem for me because they don't work on anyone under 18. After the clamp was on, he talked me through the process and let me know when he was putting the needle in. The reason the clamp hurt more, I think, is because the clamp is actual pinching pain, while the needle is really just that strange feeling of a needle being pushed through your skin, which doesn't actually hurt that bad. After he had put the jewelry in, he made me wait a second while he wiped off the little bit of blood.
I got up a couple seconds later and he gave me a hand mirror to look at it in (with the other mirror). It was gorgeous. I knew I'd been obsessed for a reason. He explained that the reason the barbell poked out at each end was because there needed to be extra room in case of swelling, which made sense to me. I've had the piercing for about four months now, and it healed nicely. I still have the longer barbell in, on account of I haven't had the extra money to spend on a smaller one recently, but I'm planning on buying one soon, because I think they're more attractive with smaller barbells. It didn't hurt at all after the first day and of course there was the unavoidable snagging my hoodie on it, or brushing my neck with my hand forgetting that it was there, both of which hurt in a major way for the first couple of days. Fortunately I have short hair, so I didn't have to worry about getting hair tangled in it, although I did hit it pretty hard a couple times while towel-drying my hair.
I was a little disappointed that the piercer wouldn't let me have pictures taken during the procedure, because I would have liked to have them to look at later and also to submit to bme. My parents don't mind it now, although my father refused to look at it when I first came home with it. My younger brother is somewhat afraid of it (he's 13) but he likes to feel the bar through the skin. My biggest complaint about the piercing is the ridiculous questions I got asked on a daily basis for at least two months afterwards, and still get occasionally. I would restate them but I'm almost certain anyone with some kind of not completely every day mod knows them by heart already.
I'm definitely happy with my piercing, and I would definitely recommend a nape piercing to anyone who's even thought about it. Sometimes I wish it was somewhere where I could see it more easily, but I love the way it looks on the back of my neck, and I still catch myself rubbing the skin over the bar to amuse myself.