OK, so aside from getting my ear lobes done when I was eight I suppose my nape was the first 'real' (as in not done with a gun at a mall) piercing that I really ever got.
At A Glance Author jo Contact jo@bme.anon When It just happened Studio the apartment of a prof piercer Location Toronto, Ontario, Canada I'm sitting here right now, and nearly 29 hours ago I had a 12g needle sliding through the skin in the back of my neck, followed by a wonderful surface barbell.
I decided a few months ago that I wanted to get my nape pierced....
looking a the pictures here on bme really inspired me.
But those few months ago I was flat broke and unemployed, I guess you could say that wanting to get my nape done was the reason I actually went out to go and get a job. On my days off from work in the past few weeks I was running about town trying to find an intelligent and experienced piercer who wasn't going to milk me for all I was worth financially (I still can't spend copious amounts of money even if it is for the sake of getting pierced). Truthfully, I really do understand that price shouldn't be an issue when you decide to get a piercing, because if your going to sacrifice sterile tools and an experienced, and intelligent, piercer to save a couple of bucks, you're just a big idiot.
After weeks of searching, my friend introduced me to an amazingly intelligent, experienced, clean and nice friend of his who did work in a shop (will remain un-named) in Toronto.
I wasn't too impressed with the shop where he worked, but HE really knew what he was talking about (more-so than anyone I had talked to before) he does all of his own piercings and did his own nape as well (which was perfect.... the nape that is)
Now, the place he worked wasn't all that respectable, as previously mentioned, wasn't managed that well, even though the actual piercers and tattoo artists were quite good. So he agreed to do it at his house.
A week or two later, after playing a lot of phone tag, it was decided that sunday night is the night....
I meet up with him (the piercer) and another friend of mine later at night and we head over to his apartment, where in a matter of min. he had an organized box full of sterilized and packaged jewellery, clamps and a mass amount of other stuff, such as sterilized pliers to bend my jewellery, among many other things.
He put on sterile gloves, set everything up on fresh saran wrap and swabbed down my neck with what I suppose was iodine or some sort of other antiseptic, and started to mark my neck after asking me where about I wanted the jewellery to sit, and began pinching and pulling the skin in the area of where I wanted it (basically 2 inches below my hairline). He bent the jewellery, and made sure it would fit ( it did), and then bent it slightly in the middle so there would be less pressure on the skin (I have a very small neck)
After marking, checking, re-marking and clamping I was set to go.
In a few seconds I could feel the needle just touching my skin on the left of the clamps, and a few seconds after that the needle was going through, and I was being told to breathe out.
The odd thing was that the needle passed through the skin in one smooth and quick motion, but to me, I could feel it slowly creeping underneath my flesh and making its way out the other side, I could especially feel the needle breaking through several different layers of what I would guess was muscle on its way through..... Pop pop pop.
Initially I felt a sharp but faint stinging-like pain but quickly it turned into a warm numb sensation that crept through the back of my neck and head. I really have to say that it barely hurt at all. He then warned me that he would be putting in the barbell and even then it didn't hurt at all, just a bit more pressure than there was initially with the needle.
The ball was screwed onto the end of the barbell and that was that. No pain (well, barely any) and it didn't even bleed a drop.
After about a min, my body decided that it didn't enjoy being pierced as much as I did and my vision started to go a bit, I asked for a bit of water and started to sip on it for a bit. I think the only thing the piercer did wrong was tell my friend to keep an eye on me just in case I started to loose my hearing, in earshot of me. Which made my underlying paranoia about how safe the piercing was kick in ( I had actually done a lot f research before even seriously considering the piercing, but I still get paranoid anyway), I didn't realize he just didn't want me to pass out. That made me freak out just a bit and my vision got a bit worse, well, really it would fade in and out.
I tried to get up to go to the washroom a few min later, I was feeling alright except that I had to go, and when I tried to stand up, and walk to the washroom, I got about half way and had to sit, then lay down. It was really nice how concerned he (piercer) seemed to be. I left a short while later to go home, and I was even walked to the subway station.
When trying to sleep later that night I was almost always trying to roll over onto the piercing and waking myself up inches before any pressure was put on it.
Thus far I have been meticulously salt-soaking my piercing and putting in every possible effort to make it feel welcome and make it want to stay (i.e.: careful with shirts and collars, not sleeping on it, not touching it, keeping any direct pressure off it, etc.....)
My final note is that for the past two days I have had so many negative responses to this piercing than I had ever expected, even from people my age who get piercings themselves.
I have gotten responses varying from "ewwwwww does that actually go under your skin? Ewwww"
To
"that's disgusting, does that go under your spine?"
To
"That is the stupidest thing I have ever seen"
Not that I care, but it never occurred to me that people couldn't understand it, or had even heard of it.
I personally think it is the most beautiful thing ever, but I suppose that people are entitled their opinions, right?