I have spent a good deal of time here on BME, drooling over the surface nape piercings. I found them to be gorgeous, and that it would look very elegant on my long pale neck. Since I had not gotten a piercing in two months, I decided I would give myself a nape piercing for christmas. Well, two weeks before christmas, I couldn't stand it anymore, and needed to have those two silver balls on my neck. I called up my piercer, Jacob, at Phobia Body Piercing, and played twenty questions with him, and received all the proper answers that my BME educated self wanted to hear.
At A Glance Author Aymi Contact Dramatik1@aol.com When A week ago Artist Jacob Studio Phobia Body Piercing Location Hole St. in Riverside, CA A few days later, I gathered up the money needed ($65), my sister, and a digital camera and headed over to Phobia. By the time I made the twenty minute drive, my stomach was quivering from excitment. I smoked a cigarette and went in. I told the desk girl what i wanted done, and she called out Jacob to talk with me. He uses Tygon for surface piercing, as opposed to surface bars. He feels that surface bars cause too much trama on the fresh wound while putting it in, and that flexible Tygon causes less pressure and helps the piercing to heal with the least discomfort to the surrounding tissue. He has a 90% success rate with surface piercings, and after looking at some stunning nape photos in his portfolio, I decided to trust him. We decided on a 10 gauge Tygon bar, one inch and a fourth long, with sterling silver balls. He uses a 10 gauge for nape piercing, because a thicker piece of jewelry is that much harder for the body to push out.
I okayed all of this, and filled out the proper paperwork, and went over the aftercare instructions. Everything had to be autoclaved at this point, and his machine was already running a cycle, so he told me to come back in 50 minutes. Let me tell you, 50 minutes has never gone by so slowly in my entire life. My sister looked in some shops, while I just sat outside, chainsmoking. I wasnt very nervous at this point, because I am confident in my body's ability to handle pain, but I was very excited, and could not concentrate on the trendy vintage clothing. We got a bite to eat, and it was finally time to head back to the shop.
When we got back, the studio was freezing, and the piercer laughed and said, "I tend to sweat during these kinds of piercing, so I turned the air up." I didn't mind, because I felt like sweating wasn't outside the realm of possibilites for myself at this point. He invited me into the back room, along with my sister, who would photograph this event. First, he looked at my neck, and pushed and pulled the skin around for a bit. He asked me to point to where I'd like the piercing (without touching my skin, because he had already cleaning me off, of course), and I showed him where I thought it would look best, and where my skin seems to move the least when turning my head. He drew a line on my neck where he thought it should go, and asked me to stand and sit and move around. He had me stand perfectly straight, and then stand sort of slumpy in a casual position, so make sure the piercing would look straight no matter how I stood.
Once he and I were satisfied with the placement, the fun could begin. I watched him assemble his tools on his surgical tray, and change his gloves once again. I realized, as I do with every piercing, that the needle was quite large. It was a task finding a position for me to lay in that was confortable, and would hold my neck skin in a position adequate to be pierced. Finally, I just laid flat on my face, with my hands gripping the table on either side of my head. It wasn't very comfortable, but at this point, I just wanted to get it all done with. He is going to pierce me freehand, because he thinks the clamps cause more harm than good to the area being pierced, and he also wants to get the needle under the dermal layer of skin, which he felt he could do easier without the clamps. I ask him for a "one, two, three" before he puts the needle through, because I would rather know when to expect it. I begin my breathing the way he showed me, in through the nose and out through t he mouth and in a minute, I hear his gentle voice say, "Okay, one, two.....three". I grip the table as the needle begins to pass through. It was suprisingly easy, bearable pain. The needle passing through took about 8-10 seconds, with the exit hole hurting the worst. Then I ask, "Is it in?" in my very nasal sounding, nose squashed voice, and he said, "Sure is."
What happens next is a little fuzzy to me, because I can't see what he is doing, and my adrenalin is kicking like you wouldnt believe. He pulled the needle out and put the jewelry in, wiggling it, so it wouldn't bunch up. This hurt a good deal worse than the piercing, and every five seconds I'm asking, "What are you doing now?", just like I do at the dentist and doctor's office. When he screwed the balls on, I began to bleed, and I relaxed a little while he cleaned me up, and my sister took pictures. I remember lying face down on the table in a puddle of my own sweat saying, "I am so intensely proud of my bad self, for having the courage to do this."
After a minute, I realized I was all done, and pretty much leaped off the table to have a look at my new piercing. He handed me a mirror, and I turned my back to the wall mirror, and took a gander. I sucked in my breath when I saw it, two shiny balls on my only slightly red neck. The placement and depth were perfect, and I was a goner, admiring myself, like a stuck up supermodel and not caring who was watching. I remember loudly proclaiming, "Damn, Its gorgeous!". The piercer was all smiles, happy at my reaction, and smiled even wider at the $25 dollar tip I handed him. (Hey, he did great work, and its Christmas)I hugged him and thanked him, and showed off my piercing to the families in the waiting room, girls waiting for belly button rings, the desk girl, and anyone else who would listen. It was great.
This all took place a week ago, and I'm in love with my neck piercing. So far, I havent had a single problem with it, other than a little redness around the holes, and itchiness, which is to be expected. I wash it twice a day in Provon soap, and do the saline soaks four times a day. Ive been sleeping on my stomach, because while it doesn't hurt to sleep on my back, my piercing feels a little irritated when I do. My hair also seems to irritate it, so I've been wearing my hair up. Other than washing and soaking it, I try to keep my hands, and other people's hands off it. People like to come up and poke my neck. I think they are trying to feel for the bar under my skin. I've learned to remove my neck from harm's way, and tell them that it is considered very rude to touch someones unhealed piercing if not asked to do so. Other than feeling sore from being poked by a rude drunken frat boy at a club, my piercing rarely hurts, and I've experienced only minor crusting and redness.
Being the paranoid person that I am, I went back to my piercer yesterday, to have him look at it. He said that it looks great, and that if I keep up with the cleaning, there is no reason why it shouldn't heal well. I love this piercing, and its going to stay put and be healthy come hell or high water. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys things a little unusual and elegant. Its very sexy on both males and females. A little advice for those who get a nape piercing: it helps to take a good multivitimin to discourage infection and boost the immune system. Also, make sure to have a plan of action before removing your shirt. Takes a little getting used to.
Happy piercing everyone!