I've always enjoyed interesting and less common piercings, so when the urge for a new piercing came around I decided I wanted a madison. I looked on BME for pictures and experiences, but couldn't really find many. I didn't want a ring madison because that would reject a LOT faster than a surface bar. Once I decided I actually wanted it, I made plans with Jakk to stop by his shop on a Sunday on the way home from the Chicago BME BBQ to get the madison. I was excited the entire weekend to get it done, but then on the way home it took a lot longer than we anticipated to get home. The trip from Albany to Chicago was 14 hours, but for some reason it took 24 to get back, mostly because we couldn't afford the faster toll roads. In Ohio I knew there was no way we would get to Buffalo by 3:00, as I had told Jakk, so I called a friend and asked him to tell Jakk I wasn't going to make it. Obviously I was disappointed that I couldn't get the piercing, but I knew I would have it someday. A few weeks later I went to Buffalo for a family trip. It was a horrible trip and I just wanted to go home and get pierced. Finally I got back to Buffalo and the next day left for Albany. I took a detour of course to stop at Jakk's shop to get my much anticipated madison and my bridge pierced. On the way to his shop I stopped at the mall, bought a 2g taper, then stretched my septum to 2g in the car while driving down the NY state thruway, which was hilarious. I couldn't get the tunnel in while driving, though, so I had Jakk put it in when I got to his shop. After that, Jakk set everything up for the madison and bridge. We decided to do the madison first, because I thought it would either be more painful than the bridge, or weirder, or something. Jakk took out a 14g surface bar for the piercing. He spent forever marking the spots to make sure they were straight, erasing and redrawing them a bunch of times. Then I' m pretty sure he grabbed my skin and pierced. I honestly can't rememb er if he used a clamp or not, but I'm pretty sure he did it freehand. We were talking the whole time so I wasn't really paying attention to every detail. The piercing was somewhat slow, or maybe it just seemed that way because it's a bit of a long distance from one side to the other. It didn't really hurt, it just felt weird against my collar bone like that. Putting the surface bar in didn't hurt either, it just felt really weird.
At A Glance Author julia Contact julia@bme.anon IAM afilmbombs When A month ago Artist Jakk Studio Express Yourself Location Lackawanna, NY Healing this thing has been interesting...I can't really wash it or rotate it, so I pretty much just soak it in the shower. Occasionally I'll soak a paper towel in sea salt water and leave it on the piercing for awhile. The edges are crusty usually, but it hasn't been too much of a problem. Madisons are a lot more annoying than I thought. I have surface piercings on my arm, so I know I have to avoid them while sleeping and doing things, but never did I think it would be annoying to just move my body, and turn my head. Every time I move my neck I can feel the skin around the piercing stretch. Sleeping gets bothersome because I like to sleep on my stomach, so I have to position myself so the piercing doesn't smush into my pillow, except it does sometimes, then when I wake up it's all red and irritated. Also, shirt collars rubbing against it....not so good.
Various surface bars on my arm last around 3 or 4 months before I have to take them out, but hopefully the madison will last longer because I really like having it. It also works really well for shock value when people start asking about my piercings and tattoos. Most people have never seen a pierced collar bone, so either they're intrigued or freaked out. I definitely recommend this piercing, but not as much to people who do a lot of physical activity. Doing things bothers it a lot and will cause it to reject a LOT faster. Also, since it's so hard to clean, I don't recommend it to someone who's lazy about cleaning their piercings. It definitely needs a lot of care and attention, and even requires small life changes such as the way you sleep and what shirts you wear. To anyone considering this piercing, I suggest going with a surface bar or tygon rather than a CBR because it's going to last a LOT longer and not be as annoying (it won't get caught on stuff).