At A Glance Author Bonnie Contact Bonnie@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Brian Studio Ultimate Body Jewelry Location Rochester, NY A year ago this week, my friend and co-worker Brian pierced my hand web for me. This was my second attempt at a web piercing, the first having started migrating after four months. The first time we did my web we used my right hand. Big mistake! I'm right handed...what a bad idea. Just as I thought I had it working, I helped a friend move into her new house. All the packing and dirt and lifting of heavy boxes caused enormous swelling and pain. I ended up taking it out at my friend's house in the middle of the night because it was KILLING me. After waiting six months and brainstorming a lot, I was ready to try again. First, we decided it needed to go in my left hand. As a piercer myself, I knew I was going to be taking gloves on and off constantly, so we carefully mapped my hand web to place the piercing where it would be affected the least. I didn't want it going through any muscle tissue, and we knew it would swell less and heal faster if we avoided any blood vessels. We use d a flashlight in a darkened room to mark the piercing. We could see every vein and capillary that way. The piercing itself was done as a 14 gage, and we used P.T.F.E with steel balls, cut to 5/8ths. I needed the length because I knew from prior experience how much it would swell. Although I'd had it done once before I'd forgotten how badly it hurt. Seriously, the actual piercing felt like an electric shock into my hand. It immediately began throbbing and swelling. Of course several of my friends (fellow piercers themselves)wanted to watch. It sucks when your friends laugh at your piercing face! Although I tried to look like it wasn't too bad, I heard later that when Brian put the needle through I looked like I was sucking on a lemon.
The next few months were not great. I was doing sea salt soaks three times a day, but my hand still looked like sh*t. It was swollen and extremely angry looking. I resigned myself to a long and UGLY healing period. Although we had mapped it carefully, all the glove on/ glove off of piercing was pissing it off. I started wearing my x-small gloves on my right hand only, and switched to a medium on my left. What a difference! The constant pressure off, it began improving rapidly...then near tragedy struck.
Five months into my heal, I came home from a long day at the shop, and as I got out of my car, I swung my purse up onto my left shoulder, only to have it slide down my arm rapidly and stop dead, hooked on the bar through my hand web. My knees buckled and I had to hang on to the roof of my car for support. It hurt THAT badly. I was afraid to look, but I knew it was bleeding, because I felt it running hot down my fingers. After I got into my house I looked and it was BAD. I almost gave up and took it out there and then, but I gave myself thirty days. I knew if I couldn't get it looking good again within that time, I should give it up. At work for the next week, everyone begged me to take it out. It was scaring our clients, who kept asking me if it was infected. For a while it looked like raw meat on the top of my hand, but I just kept telling myself that I was doing everything right and I COULD heal it.
Maybe two months later, I knew I was right...I was going to keep it this time. All my swelling had localized itself to the piercing, and the web area around my thumb started to regain the skin texture of the rest of my hand. We switched the P.T.F.E out and replaced it with a 14 gage curved barbell, and I kept up the sea salt soaks at least twice a day along with all the anti-bacterial soap I was washing with all day long.
Six months later, here I am, loving my web piercing and how great it looks. At least once a week some little girl admires it and wants to get one, but they change their minds when they hear what I went through. I know it looks great NOW, but I don't advise anyone who is not seriously into body-mod to even try it. I have since downsized to a 16 gage, strictly for cosmetic reasons, since all my favorite jewelry never comes in a 14 gage. I wanted to wait out a full heal to post this, because I know how rarely it can be done. I think sometimes of getting a second one...I'll keep you all posted!