| At A Glance | |
| Author | Joel |
| Contact | fightmypast@hotmail.com |
| IAM | happynoodleboy |
| When | A month ago |
| Artist | Donald 'Shredder' Burke |
| Studio | To The Point |
| Location | Abbotsford, BC |
The day before, my girlfriend had gotten her Third Eye pierced with Tygon. She had known I wanted to get a surface chin bar for a long while, but couldn't really afford to pay for it. So, as an early birthday present, she decided she would pay for it!
That night I had read up on all the experiences I could find about the piercing I wanted to get, and looked at several picture to determine placement. In the end, I decided that I wanted it a LOT deeper than any of the pictures that BMEzine.com could offer. I talked to my piercer about it that night, and we made plans for the next day.
I went into the studio the next day, psyched right up for my upcoming piercing. Shredder was just getting his staples on his arms finished up by Matt, so I watched the end of that procedure. In that my piercing was also going to be in that room, I decided to watch and scrutanize the cleaning up that went on before we got to it.
The room was cleaned completely: all the sharps were discarded properly; the table, counter and tool tray were all whiped down and sterilized. Shredder then pulled on his gloves and began taking out his tools- a 10ga needle, face clamps, a long length of tygon and beads, more clamps... I felt like I was being prepped for surgery!
Finally, after he finished cleaning and setting up, Shredder changed his gloves again and grabbed a pen to mark me. We had decided we wanted it to go from the crease of my chin (where most Labrets are), straight out the bottom. The DEEPEST chin piercing that we had ever seen. So he made his marks, checked them time and time again, then finally, it was time to go.
We decided to go with Tygon as opposed to a regular surface bar. Tygon is flexible, and at the depth of the piercing, the more it can move, the better it is. This would also help prevent unneeded pressure and help prevent rejection.
I lied down on the table while Shredder changed his gloves again. Matt, the tattooist at To The Point, was on hand to help for this procedure. He also put on a fresh pair of gloves. Matt grabbed my chin skin and pulled it out for Shredder to slide the clamps on. It wasn't painful, per say, but it certainly was uncomfortable.
As usual, I was given the pep-talk and told the procedure. When asked if I wanted aromatherapy, I reminded them that I have testicles. I didn't need to say more, as Shredder put the smelly stuff back into the drawer.
The needle was lined up at the mark on top of my chin. I was told to take a deep breath in, let it out, then take another breath in. After my second breath in, I felt a slight burning as he started to push the needle through my chin. Once again, it didn't hurt as badly as one would think. There I felt some pressure as he pushed through the bulk of skin in the middle, followed by a rather soothing sliding feeling as the needle was pushed through the bottom.
I had kept my breathing steady while he was piercing, ensuring that he was right on his mark. The Tygon was loaded into the top of the needle and slid through. A little bit at the end was cut off and a bead inserted into the end. I was then told to stay lying down while he stopped the bleeding. After about 5 minutes, I sat up and checked out my new hole in the mirror. It looked perfect! Shredder was impressed by his work, in that this had been his first chin piercing. I was also extremely pleased.
Most people, when showing off a chin piercing, tilt their head back to show it off. This makes the piercing look deeper than it really is. The picture below was taken the same day as the piercing. Notice how the picture is of my face straight-on, not tilted back.
THIS is a deep piercing.
The first night sleeping with it was a little awkward. I think I must have bumped it several times during the night. However when I woke up the next morning, I was more than surprised at how downright nasty my chin looked. There were mountains of blood crusties on both the top and bottom beads. Fortunatly, another plus side of the Tygon is that NOTHING sticks to it. I soaked my chin in hot water for about 5 minutes, and literally all the crusties came right off. However, my problems were just starting.
I had taken my Ibuprofen to bring down the swelling a bit while I slept. I didn't know that it thins your blood. Suffice to say, I bled like a stuck pig for nearly 3 hours. Not steady blood flow, but enough to annoy the living hell out of me. No more of that for me. I went back to bed and slept for a few more hours.
When I woke up again, my chin was caked in crusties. I went to go clean them off, and welcomed my new chin piercing's friend- Mr. Goatie. I had a deep purple bruise that covered my entire chin. I was told that this was caused by the clamping. It was not attractive at all. From a distance it really did look like a goatie.
Flash forward a week to the day. The bruising has died down to a slight red blotch on the bottom of my chin. It no longer secretes blood, but every now and again I notice a little bit of lymph coming out of the entry wound. No crusties to report, as the Tygon slides easily up and down through the hole. I'm very happy with my new piercing. Shredder did a perfect job, and his aftercare suggestions have worked flawlessly. To date, there are no signs of rejection, which is always a good sign.
So, to finish this off, I would like to place an open challenge. Someone, ANYone! Get your chin pierced deeply like I did! You won't regret it.