My story begins about a year and a half ago. I was surfing through the BME archives, looking through pictures like I always do, when I came across a picture of a nape piercing. I hate to admit it, but a lot of the surfing I do on BMEzine.com isn't only for the stories, experiences, and community. While surfing through the site looking for pictures of modded girls (haha yeah I know, realllly classy), I had come across a picture of the silver bar that would become my obsession for the next few months.
At A Glance Author |Bobert| Contact |Bobert|@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Troy Studio Eye of the Lotus Tattoo and Piercing Location Edmonton, Alberta I was floored. The piercing was unlike any I had ever seen before. It was so unusual to me at the time, exotic and powerful all at the same time. I went to bed that night thinking about it and what I would look like with a new piece of metal in the back of my neck. Now, I should mention that I work during the summer doing maintenance at a seniors complex, with 1000 + tenants, who themselves are all 50-60 or older. As sad as it is to say in this day and age, I had to worry about my job when considering this piercing. I had already been given grief over my other visible piercings, (at the time I had a cartilage, eyebrow, and labret that would get me into the "little chats about my appearance"), and so I was hesitant. After drawing myself with the piercing, something I often do before getting one, I decided that since they hadn't fired me for the more visible of my piercings, one more wouldn't hurt. Thankfully they would grudgingly accept it in the end.
I began diving into BME experiences and stories, looking for information on the piercing, its chances of migration, and what sort of bar I would need. After looking at the wealth of information, I finally began calling around. I called my regular shop first, and was told that Troy, the piercer who did my eyebrow, labret, and later, my lip, wasn't in. I was a little put out, but ended up calling the next day. I was told that yes, they did indeed do nape piercings (which I would later find out is a little rare in this neck of the woods), but they met with each person who requested it first to make the decision to do it on a case by case sort of basis. Walking into Eye of the Lotus, I was a little nervous. I knew that I took care of all my piercings well, but the "case by case" line just kind of put me off. As a side note, I should mention that Eye of the Lotus is easily one of the cleanest shops I have been into. Everything is well kept, all the instruments are sterile , and they have a few autoclaves right in the back to make sure any jewelry is ready when you are.
Troy was busy piercing a girls navel when I came in and so I flopped down on the couches in the lobby and started flipping through some of the tattoo magazines until he came out and was ready to see me. After asking me why I wanted it, where I found out about it (BMEZINE.COM to thank), and discussing the chances of migration and aftercare, he decided to do the piercing. I was ready to go that same day, but he had to order in the surface barbell for the job and said he would call me when they got it in. About a week later I got the call as I was walking in the door from work, and was eager to get down to the shop. After sitting and talking for about
20 minutes about all kinds of stuff, he pulled out all the tools, washed up, put on some gloves, and started to mark the holes. After showing them to me to make sure they were about the height I wanted, he brought in another piercer to double check the straightness. Now the fun part started.
Troy double checked the markings one last time (sort of a measure once cut twice sort of thing I think), changed gloves, and put the clamps on my neck. This feeling is hard to describe. To be honest, I never realized how much extra skin people have back there. It reminded me of a cat being picked up by the scruff of its neck. The clamps were tight, but not uncomfortably so. In any case, the clamps were tight enough that on the "One, Two, exhale" I barely felt the needle go through. Fairly painless, I thought to myself. The best was yet to come.
Troy began to put the bar into the hole. I felt him working on getting it in. Then I started to feel something else. A dull pain that got stronger and stronger. It turns out that my piercing had started swelling nearly instantly, making it tougher to put the surface bar in. Troy apologized as I began rolling the tattoo magazine I had in my hands, but in about a minute it was in. He cleaned it, and brought me a mirror for me to look at it. It was everything I had wanted for the last few months and more. I payed Troy, tipped him (TIP YOUR PIERCERS!), thanked him again and went home.
Aftercare was nowhere near as hard as some people might think. I swabbed it with saline a few times a day, and was sure to rinse it gently in the shower. It crusted up like all of my other piercings, but that went away after a few weeks. It seems like every day people either stop me or talk about it behind me in class. I've gotten the obvious "Why get it on the back of your neck? You'll never see it", along with the even more predictable "Did it hurt?" Like all my other piercings it adds something to me that I cannot define. The way I figure it is, we have only one life to live (most of us;))so we might as well be comfortable in our own skin.