I know that surface piercings can often only be thought of as temporary piercings because the skin puts pressure on the piercing and it is therefore likely to reject, leaving a scar if this happens. However, I was still determined to get a horizontal surface piercing below by navel
At A Glance Author Lyssie Contact goodbye_forever_@hotmail.com When A month ago Artist Colin Studio Exeter Body Piercing Location Exeter, UK
About a month ago, I was in Exeter visiting my sister, and went to my studio of choice, Exeter Body Piercing, to get my rook pierced. When I went in, the place was empty - usually there is at least one customer waiting. This gave me an opportunity to speak to Colin for a while about my piercings. I decided on the rook and then the surface piercing came into the conversation, and it dawned on me that I actually had my chance to get it done. Colin offered a discount as i would be getting two together and i spoke to him for about half an hour, getting more and more nervous.
He showed me an example of the surface bars they use for these piercings and explained that they rede the rate of rejection as they are specially developed so that, with correct placement, the pressure from the jewellery is inwards rather than outwards, giving the body no reason to want to reject the piercing. He also warned me that they should be carefully considered due to the possibility of rejection but I said I wanted it anyway. I was also told that bruising is likely and that it may be quite sore for longer than I might expect, and the initial redness of the piercing could stay for quite a while. Given all of this, I still really wanted the piercing so agreed to come back later as I would get some food first - piercing on an empty stomach is not a god idea as you want your blood sugar levels to be high to prevent things such as passing out.
On my return - with a full stomach! - I was given the mandatory forms to fill in (declaration of age, medical notes, confirmation that I wasn't under the influence of narcotic substances, etc) and then went through to the piercing room. I sat on the bed/chair while Colin washed his hands. He asked which I would like to have pierced first and I chose the rook as i expected it to hurt more - i was wrong!
Once the rook was done, I had a look in the mirror then this time lay down on the bed while Colin washed his hands again. We discussed placement for a few minutes and decided it would be placed so that the two balls on the bar made an equilateral triangle with the bottom ball on the barbell in my inverse navel piercing. I got up and looked in the mirror at the placement, at which point Colin asked if he could remark it as the right side seemed a little off, which i thought too. So, once I was remarked (approved this time!) i lay down and began breathing deeply, concentrating on the dull pain in my rook - anything to take my mind off the procedure about to take place!
Next, the clamps were brought out (freshly autoclaved) and put in place. This took a few minutes as the skin was hard to keep clamped, it kept slipping back down. The clamps had to be held pretty tight and were actually damn painful. By this time i was getting really scared, which doesn't usually happen during piercings to me and Colin was telling me not to worry.
Then came the piercing itself. Colin opened a single use cannula needle in front of me and I was told to breathe in deeply and on the exhale would be pierced...it must have been the longest inhale of my life! I wasn't prepared for how much it would hurt, although the clamps probably should have been some warning. When people say piercings don't hurt, that's never true! The pain was pretty intense for quite a long time and was only really close to unbearable for about a second as the needle was pushed around under the skin to align with the marked exit hole.
The needle was removed leaving the cannula tube in the piercing, which was then pushed back through followed by the surface bar, which Colin opened from a sterile packet - this hurt a bit and I felt quite a lot of tugging but it was fine in comparison to the piercing. I had also noticed that Colin changed gloves at numerous points during the procedure.
I got up and looked in the mirror - the pain was definitely worth it! It was perfectly placed, I loved it. Colin seemed very pleased with it and asked if he could take a picture for his portfolio and of course, I obliged. After all of the excitement, Colin dressed my piercing by folding some gauze and placing it between the two ends of the bar then covering it with a sterile dressing, which was to be left in place for 2 hours or until I got home, whichever was longest. He said that if I found it got badly caught in my sleep, i could dress it this way to prevent it.
He then talked me through aftercare but also gave me a leaflet as i would have forgotten anything he said because i was so excited at having finally got my surface piercing! I was advised to perform sea salt soaks (1/4 tsp pure sea salt in 200ml boiling water, left to cool) and wash with Provon or Antibac soaps, twice a day.
It's been a month now and the piercing hardly crusts but is still red around two holes. For the first couple of days it swelled quite a lot and was very bruised and crusted heavily. It was also VERY red around the exit hole but after that it began calming down. One additional point though - surface piercings bleed! If i caught it, for about the first week, it bled.
However, all is well now - it doesn't hurt and is only red around the holes. Next week I will go back to have the bar changed - it was done with a surface bar with long 'arms' to accomodate swelling so it now looks a bit stupid but the new bar will have shorter 'arms' and the balls will therefore lay flush to the skin.
Overall though, i definitely recommend surface piercings as long as you are prepared to look after them (mine has been quite high maintenance up until now), place them in sensible places and are prepared for them to hurt initially and not look their best during the initial healing stages!
Finally, I DEFINITELY recommend Exeter Body Piercing (www.exeterbodypiercing.co.uk) for any piercings if you live near that area as Colin is a great piercer and the senior piercer is with the APP.
Thanks for reading, and please feel free to contact me with any questions.