I always thought that piercings looked great, but never thought my body would accept them, because of a bad experience with a standard ear piercing as a child which went incredibly septic... yuck, and that I wouldn't be able to handle the pain. Then I discovered surface piercings.
At A Glance Author Heather Contact Heather@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Heather Studio Beorc Location Grimsby I had flirted with the idea of having my left wrist pierced for over a year. I had even gone to get it done several times and chickened out as I walked up the stairs to the piercing room.
6 months ago, I finally worked up the nerve to have it done. So I met some friends, Katie, Jennie, Nat and Jenna in the town centre and walked to the piercers, Beorc (situated right near the bus station). I went in and asked if it was possible to have my left wrist pierced. I knew the man behind the counter, James, and he tried to persuade me not to have it done. He does this a lot, because he's a misery guts. Actually, he just does it because he cares. I was not to be diverted however, and paid.
So, I went up the stairs with Heather, the piercer, and she sprayed the anaesthetic on. I knew she was good, because she had done the same piercing on my friend a while before I got mine done. I had to wait for 20 minutes, so I wasted my time walking around the town centre with my friends and psyching myself up for the experience. Katie and Jennie went to Pizza Hut, because they were convinced I wouldn't go through with it, but Nat and Jenna had faith in me.
Flash forward 20 minutes and again, I was in the piercing room. Heather helped to really calm me down and was meticulous in her preparation. She clamped my skin, that was the only painful part and even that was very tolerable because I had my Jennas hand to squeeze. Then she sprayed on something that made my wrist go incredibly cold and pushed the needle through. It was easy. No pain, but I could feel it. It felt like when you are sewing and you try to push a needle through cloth too thick for it, so it jams and then gives way. She fed the bar through and twisted the lovely clear balls I had chosen on the end.
All of the while I had my eyes closed so, although I wish I could describe what it looked like, I don't know. UNfortunately, I have done this in every piercing since too. I should really work on keeping them open.
When the piercing was cleaned up (there actually wasn't too much blood), I looked down and fell in love. It was the most beautiful piercing I had ever seen. It was a shame I had to spoil the moment by almost fainting. I'm so gay. I made the mistake of going to a gig and a nightclub that night, before going home. Don't do this. It isn't a good idea when you get banged about.
Aftercare was easy. I just cleaned it with Savlon spray three/four times a day. It barely even swelled up. The only setback I had was one of the balls coming off when I was sleeping. I couldn't find it again, so I had to send my mum back to Beorc to get a new ball whilst I re-pierced the other side of my wrist with the bar. That hurt. A lot.
I really recommend this piercing to anyone considering a first surface piercing. There was no pain, aftercare is easy and it's quite unusual. It's a good talking point too. Loads of people have asked about it, "how long have you had it done? Did it hurt?". Infact, since having it done, I have had 6 more surface piercings, 2 more on my left wrist (I have the balls as traffic lights; red, orange, green), one on my right wrist, my lower back and two diagonal ones on my tummy (parallel to my hips). The only one I can really say that hurt was my back, because it was enormous! It also gave me sleep problems, so I had to remove it, but intend to get it done again in the Summer. Next up is my septum.
I would also recommend anyone in the Grimsby area (we are talking the UK here, not Canada – just stress that) to get pierced in Beorc. Heather is extremely able, cheery and all in all a pleasure to speak to. The other piercer and the owner of the shop, Nicki, is similarly pleasant, although Heather has pierced me more often. Even though James is a grumpy guts, he gives an honest opinion as to what he thinks will look good and will work. The shop as a whole actually cares about it's customers, not just about doing as many piercings as possible to make a higher profit. Bravo to them.