I've only got two piercings. My eyebrow, and now my nape. Why my nape? I have no idea. I've always admired them. They look incredible. I've heard horror stories about rejection and infection. I'm a healthy boy. I take care of myself. I think I can cope. Here's how it happened...
At A Glance Author Colin Middleton Contact colingmiddleton@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Sondra Musa Studio The Arthouse Inc. Location Calgary, AB I work nights. My shift is 11pm - 7 am. It's really not that bad, I'm up early so I can go out for breakfast, I have my afternoon and evening free if I need them. I'm pretty used to it now. It's a good shift, but only if you get a decent sleep every few days. The few days before my piercing... I hardly slept at all. Far too excited. And unfortunately we were doing in at 12:00. I have to get up at 10:30 to make it there in time... Not good. I could sleep through a marching band...
It's a good thing Genevieve called me; otherwise I would have slept through the entire day. I had already smashed the snooze button a few times. I woke up at 11:00 and called Amanda. After a quick shower, we headed out. We arrived at Lido for lunch at around 12:15 (don't go there for Saturday lunch... it's busy and the service is under par when it's busy... but this isn't a restaurant review). I was really nervous and a little anxious. Genevieve was running late, so Amanda and I ate. Grilled Cheese, num num num.
We headed out shortly after Genevieve showed up. Went upstairs to the Arthouse and checked in. Sondra seemed really nice. She was very accommodating and knowledgeable. We bummed around for a few minutes, checking out various portfolios. Sondra handed me the forms, I filled 'em out. I accidentally ticked off "No" to consuming alcohol in the past 24 hours (I had a beer with a friend the night before... but it was only one, I figured it was all good.) When I was finished, she led us back into the studio. We were the only people in the shop. Us three (Gen, Amanda and myself), Sondra and one of the tattoo artists (his name escapes me right now).
She had already prepped the jewellery for me (I had called ahead). I took off my shirt and stood there covering my nippy nips. It's not a FREE show, gosh!
I stood there while she cleaned and marked it (your body twists a little when you sit/lay down ie. raised shoulders, etc so she marked it standing so it wouldn't be crooked) and then I checked it in the mirror. It was perfect. I watched her prep a few more things and chatted a bit.
She asked me to lay down on my stomach, head hanging over the end of the table. It's a little hard to breathe in that position, the blood is all rushing to your head. I had to get comfortable by moving up a bit. Nice floor. One, two, three deep breaths and she was in. A 12-gauge needle was thrust into my neck, it was nowhere near as bad as I had expected. Being a very fleshy part of the body, it took much longer than I had expected from her explanation. She had to work the needle through my nape, feeling her way as she went. It took her a minute or so (It seemed like 5, but I do tend to exaggerate) to work it through to the other side. One more deep breath and she was out.
An interesting note is that halfway through the piercing the needle acted like a spout and we had a little fountain going on. It wasn't a lot of blood (she actually commented that it was less than most), but it sounds like a pretty cool thing. I wish I could have seen more than just blood dripping past my head. Well, maybe not, I'm surprised I even did this, as needles scare the crap out of me, and I can't bring myself to watch an episode of ER due to the massive amounts of blood. But I'm tough, right? You guys?
Once she was out the other side, she let my lay there for a minute while the blood clotted. After a minute or two she placed the 14g bar into the hole. She said that she used a bigger gauge to pierce, as it would be quicker and easier to throw the jewellery in and much less painful for me. I agree. I hardly noticed the jewellery going in. Before I knew it she was done!
I stood up, talked for about 5 minutes and laid down again. REALLY light headed. A little nauseous too. I ate a candy (sugar) and sat up. Talked with my buddies and talked aftercare with Sondra. Salt soak, Saline, Bronner's Lavender, don't cover it, Vit. E if it's dry, anything goes wrong come in right away, etc. I checked out my new piercing in the mirror and was impressed. It's damn nice. She took a picture for her portfolio and told me to get dressed.
Putting my shirt on was an ordeal. I wasn't sure about how far the jewellery stuck out so I was fidgeting a bit. Stretched the neck out on my t-shirt as to not get it caught. I'm terrified of getting is hooked on something. But it'll only take one or two of those before I learn.
After paying and leaving a decent tip I headed off to the pharmacy to pick up some gauze. You try salt soaking your neck with a cup!
I figure I'll give this a bit to heal before heading in for my very first tattoo!