I could finally get the piercing I wanted a few days after my eighteenth birthday. My parents never would let me get any piercings, so I was incredibly excited. At first I chose a nape, but decided that I loved the way a Madison looked even more. So, I conned a ride over to the laughing gremlin, but they said the bar would have to be bent by hand. I had work in a few hours and did not have time to wait. It would be a few days before I had another chance to get it done. I didn't want to wait the few days, so I went to another piercing shop, Mos eisleys.
At A Glance Author Sarah Contact Sarah@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Aric Studio Mos Eisleys Location Grand Rapids, MI At mos eisleys I was greeted right away by Aric, and said I wanted a Madison. He asked what other piercings I have, and I said none. Aric told me it would be a better idea not to start off with a Madison. He explained that aftercare was around nine months, and it was a very uncomfortable area to get pierced. I still wanted it done, and he agreed to do it. So, I paid seventy dollars and he went to the back to start setting up. It took about twenty minutes to setup, and then I went back. Everything was still in its package, and the room was very clean looking. He asked me if I wanted a vertical or horizontal, and I wanted a horizontal. While he was marking me up, he told me that he did not have a chance to do very many Madison's and he liked doing them. He erased and marked the dots a few times to get the measurements perfect. Then he let me see how it looked, and said I could move it up half an inch or down half an inch. I liked the placement, but wanted it to be longer horizontally. Aric told me it could not be any longer because of my clavicles. The balls would be on the outside of the dots though, so it would be longer than the dots looked. I decided to go ahead and still get it done, so I lay down and prepared myself.
He tried to clamp the skin, but there wasn't enough so he had to do a skin massaging technique. After about a minute of that, the skin loosened up enough to clamp it. This was the most painful part, and my skin was numb by the time the needle went through. So, it wasn't bad at all. There was just a sharp sensation and it was over. He cleaned up the blood, and off I went. My Madison ended up looking perfect; Aric is a great piercer.
Aftercare was sea salt soaks twice a day. I used little Dixie cups and very hot water. It was a little hard to breathe after I got it pierced for the first day or so, but I adapted quickly. I worked two hours after it was done, and I was fine. The only bad things about Madison's are they take so long to heal, so they stay red for quite a while. Everyone, even people I didn't know..would come up to me and tell me it was infected. It got incredibly aggravating trying to explain to everyone and their mommas that it just takes a long time to heal. Also, it takes a while to get used to ignorant comments like, "That be wrong" or "Ewww." At least it made life a little more entertaining for me at work.
The Removal
About eight months after getting it pierced, my Madison began to reject. I knew this would probably happen, because of the seventy percent rejection rate. I was still holding onto it for far too long though. I waited so long that I could see the bar through my skin. Also, it kept scabbing and the skin grew thinner and thinner until there was a hole in the middle of the skin. So, I finally gave up and took it out. Don't wait that long to take it out, now I have a huge scar, not just two little dot scars. I guess it is fun to make up stories about tracheotomies and suicide attempts to cover up for the scar.
Even though I have a huge scar on my neck, I still don't regret my Madison. The seven months in which I had it were great, and led to many more piercings-four navel piercings, two on each nipple, a smiley, conch, and two industrials. The Madison was my favorite out of all these piercings, and I can't wait to get a vertical Madison ladder going down into a cleavage piercing. So, don't let the rejection rate scare you off. Madison's are worth it even if you do have to take it out.