Experiment: Failed.
At A Glance Author San Contact San@bme.anon IAM BlueStar When Six months ago Artist Sean Studio Artistic Impressions Location Niagara Falls, ON Canada I wanted a surface piercing done and Sean suggested doing it with tygon. So, I picked up some tygon and grabbed some spare stainless steel beads I had in my jewellery collection and tried to decide on a piercing to do. I wanted to do a surface project on my pubis but I didn't want to do four experimental piercings at once.
What to do now?
I went in and saw Sean. He heated the tygon up and bent it into a surface bar shape. Then we decided what to do with it. I had my friend Cassie with me and she was throwing suggestions around as well. I suggested doing a vertical madison but it wouldn't be the best idea, judged by just pinching my skin. There wasn't enough skin there and it would be irritated when I moved my neck.
Ideas?!
We went through a whole list of ideas. Horizontal navel, normal madison, wrist. I finally decided on a cleavage (sternum) surface piercing. I had it done twice before. Once it was done with a 1 1/4? surface bar with 45 degree angles with a very small arms. It lasted over a year before it began to get thin. So, I had it redone about six months later with a 1/2? surface bar with slightly bigger arms, but on 90 degree angles. The scar tissue helped it stay in and I also had that for over a year.
I took off my shirt and Sean marked me above my bra. Unfortunately, my bra kept hitting it during healing, the same with the first attempt. Bra's are such a pain in the ass. Everything was marked, gloves changed, everything disinfected and sterile, so it was piercing time.
Deep breath in.. and out.
It was a ?two breath? piercing. It stung a bit but it didn't hurt very much at all. I felt it come through the bottom with a bit of a pop. The jewellery follow through was easy as it was done with a 12 gauge needle and 14 gauge jewellery. It bled a bit, Sean cleaned it up and we figured we'd wait and see what happened. It didn't bleed for very long and the procedure went very well. No clamps, just grabbing my skin and freehanding it. It looked really good when it was finished and I hoped it would work out.
It caught on my bra, a lot. I couldn't wear certain bra's, or I'd have to adjust them. I had noticed that with the first time it was done, that a lot of bra's irritated it. I wore sports bra's to bed and it seemed to help, but there still was irritation. This is in no way Sean's fault, he marked me wearing a bra that was pretty much the same as any other. I didn't anticipate this though so I never thought to have it marked higher. It was much higher than the first attempt done years ago, however.
I rinsed it with salt water a couple of times a day and pretty much left it alone. It had its good days, and its bad days. Some days it looked fantastic, other times it looked terrible. The scar tissue right below the top bead kept flaring up (had that problem with the second attempt) and it looked bad. Other times, it looked healed, when it most definitely wasn't.
I use lavender a lot when I'm healing a piercing. I would put a drop into my cup of salt water. This seemed to help, for me. I'm also a strict vegetarian and I suppliment vitamin b-12. Some vitamins can be an asset in healing, especially if you have a certain diet to stick to.
After a couple of months I noticed it getting shorter, so I cut the tygon and rethreaded it, but I wasn't happy with it. I took it out and noticed the rejection lines that were hidden by the top bead. I put the 1/2? surface bar in and left it for a couple days, but it was pretty much certain.
I took it out.
It scarred pretty badly this time. I plan on getting transdermals to make it look like its pierced. I really did like that piercing a lot and it will be missed. On another note, I would have lost it anyways as I have to have my wisdom teeth removed soon.
If you get a surface piercing, be aware of the risks, like rejection and catching it on things. I want to try the punch and taper method with flat disks. Surface piercings sometimes never truly heal. Some professional's say its not healed until you've had it for three years with no recent problems. Sometimes a surface piercing will appear healed, and then flare up. This is why you should pay special attention to them and use proper jewellery.
Tygon may work for some, but it didn't work for me. This is just how I heal. Sean did a good job piercing it and perhaps I'll attempt it again with a proper surface bar and see what happens.