At A Glance
Author	REFUSE becky
Contact	refuse.becky@gmail.com
When	A month ago
Artist	Sarge
Studio	Metal Fatigue
Location	Bournemouth, Southern England.

On the day of my 16th birthday I decided I'd celebrate the end of exams by getting a piercing, without parental consent, one of the joys of being 16 in the UK. Firstly, I decided I wanted my venoms. I had plenty of plans of what piercings I'd want, but I put the idea up to my mum. Although I didn't need her consent, I'd rather stay in my parents good books since I have a good relationship with them. She shot the idea down, and said surely I should be happy with piercings at the moment since I had only had my nose done two months before. Eventually, she said yes to another piercing, but only if she liked it. Without fail, I showed her a picture of a surface piercing, below my navel. She agreed, thinking it looked 'alright' and I knew the next day I'd go get it, first thing.

I forgot my passport, my only form of I.D., to start with, so my Dad had to rush up to the bus stop. My friend had also decided she'd get her tragus done but thought it would be better to watch me have something done first, nice of her. Without even taking any other piercing shop into consideration, I knew I'd have it done at Metal Fatigue in Bournemouth, as I knew it had a huge reputation and had got my previous two piercings there.

The adrenalin had kicked in on the walk up to Metal Fatigue and I all of a sudden decided it was a bad idea. We sat in the park almost opposite Metal Fatigue as my nerves were getting the better of me; I wasn't afraid of the pain, I just got hit with a huge surge of adrenalin.

Realising that the longer I put it off, the less likely it was that I'd get it done. So we climbed the three flights of stairs to the top, which for someone as unfit as me is horrible, and spoke about how it would be pierced, costing, what it would be pierced with and filling in the forms. It cost me £40, but I was willing to pay that amount for a well-done surface piercing, with a proper shaped bar and a placement I was happy with.

I've always felt comfortable in Metal Fatigue, and enjoyed talking to a girl, who I think was doing an apprentice, about her body mods and her shared fetish with me about cherries. The marking up took longer than a normal piercing, but this made me feel so much better as I knew the placement would be perfect. Metal Fatigue is well known for high standards and hygiene so I really felt comfortable, especially that this was my first surface piercing.

The piercing was different to how I would thought. After my nose, I was expecting a pinching pain, but the pain was a lot different, there was definitely a lot of pressure (as the bar was 20mm long) and more of an intense sore pain, as opposed to the pinch felt with other piercings. It hurt, but not as intense as I thought. A pain that was really bearable given the science of the piercing. The piercing was done in two halves; the needle going in and across, and then across and out. I could barely feel the bar being placed in, and only the smallest amount of blood from the exit wound built up around the ball. However, as the service is superb, I was given a bandage over the piercing in case any bleeding would happen.

Surface piercing a minute after being pierced.




18/06/05.


I knew about aftercare of piercings, but it was still gone over. As the was the offer of after care service, which adds to the reputation of Metal Fatigue. I left with a huge adrenalin rush, wanting to show the world my piercing, with only a dull ache.

The aftercare was far more tricky compared to any other piercing. Because it was pierced with a bar, there is no way to move the bar to remove discharge. This can build up, causing the piercing to swell, and as crust builds up around the balls, this can be itchy. Knocking the piercing, leaning on it etc. proved to be sore, but that didn't bother me as it can only be expected. I have to say, for two weeks it wasn't the prettiest piercing, due to swelling, but I knew this would all calm down and leave me with a stunning piercing. I took zinc, just to help, and with the heat and the swelling, I froze the salt water, and put in on my belly in a sort of slush-puppy form which not only was refreshing, but it allowed any melted salt water to go into the piercing, as well as cleaning it twice a day with a home made saline solution.

Almost three weeks on, I'm so happy with the piercing; I'm still careful as I'm paranoid of rejection, but it's looking beautiful and I don't have any trouble with it. I still clean it and take zinc, just to be careful, but it's looking perfect. I'd definitely recommend the piercing to anyone, despite aftercare problems, and I would definitely recommend Metal Fatigue for any piercing. I know it has a good enough reputation as it is, but out of any piercing studio in the South of England I've come across, I'd say it was the best.

Piercing almost three weeks on.




06/07/05.