I have always admired surface piercings but never thought of myself as the surface piercing-type. I had long admired the sternum piercings, but my fiancé wasn't a fan, so I never pursued it.
At A Glance Author MightySpork Contact MightySpork@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Spyke Studio Yoni Tattoo Location Tarzana, CA I saw a nape piercing on Asia Argento, and knew I had to have one. Normally I over-think things far too much, but this I wanted NOW. I would have gone the next day, but instead decided to wait a few days and go with a friend who was coming in from out of town.
I went to my normal piercer, Spyke at Yoni Tattoo. A friend of mine has had a ton of tattoo work there, and I met Spyke at a party. He had done 2 tragus and a daith piercing for me. We originally hooked up because I wanted a corset piercing (this was years ago, before they became so mainstream). I ended up not going with the corset piercing when I realized that that meant that I couldn't wear my real steel-boned corsets any more. And I LOVE my corsets. Spyke is such a cool guy – he is now up in Portland, which means I need to find a new piercer.
Anyway, we arrive, and I am very nervous. As someone who only has her ears pierced (11 holes, not including 2 retired/repunched holes) this piercing seems "extreme" to me... or at least very odd. I am worried that it will reject (as I have heard is a 50/50 with surface piercings), worried that it will scar, that it will be something I can't live with, etc. The pain factor never entered my mind – after all, people into piercings obviously enjoy a little bit of pain. I ALMOST chickened out (I'm so glad I didn't). I just kept telling myself "if I REALLY hate it, I can take it out, no one will know... I can hide it under my hair if need be."
I tie my hair up and sit in the chair. Spyke preps my skin, makes the marks, you know the drill. He used clamps (which I found quite enjoyable), and bent the surface bar so that it resembles a huge staple. The needle enters my skin, out the other end... the pain was quite delightful. I breathed deeply – maybe gasped a little. My friend was worried, but that is simply how I enjoy my piercings – with deep breathing. The pain was considerably less than any of my cartilage piercings, and healed much better, too (more later).
My piercer was impressed that there was no blood, reminded me of care, and told me it would take about 9 months to heal up. Well, I have had it in for about 3-4 months now, and it has been my easiest piercing to heal – none of my ear piercings (even lobes) healed as easily as this. There was a little bleeding later that day, and a touch more a couple days later.
But after three weeks, all the swelling and tenderness went away. Another week went by, and almost all of the crusties went away, too. Since then, I have not had any trouble with scarring, swelling, bleeding, etc. I know that it is not technically healed, but it feels great. I am considering getting two more piercings on my nape, along with my much-lusted-for sternum piercing and a tiny little wrist piercing. Hopefully my success will spread to other areas of my body. These will wait until next year. I don't want any visible piercings for my wedding (there is always a chance that in 20 years I will hate my metal and I don't want to be reminded of it in wedding photos). Plus I try not to have more than one healing piercing at a time. I find that when one piercing starts to act up, the others swell and get angry also.
My nape piercing is fun to play with. I can slide it back and forth, twist it around, and I love feeling the bar just below my skin. That freaks most people out, especially my fiancé.
I love this piercing because it is kind of secret (keeping my hair down) or it can be public. No one knows unless I point it out. Even when I wear my hair up, not too many people notice it or realize it. I have gotten all sorts of responses, too. Some are disgusted (but in that fascinated way). One guy I know told me it was beautiful, then later asked if he could "play with my balls" (so I now refer to them as balls of steel). One guy said "Hey, did you know you have a chunk of steel in your neck?"
A nape piercing is definitely an easy and beautiful first surface piercing.