The elusive sternum
At A Glance Author Kaija Marie Starchild Contact crippled_psilocybe@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Nano Studio Private Studio Location Tacna, Peru
After much involved deliberation, I decided to have a piercing done by a professional. This Professional also happens to be one of my good friends, Nano, practicing independently, and through a number of small piercing shops in Tacna, Peru. He also pierces in Lima to my knowledge, and is very trustworthy and gentle. I chose this individual to be the first other person to pierce me, which is a great expansion from my history of self-modification. Never before had I had a piercing done by another person, but I felt that it was time to break my barriers and inhibitions.
I am not scared of the pain, rather, I relish it. Although, as many of you readers will know, self-inflicted pain is so very different from that of others giving you the pleasure of relaxing and absorbing it from an external force. I have a mortal fear of needles adn injections, though it may seem hard to believe. I have my lobes at 1", second holes at 2g, upper cartilage in both ears, clitoris, tongue web, nostril and a 0g septum, all of which have been self done and of which I am very proud. Previously I have had my tongue, lip, and navel done aswell, but there comes a time to retire piercings that do not mean a great deal to you. I greatly enjoyed this experience and I find that I have matured greatly in my outlook on the modified community and being truly a part of it now.
After my recent self-piercing of my clitoris, and my tongue's web, I felt that I was ready to apply something a bit different that I was used to and something with a bit more maintenance involved. I feel that if I was going to go ahead and do something outside the box, I was going to have to work for it, and work to keep it healthy. Previously I have had amazing luck with my piercings in that I have never had an infection or rejection, and all of my piercings have healed and set-in in record time. Surface piercing has always interested me because it has the least amount of cultural history in comparison to most modifications and because it actually involves implanting something somewhat permanent beneath the skin.
My partner Joshua and I went to Nano's house, to his home studio on the other side of town, and at that point I was almost having second thoughts, but on the other-hand was ridiculously determined. Joshua was to have his frenum and his tongue pierced, and I was to have my sternum done. Neither of us was nervous, but it was his first time having major piercings done and I felt his apprehension, which did not exactly calm me so.
The room was clean, but homely, with a television an stereo and very comfortable, so we both felt more at ease. He first pierced Joshua's tongue, after injecting an eighth of a milliliter of injectable lidocaine, which was over quickly and obviously did not hurt him in the slightest. He then proceeded to prepare for the frenum, when Joshua became nervous. He was determined to have the piercing done, but his nerves and such were taking the best of him. It took the better part of an hour to calm him enough to be ready. It was a quick procedure, and afterward he wondered aloud about how he had hyped himself into being so nervous.
I then began to speak to Nano about my piercing, and although I was not really having second thoughts, I became nervous. We agreed on more of a trade than a service. I was to pierce him first and then he I. I have plenty of experience piercing myself and other people and know exactly what I am doing. , but was slightly intimidated by his offering his body to me to pierce it as he is a piercer himself.
I prepared all of the necessaries and did a surface piercing on his wrist, on the above part, parallel to his ligaments running into his fingers. It was another quick procedure and my first experience surface piercing someone. It was clean and perfectly straight and I was proud of the work I had done. Afterwards I was shaking immensely, mostly from exhilaration but also because I hadn't realized how much physicality was involved. It was quite hard to push the jewellery into the catheter at 12g and force it back through the skin. I enjoyed piercing him very, very much and I tried to be as professional as possible, considering he is my friend and a certain informality exists between us.
It was then my turn, but we were out of surgical gloves, so we went on a half an hour walk to the pharmacy and back, which gave me plenty of time to be able to recoup and calm myself. We arrived back at the house and in the studio I stripped down to my skin and stood there waiting, while he prepared the paraphernalia. I was calm and still exhilarated from my previous experience. He proceeded to used the forceps to stretch my skin out, but because I had gained quite a bit of weight in the last year, my skin was not as stretchy as it was when I was thin (I happened to be a very fat little baby...)
The clamp hurt quite a bit more than the needle did, but the jewellery was a million times more painful that I had expected. Passing it through my skin was almost unbearable, much more intense than most things I have experienced. The jewellery got stuck and he applied an incredible amount of force to push it through. When he did there was a small pop and he breathed out; I felt an incredible rush as the jewellery was laid flat and he released tension. He then screwed the other ball on and wiped me up, as I was bleeding a bit, which was also unusual for me as I never bleed from such small traumatizations.
It took me several minutes to sit up, because my mind was racing and the piercing was bleeding and Joshua was taking pictures of me naked, lying down and Nano was packaging everything back up. I completely unable to sleep on my stomach that night, which I am accustomed to doing, so I did not have a very good sleep or wake up very cheerfully. But I did wake up with a smile on my face when I saw myself in the mirror, first thing when I did awake. It is beautiful, ever so slightly crooked, but wonderful and original. I love the way that it looks on my body and I believe that it suits me well. All my piercings make me feel very good about myself and all enable me to carry myself better and much more confidently.
It was a difficult piercing to have applied, but it was worth the entire struggle that I went through, and I pride myself in that I was able to overcome this fear of having others pierce me and my fear of needles. It is a beautiful and slightly unusual piercing for me, and I keep it very safely guarded in my bosom, close to my heart.