For some reason or another I had never wanted to get anything pierced. I wasn't afraid of the pain I just didn't really like the way they looked. But while I was in Hawaii visiting my dad I went with my sister to get her hair cut. The girl that was scheduling hair appointments was extremely cute and she had two wrist bars. I thought that those were the best looking piercings I had ever seen. I really wanted to have something like that.
At A Glance Author Will Contact Will@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Jeff Studio Nothing Sacred Location Stockton, Ca While I really liked how they looked I noticed that they were a little red around where each bar went into(or out of) the skin. This made me kind of reluctant, my dad is also an Episcopal priest, so I decided to go on the internet and do a little bit of research first. I stumbled upon BME after doing a google search of surface piercings. I read the entire section on why surface piercings sometimes fail and how to prevent them from failing. I used to think that piercings did not need any after care at all and the only way to mess one up is by trying to do it yourself.
So, after I left Hawaii and went to stay with my mom for a week before I had to go back to school, I decided to just go for it. I was afraid to ask my mom if I could get it done, but I though it would be better to just tell her instead of her just seeing it and freaking out.( I am eighteen, but I enjoy the checks my mom sends every month for food, so I decided to tell her.) She told me that the only thing she worries about is how safe and sterile the procedure is. I told her I found a website(BME) that told me everything I need to look for in a good piercer and that seemed to put her at ease.
I searched the house for a phone book and started calling all the different shops. It turns out that half the shops in my town had their phones disconnected, so I was left with two places. Each of these places had big color ads boasting how their sterilization is certified by some health committee or something. One place was in walking distance from my house so I decided to call them first. The conversation went a little like this:
"Yeah this is (shops name omitted to protect the not so innocent)"
"Yeah, I was interested in a lower-arm piercing, I was wondering about how much that would cost me."
"Yeah about sixty bucks, but I wouldn't recommend you getting one."
"Uh...why?"
"Well this one dude got one here and it ripped out, plus they reject all the time."
"Oh, ok"
"I mean, we will do it for you, but its expensive and the longest it will last is like three months."
"Uh, thanks, bye"
That didn't go well; I decided to call another place(Nothing Sacred). When I called they had me wait a minute so I could talk to the head piercer. This conversation went a lot better, and they were only going to charge me 40 bucks. I called my friend and asked her if she could give me a ride the next day.
Apparently my mom wanted to do a little research of her own so she went to the first shop I called. She went in and told the guy about the piercing I wanted and he said something along the lines of "Oh did he call in, cause I told him that the piercing is not worth it at all because it will get infected and reject." I thought that was it, my mom is going to believe this idiot and she will be pissed if I go through with it. But I was able to convince her that with proper jewelry and proper after care it would not get infected and would last a long time. BME saved my piercing.
The next day I went to the bank and got out like 80 bucks because I wasn't sure if the piercing was 40 and I would have to pay extra for the jewelry or what. So I went into Nothing Sacred and it was a very clean shop; I was impressed. I told the guy at the counter what I wanted and he said he had time to do it right then. I asked him what kind of jewelry they use because I read that a straight barbell is almost certain to reject. He told me that they use a barbell, but he bends it to the specific dimensions of where the piercing will be. He looked at my arm for a little bit, made some measurements and some marks then gave me the paperwork to fill out.
My friend came to watch and apparently a lot of the guys at the shop had never seen this piercing and wanted to see, I told them it was fine. After bending the barbell he took me to the piercing area. He got out stuff to clean my skin, a new needle, and something to lubricate the barbell. He made sure I wasn't allergic to anything and that I was ready. He made two dots and asked if I thought they were alright. I thought they looked great and he clamped my skin. The needle went through and it felt just like a shot. Then the jewelry went in and I could feel it moving beneath my skin; I loved the feeling.
He went through the aftercare, saline and dial soap. He gave me a card with all of the instructions for aftercare and the number of the shop in case I had any questions. He said it was 30 bucks, I also bought saline and dial soap from the shop so that was another 5 and I gave him a 5 dollar tip.
It has been a little over a month now and I have been back to the shop twice for them to check on it and order new jewelry. Soon the jewelry will come in and I will get a barbell that doesn't stick above my skin so far. After care is very simple, but one thing I do suggest for anyone getting this piercing: squeeze the piercing so that you can get all the puss out. It just gets trapped in their if you don't squeeze it some.
My first experience with piercing was wonderful. I love my wrist piercing; how it feels, how it looks, the questions people ask. It also lead me to look at BME more and more piercings. I got a transverse lobe and an anti-eyebrow shortly after my wrist piercing. This is only the beginning, there are a lot more piercings I want and eventually I want to get some tattoos.