It all started on my 17th birthday, I'd been planning to get a surface piercing for months now. So when I finally psyched myself up (and had the money of course), I set off to Hype on my birthday having decided to get one surface piercing just above each of my hips.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A month ago Artist gemma Studio hype Location newcastle uk Inside Hype, the tattooists were all there, having a laugh and stuff. They seem to like making a lot of jokes, I dunno if this is to put you at ease or not. But they seemed professional enough. So I asked for two surface piercings and they handed me a form to fill out.
After a bit of waiting, Gemma, the piercer, came upstairs, read my form and smiled. Then I had to wait a bit longer whilst someone had their nipple pierced. Eventually it was my turn and I wasn't that nervous, more excited as I'd been waiting for so long.
I watched her clean the chair and benches and get some sealed packets out, which contained the needles, clamp etc. At least she used un-used tools. She got me to stand up so she could clean each of my hips and mark the exit and entry holes of the needle. She cleaned me with some sorta Avon stuff, which I dunno if that's ok to use or not. Then when I was happy with the positioning, I lay back on the chair. Gemma told me that if she used a clamp she wouldn't be able to get the needles straight enough so she pierced me free hand.
When I nodded that I was ready, she told me to take a deep breath and slowly breathe out, during that process she pushed the needle through. It almost felt as if the inside of my skin was tearing but there wasn't much pain. Threading the bar through was much more uncomfortable as she did it very slowly. She made sure I was okay and not light headed before she pierced the other side, which I think was a good thing to do. I stood up and changed positions and she did the piercing just the same, except she didn't tell me to breathe in or out, so I got quite a shock when the needle went through. Again threading the bar through was quite uncomfortable.
My new piercings looked really nice at first, but the next day both sides of my hips were covered in ugly bruises and the skin around the holes was red, scabby and painful. I know that the healing process can sometimes be like this, but it looked/felt so painful. I decided to go to my local piercing/tattooists, Sunderland Body Art.
I showed the piercer, Charlie my hips and he was amazed at how badly pierced they were. My new piercings had to be taken out. So I followed him up to the room and got them removed. Not only were they poorly pierced, but she'd used the wrong bars and they were pierced too deep. I wasn't happy.
A week later I went back to Hype, as Charlie had had a talk with Gemma, and I could receive free piercings. This time the piercing was quick, not as painful and had different bars in. So I went back to show Charlie and she had done it wrong again. She had pierced me too shallow so you could almost see the silver colour of the bar, and she exited the skin too quick, so the actual bar was sticking out quite a bit. I removed them again.
I went back to Hype and made a complaint and asked for my money back. The tattooist was fine about this and gave me my money no problem but I still wasn't happy as I now had four scars on each side of my hips.
Then I waited a few weeks for my skin there to fully heal up and get over the irritation it had gone through. Then I went back to Sunderland Body art. And got them re-pierced.
Again I went up into the piercing room, which is extremely hygienic and clean, and he pulled on new gloves and got out the new, sealed piercing tools and the jewellery which had just been autoclaved. He cleaned me up and spent a while marking them so they would be in a perfect position which I appreciated. We decided on just between the four scars.
After he made sure I was ready, I lay down on the comfy chair, and he pulled my skin a bit, as he thought it would actually be best to not use a clamp, told me to take a deep breath and pushed the needle through. This time it wasn't as painful, the threading of the bar was no problem at all and he was quick and gentle. I lay back for a minute so I didn't feel light headed as I stood up to change positions. He did the same on this side also. One side was bleeding a bit but I knew this could of happened since it was near scar tissue.
I looked in the mirror whilst he put all the used tools in the bin. They were perfect! One may have been bleeding but they were lying perfectly and looked amazing. He gave me some tissue to make sure I didn't get blood on my top but it stopped soon after. I thanked him and paid. Then left.
A week later and they're healing wonderfully. No signs of rejection and the bruising has almost gone. They actually look amazing already. My new piercings are a bit tender but nothing I can't deal with.
Although Gemma was a lovely girl and made me feel extremely at ease, she mustn't have been trained correctly. Charlie was friendly, put me at ease, pierced me perfectly, the room was hygienic and the other staff were also friendly. Always check to see if someone has a license before you get pierced off them or you will probably experience a bad piercing. If you live in the Sunderland/Newcastle area, I highly recommend going to Sunderland Body Art, as Charlie has a world record in body piercing haha. Any questions, just ask :]