At A Glance
Author	olivia
Contact	olivia@bme.anon
When	A week ago
Artist	TJ
Studio	Red's Tattoo
Location	Rhode Island

I have wanted surface bars on the tops of my wrists for a good while now and finally I saved up some money and got it done. I had researched the piercing before I got it, but not to the extent that I should have. I looked into the chance of rejection and other people's experiences with this type of pierce but what I didn't realize was that there are specific types of surface bar that should be used.

When I went in for my surface bars, the guy I had previously used was on vacation and this other piercer was in. I had drove an hour from Boston, he seemed really excited to do this pierce, and told me they were his favorite kind to do so being the impulsive (and trusting) person I am, I decided to just go with it. We made sure that there was enough skin to pierce with so that it wouldn't reject or tear out with a skin test. I have really small wrists and not a lot of extra skin so the piercer decided that the only place that had enough skin was closer to the tops of my palms instead of further back up my wrists. He marked my skin and made sure they looked straight from different angles. He seemed to be taking precaution as best as possible which is why I allowed him to do the pierce. He tried to use clamps but there wasn't even enough skin to get a good hold on my skin without scratching so we decided it would be better to just freehand it. So he finished piercing the first one, and there was no pain whatsoever. It did start to get swollen immediately after he pierced it. The other wrist was no pain either only that one never swelled at all. It would have been a flawless pierce except for the fact that he used a straight barbell that he had curved to "fit my wrist" (I guess?) instead of the surface bars or tygon I had seen on other people. He told me he would replace the bars with tygon in a month or so, and I figured that was good enough because he was a piercer and he knows best. Big mistake – I went home and started reading from multiple sources (one being BME) that the one thing to never use in a pierce, especially something with as much movement as a wrist, is a curved barbell.

Now a week later the bars on my right wrist are sticking out so far that they're catching on everything which, believe me, is as painful as anything. I even called another shop and they confirmed with me that I should just take them out and get them redone the right way. Unfortunately, I think they're beginning to get infected, or just incredibly irritated from catching on everything, which means removal. I'm so bummed because I've been looking forward to this for a while and I love the way they look.

A lesson from my mistakes: I know everyone says it but if you're going to get something...anything (especially something not so common) pierced, KNOW about the pierce before you go. I can't stress this enough. Don't take the piercers knowledge for granted and if s/he seems inexperienced, forget it! Ask to see a portfolio. I know this sounds redundant but I have a fair share of other pierces and I've always been responsible and educated about them and I've never had a problem until this one. I slipped up because I was so excited to finally get this one done. You really can never hear it enough to be educated about what you're getting pierced. You need to know more than anyone what's being done because it's your body that's being modified! Also, make sure the piercer knows what they're doing. Now I'm out a good deal of money with messed up piercings that are going to have to be redone. Don't be stupid, be educated!

Now a positive: It wasn't a completely wasted experience however, even though I know that they were done poorly I still get a lot of comments on them. What I've noticed is that not many people has been negative towards them. I have yet to get a "That's gross!" or "Eww", most people who made comment on them has been interested – I get asked if they hurt, what made me want to get this particular place done, what else I have done. It's nice to see that people are becoming more open to body modification and are learning to accept people who choose to have them. I can tell though that some people can't grasp the idea of why someone would want to do this, but as long as they aren't going to be negative about my choices, it's their opinion and I won't be negative about them

Thanks for your time,

Olivia