A good friend of mine is my local (and best) piecer around. She hasn't been piecing for very long and I'm always happy for her to try out different things on me.
At A Glance Author Krissy Contact Krissy@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Emy Studio Seven Sins Location Horley, Surrey I now have 13 in total but were mostly kept around the face and ears, however this time I felt like something different. I didn't make a plan what I wanted as when ever I go in to visit her I know what I want a come back with something completely different, I just knew a wanted something piecer. I'm not entirely sure how we decided on a surface piecing but it was different from what I have had before and I liked the idea of a chest piecing.
For some reason I was a little more nervous not my other piercings (I do have a thing with it being so close to the heart. Its an irrational fear which is totally unjustified as I'm just being silly but when a needle is coming at you my brain just a bit like that!)
She marked it all out, cleaned etc the area. I have to say i was slightly surprised how flexible it is, as it is a plastic wire you can choose the length you want, and of choice the position and direction. I choose to have a vertical bar, which is a couple of centimetres long.
Now for the actual piecing, I could not see as I was lying down, but I have to see it was a lot less then I was thinking it was going to be, as in it really did not hurt. Truthfully I have quite a low pain level so I may not be the best judge of that. But for example you can feel the cartilage in the ear when it is being done. This is more like a lip piecing, as in you feel the clamp more then you feel the needle.
The most tricky part of the whole process is that when the bar is in you then have to cut it to the correct length, tread it and screw the ball on which is quite tricky and can take time.
After the piecing is done it is sore for a bit but has a fast healing time if you look after in well. The first night of having it done I slept on my back but by the second I excepted it to still be sore but I a fell asleep on my back and woke up laying on my front and it didn't hurt.
I do have a say it has been made red on a couple occasions by my work shirt seems to sit in a place that it can catch it, but most of the time its fine. Using rock salt and water or antiseptic cream easily cleared up any redness. I always wondered why it was rock salt and not just normal table salt until it was explained that table salt has a lot more chemicals but in to it and can quite badly dry out the skin so rock salt has the cleaning you need with the problems, it is just harder to dissolve.
As the piecing may swell a little the bar is cut longer then it needs to be, and so to make it easier when screwing the end on, now that it has healed I have to go back and get it cut down and then it will all be finished.
As it is a surface piecing, so only under the first layer of skin it will grow out, the problem is knowing how only it will take, some may start growing out after a couple of months and some will take a lot longer to grow out. Mostly it depends on the person and there skin. Of course I want mine to stay in as long as possible, however when it does I will either leave it for a while and get it re-pieced or either get something else like it done so I wouldn't have to piece through scar tissue.
The one thing people are going to have to know before they get a piecing like this is that they are going to have to be able to cope with the scar that it will leave when it grows out. I am personally fine with having a mark left by it as it will just blend in with the other piecing marks but it is such a place that when you are older in the marks will still be noticeable. But then again when you are old and grey you really should not have that much flesh on show!
The best bit can be people's faces when they notice it, it is mostly a mix of ouch and curiosity with a touch of staring. I have found that there is a mixed opinion about this sort of piecing as many people love it and think in looks good however some are unnerved by it and it weird. My friend liked it so much that she would love to get one but I know people who plainly don't like them. if your parents unsure of piercings its best to let it heal before you let them see it. I have found that most people can cope with all kinds of piercings as long as they do not look red, sore and new.
I'm sorry but I cannot remember the price of a surface piecing but I know its not too bad and well worth it.