re I am, off at college...what's the first thing I do? Find the nearest piercing studio. All throughout high school, I had been intrigued with the thought of piercing. I lived in a small town, where basically anything other than a hole or two in your ears was unheard of. My parents even gave me an ultimatum: "Get pierced, (even if it was a second hole in my lobes) and you're on your own in paying for college." Wonderful. However, I did finally get the answer of "When you're 18, it's your life, I guess." (Although it wasn't really addressed to piercing, but hey...:) So, I waited. I went to college in a small city in NY state, where I didn't really know anyone. I made friends fairly quickly, seeing as how I was a music major and the department basically is together all the time. On several occasions, I had accompanied friends down to the local piercing studio, more for moral support than anything. I would sit there, hold their hand while the got something like another lobe piercing or cartilege, and look at all the pictures around the studio. The place is very clean, and the owner, Lollipop, is very friendly, as well as very professional. (All my piercings have healed quickly and without any problems!) Everything she uses has been autoclaved, and nothing is reused.
Anyway...were it not for the fact that I had very little money (I'm a music major, like I said...I get used to it..hehehe) I would have done it then and there. There was only one other thing that kept me back. I abhor needles. Or at least I though I did. All throughout my childhood I spent time in the hospital for various things, most often, chronic pneumonia...which meant having an I.V. stuck in two different places to keep the swelling of my bronchial tubes down. Yum. I had hated needles all throughout my life. So, one day...I was walking downtown with a friend, who was going to get a change of jewelry. I walked in, and decided that (since I had just recieved a paycheck) I wanted to get pierced. Right now. The whole needle situation kind of sat in the back of my mind like a lump, but I didn't dwell on it.
So... I decided on getting my left eyebrow pierced with a 14ga SS ring. What better place to be pierced when you hate needles than less than an inch from your eye. (Hmm, there was logic in that somewhere, although at the moment, I can't see where is.) I wasn't as nervous as I had thought, but when I sat down in the chair, and she marked me carefully with two dots for me to inspect, I felt my stomach do a little flip-flop. Hmm. Regrets anyone? Actually, no. I closed my eyes, and she told me to take a deep breath in and out (Lollipop is quite big on using the distraction method to keep the pain to a minimum...I've had some lovely conversations with her that way) I did so, and sat there for a moment. After a few seconds, I was like, "Alright, I'm ready, go for it." She just laughed and told me to open my eye. There was the needle, hanging right in front of my left eyeball. Now, I can see what you might be thinking...'Oh, this is where she must've flipped out and started clawing at the chair and having a fit!' Actually, I was fairly serene. I just looked at the blurry metal thing in front of my eye, with nothing more than suprise. It hadn't hurt in the slightest. She slipped the jewlery in within a matter of seconds, I felt a little pressure, but not much else. I was asked if I felt dizzy, said no, then got up, talked for a moment and left. I felt a tiny bit of a dull aching afterwards, it lasted about a half hour, but that was the worst of the pain. That evening, I had people commenting on it at a party, saying that they were suprised I had gotten it done that day, as there was little swelling and it looked as though it had been there for months. I was estatic. My fear of needles is completely gone, and I've actually gone for several more piercings. (I started out with a hole in each lobe when I got to college.) Now, as I leave to go home for the summer, I carry with me: 14ga SS ring w/ SS ball, left eyebrow Three more rings in each earlobe left nostril, 18ga SS stud Right Tragus, 16ga SS ring w/ hematite ball Right cartilege, 16 ga SS ring w/ SS ball (most recent) All healed perfectly and quickly with no infection or keloids. (yeh, Lollipop!) I'm taking the summer of from more piercing, but when I get back in the fall... I'd like to get many more, (from Lollipop, of course...she's the greatest :) and perhaps a tattoo. I'm afraid that one of the piercings I'd like the most, my tongue, is impossible. Being a music major I was told by my professors (yes, I actually was a responsible adult and checked to see if any of the jewelry would have to come out for my recital requirements..and no, it doesn't :) that wasn't an option for me. (Besides, being a sax player it would've been awkward.) Well, maybe someday... Deiner, Kristin ~Maiden Disaster~