A very brief background on myself seems like the proper way to start. I'm a Christian, college student, vegetarian, and artist, and this is the story of my first and second piercing. They were done in May 2002.
At A Glance Author Andrew K. Contact kruegear@yahoo.com When A month ago Artist Derek Lowe Studio Saint Sabrina's Parlor in Purgatory Location Minneapolis, MN My adventures in body modification began in Japan last semester, where I was taking classes at a college in Osaka. I don't want to bore you with the details, but basically I met this girl and she introduced me to BMEzine and things just went from there. A couple of months after I met her we went to get tattoos, and then I started thinking about my ears. I looked at hundreds of photos and read dozens of experiences, and there was no question that I wanted to get something done. For personal reasons I decided on large gauge lobe piercings.
I'm told that most people start out at lower gauges and stretch their way up slowly; well, those people are wussies! Just kidding. Actually, I knew that I wanted something around 2 gauge so I figured I would just go all out from the start. Piercing is technically illegal in Japan without a medical license, so I started researching shops near my home. One site really caught my eye- Saint Sabrina's- and even better, I saw that Derek Lowe was working there.
I knew that I wanted Derek to do my piercings, so I e-mailed him with some questions and we chatted back and forth for a little while. I initially asked about methods of piercing (needle vs. dermal punch, scalpel) and he gave me the low-down on each one. He couldn't pierce any larger than 4 gauge with a needle, but that procedure saves the most skin for future stretching so I decided to go with that. I promised to make an appointment when I got back home and man, I couldn't wait.
The deal was that I would spend a week in Minnesota with my family before moving into my new apartment. My parents live closer to Saint Sabrina's than I do, and since I don't have a car, I was determined to get pierced during that week. Making the appointment was a snap, and a few days later my girlfriend drove me downtown for the best experience of my life. Actually, we stopped in the day before to make sure we could find the place and to check out the jewelry. Let me say that they had some fantastic stuff, albeit out of my budget. Anyway, I was amped.
On the day of the appointment we showed up a couple of minutes early, but I thought we were late because the clock in my girlfriend's car was fast. We parked a couple of blocks too soon and I ran the rest of the way there because I hate being late. I was still trying to catch my breath when I met Derek. He was very friendly and just guided me through the whole process. For jewelry, I picked boring, standard (but relatively cheap) stainless-steel plugs because I thought they wouldn't scare my parents too much. Now that they've accepted what I've got, I'm moving on to eyelets.
Getting back to the piercing, I sat in a room with a freaky clown-light on the ceiling while Derek explained the whole procedure, asked if I had any questions, etc. I had done a lot of research and had faith in him to do it right, so I was ready to rock and roll. The rest of it was nothing spectacular; you can read about it in basically all the experiences (except the ones who did it at home). Marked my ears until I gave the thumbs-up, showed me the plugs fresh from the autoclave, showed me the needle fresh from a sealed bag. Pierced my left ear, put on the o-rings, and threw out the needle in the biohazardous waste bin, then opened a new needle and repeated the process with my right ear. Cleaned up, reclined the chair so I could relax a bit, eased me up to a sitting position and handed me the mirror. Aces, I've got 4 gauge lobe piercings. I was a happy boy. Big tip for Derek.
I say it's nothing spectacular because I've read about it so often, but of course it was all new and exciting to me. And there was one thing that stood out: the pain. It did hurt, a lot, and it hurt more the second time because I couldn't fool myself into thinking that it wouldn't. Also, my ears were very sore all day afterwards. Of course, standard disclaimer, it's different for everyone, but those 4 gauge needles are pretty darn big.
I have no great moral at the end of the story and I don't want to encourage or discourage anyone from getting this done, because if it's for you then you'll know. I just want to thank Derek again and strongly recommend him as a piercer. Also, Saint Sabrina's Parlor in Purgatory is hip, go check it out. And buy me a pair of those handmade wooden 2 gauge plugs while you're there.