Let me first tell you something about myself. I live on a Caribean island called Curaçao. Piercing is a relatively small part of peoples lives here. There are only a few piercers who actually operate here on the island which unfortunatly limits my possibilities a great deal. I have had, as many others have, a lobe piercing done with a gun but I took that out only 2 months after I had it done.
At A Glance Author Roland Contact Roland@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Ismeal Artis Studio Tattoo shop Punda Location Curaçao, Caribbean My real piercing bug started about 4 months ago. I wanted an eyebrow piercing for my birthday just because I thought it looked cool. However having a mom like mine it was just not ment to be. So I decided on something a little less shocking for her. So I went with a helix piercing. After a little persuasion she decided to let me have that.
So I actually managed to find a piercer (through a friend of mine who had had a tattoo done there) because of course I had done my homework and found out guns were bad!!! So I called him up and asked him how much it would cost. He said he would have to look at it but he said probably $25. So I went down to the shop to have my first ever real piercing done.
The "studio" looked clean enough, nothing spectacular but it was sufficient. I also saw an autoclave so that re-assured me. So he asked me to sit down and got the clamp and needle out. Down here you don't need any papers or anything, you just walk in whenever hes not busy and you can have anything done without consent. He asked me where I wanted it and marked the spot. So he clamped my ear and told me he would pierce on 3 and I would have to breath in deep. Man!! That hurt!!! It was my first piercing and I guess cartilage isn't the best place to start. So he put in the CBR and showed me. I noticed it was up far higher up in the rim of my ear than the ones you usualy see. So after I had recovered (yes I almost fainted when I got up) and went to pay he told me he wanted to put a spike in it. I was quite supprised by this, HE wanted to do something with MY piercing. That is something that is still not very good and he almost did it too me again yesterday but I guess it turned o ut alright.
So after taking care of my new piercing very carefully for 2 months I decided it was time for that spike he was talking about because the CBR was boring me. So I went down again and had the spike put in and I loved it. It was a large (about 1 cm long) labret spike. So 3 weeks after I decided I wanted more. I went down again and talked to him about a row of spikes on top of my ear (which was his initial plan for me). After much persuasion again I managed to convince my mother and I was allowed to have the second one done. In I went again and had the second one done a little to the right of the initial one, a little higher up. I decided I wanted a curved barbel in there because I thought it would look nice but it sucked. It is extremely difficult to clean. This one didn't hurt nearly as much as the first one so after 2 weeks I was ready for the second spike and maybe a third piercing. Again I went down to the shop but found out he was in holiday and that I would have to wait!
By the time he returned I wanted the spikes so bad that I went in the day after he returned and wanted two more done straight away. He said it would be fine. I had a friend with me who was going to make pictures for me (for BME of course). So first he changed the barbel to a spike. The he got the clamp out and the first needle. He did the top piercing first and put the spike straight in. I had kinda gotten used to the pain so this wasn't too bad because he largely pierced the skin. Then the second one came. It was right back to the tragedy of the first one again! This was possitioned below the first one and went through the cartilage again. He got another needle out and he put the second needle through. When he had pierced it he messed around with it, tugged it, twisted it again and again. I was getting sick because of this pain, it was realy bad I was almost fainting again. So then he put the piercing in. Finally finished I thought. So I sat up and he showed me. But he had gotten the angle on the last one all wrong. "It's ok he said, I'll just redo it. I'll use the same hole to enter but make a different exit." This sounded strange to me but he was the expert I guess. So I lay down again and he re-did it (without telling me when) This time he had got it right but the piercing was bleeding which scared me a little seeing as it hadn't realy happened before.
When I had had some high energy drink I was ready to go again and he gave me some first-aid antibiotic to put on the exit wound without the piercing. I wasn't quite convinced by his whole story that it would be fine but we have yet to see. So I went and payed for the third and last time in a while. To get these last two I had to make a deal with my mom not to get any other piercings set for another 2 years (which is not cool but a good test for me).
It is now the day after and I love it. The very bottom piercing which was put in last is still bleeding a bit but I guess this normal and that I should give it time to heal a bit. All the others are still fine and aligned perfectly. So I now have a row of 4 spikes sitting on top of my ear. Some people think it looks a little extreme (I am the first boy in school, or the people I know for that matter, to get anything else but his lobes pierced) but I think it looks amazing and can't imagine living without them for so long!
Now the healing begins and I hope I can keep them all but this will be a matter of time. I'll keep you all updated. In the meanwhile I will post some pictures of the different stages in the process.