Well, two dayz ago, i found the old sixteen gauge needle my boyfriend had given me when we were going out and i said, well, i think i shall make a hole in myself. ever since getting my piercing in my lip, i wanted another real one. i had seen my friend derek from harvard square who has piercings on each of his arms, and although he said they get caught on his pockets, i knew i was hooked. i also knew that it couldn't be on any part of my body visable to my parents, and i am a kandy raver, so i knew that i could do my arms. my bracelets not only now are hiding my new piercing, but also some old scars from cuttings i had done. one of my cuttings(incidentally one that occured when the very guy who had given me the needle broke up with me) i was pretty fond of, because it was very deep and perfect for piercing under. i figured the extra rigid scar tissue would hold the bar from migrating. i also didn't just want a random arm piercing, but this one would look good with the scar right next to it. i cleaned the needle with a lighter and some antiseptic soap, sucked in, and stuck the needle under one of the straight lines of my scar. it went through the first layer pretty slowely, but i do things slow so i don't get dizzy because i am somewhat needle phobic. once inside under the skin, the needle has nothing to stop it and it is beyond nerves, so i didn't feel it until i tried to push it through the other side. it wasn't too painful, because the needle was tapered and built to pierce. but it sure makes sharp pain when coming out and it is very hard to push out. people forget that the second hole out of the surface piercing is more painful than the first. i had experimented with pins before, and they are much harder to pierce out than to get them in through the initial hole. i ended up helping the needle through at the end by scalpelling the hole that the tip had made just a millimeter. when the needle popped out the other side, it was gleaming with blood, and it kinda hurt, but it was very exhillariating to have it out. the bleeding really stopped after i got the whole tapered part through.
At A Glance Author Atomic Scar Contact marywanadotorg@aol.com Artist myself Studio in my room/bathroom Location boston mass. okay, now comes the hard part. i have a needle through my arm, and i have no good jewelry for it. i have a fourteen gauge lip piercing, so i have some extra circular barbells from that that i thought i could use. unfortunately, i pierced with a sixteen gauge, so the rings would not fit, despite my best efforts. i finally ended up going with an aproximately seventeen gauge piercing earing from clairs simply for holding the holes until the next day, when i got my stinging ass to newbury comics, where i bought an eighteen gauge bannana barbell like the ones used for navel piercings. the piercing needle from clairs actually held up alright, with no noticable migration. i kept it in for almost twenty four hours and it worked alright, it just raised my piercing up too high so it made it uncomfortable. i bandaged it over night and at school with a gauze wrap. i got home, sterilized the barbell to the best of my ability(lighter, antiseptic) and put it through. it went through without much resistance, so i was happy. i cleaned off the blood dried from the night before, and proceeded to tell everyone online that i had successfully pierced my arm.
right now, as i type up my experiance, i am keeping it hidden under my bondage bracelet, but since that is stiff and leather, i intend to get some other form of soft cloth covering to put on it when around my parents and especially when sleeping so i don't snag it on anything.
also, to add on, my suggestion would be to use a curved barbel in a surface piercing. its shape conforms to come out of the skin but not to put pressure on the piercing like a straight barbel would do. it also looks pretty :).
if you want a surface piercing, i say go for it, you can easily do it yourself or have a piercer do it. actually, i have never seen someone get one done at a shop, so i hope it is possible, but it is soo easy to do yourself, as done by a fifteen(sixteen in ten dayz) year old girl, it is worth it. i just hope it doesn't get ripped out or retired for some bad reason or another. i think the after care should be the same as for anything else like lobes(at least i hope).
so, as pist punk would say, cheers.