At A Glance
Author	Beermonster
Contact	Beermonster@bme.anon
IAM	Beermonster
Artist	Dom
Studio	Perforations
Location	Brighton UK

I hadn't really planned on getting this piercing, although I had admired photographs of it many a time on BME. I knew that piercing the web between the thumb and forefinger was bound to be troublesome to heal and very likely to reject. However, I was down in Brighton for the weekend visiting Noot, Puck and Clanky amongst others. After spending the night at Noot and Puck's place Noot and I went on a little shopping trip, which included a visit to her local piercing parlour (I forget the name). I was gearing up for getting the handweb done by now, having decided upon it the night before. Unfortunately, it turned out that the lovely Quentin didn't have the right jewellery for it at the moment and would have to order it in, so I decided to leave it and go in to Perforations the following day to get it done. I'd been pierced by both Dom and Warren at Perforations previously so I knew I could trust them to do a good job with it.

I said all along that I was going to go with 2.4mm/10ga jewellery since it appeared to me, after checking the area carefully, that there would be enough room there for that gauge, and it stood a lot less chance of getting torn or migrating than a 1.6mm/14ga piercing would. I rang the studio to make sure they would be able to fit me in and to do it at 2.4mm. No problem, although they did stress that I would be VERY lucky to be able to keep the piercing.

The following day Noot and I met up with Clanky at the studio, and I asked if one of them would photograph the event for me. Since the studios are quite large at Perforations I asked them both if they wanted to come and watch me have it done, and after a short wait Dom was ready so off we trooped down to the studio.

I'd been told different things about this piercing - that it hurt like a bitch, that it was dead easy, that it was a medium level intensity piercing, etc. - so I really didn't know what I should expect. I'd had quite a long weekend by this point, and was starting to get quite nervous and shaky which is unusual for me. Dom sat me down on the couch, carefully cleaned the area with a steret, measured the depth of the piercing and marked the placement. I started taking deeper breaths in preparation for the needle, and on went the clamps. I thought this might be quite uncomfortable but in reality there really wasn't any discomfort from the clamps. We were ready to go. "Breathe in," said Dom "And breathe out.." In went the blade, and I roared! "Aaaahhhh SHIT!"

I'd never felt anything like this in my life - a searing pain was flooding my hand. I wasn't expecting that level of sensation even though it's a sensitive area. I started to feel really quite woozy and laid myself carefully down on the couch. Clanky was holding my right hand, while Noot took photographs, and I was really grateful to have someone there "grounding" me, as I was really feeling lightheaded. Time to get the jewellery (a "diddy" 7mm internal diameter CBR) in, and this was nearly as unpleasant as the piercing itself. My hand was really throbbing at this point and I was feeling like the biggest wimp on the face of the planet - I can deal with implants and a dermal punch, yet a little thing like a handweb is killing me! Soon enough though, the jewellery was in place, and it was gorgeous! Dom dressed it carefully with a gauze pad and micropore tape and I was ready to go. At this point the endorphins were really kicking in, and the lightheadedness was fading out as th e euphoric post piercing rush flooded my head. My hand was still hurting a little, but this wore off after about half an hour.

The swelling was pretty pronounced, and took nearly two weeks to really go down. I made sure that I didn't wash my hands too much during the healing but that when I did it was with a moisturising antibacterial soap (Carex). I cleaned it twice a day with saline solution and moisturised the surrounding area with savlon, carefully avoiding the piercing itself, as it was getting a little dry and scaly. The healing seemed to be progressing well for the first month, and I decided I wanted to try a bar in there instead as I was having problems with the ring stopping me gripping things properly. A quick trip to Primitive Origins (my regular piercing studio in London) to get the jewellery changed and I was away. The ring proved incredibly difficult to remove as the ball just did NOT want to come out, and it took about 15 minutes to get the jewellery swapped over, but the bar looked even prettier than the ring. I definitely found the barbell an improvement on the ring in terms of grip ping and using my hand properly, but this jewellery change was to spell the beginning of the end for the piercing. Gradually over the next three weeks or so it became more and more red and inflamed, and was obviously migrating. Although I really wanted to keep this piercing I had to accept that it wasn't going to happen, and I eventually removed it.

I don't see this as a failure, however. I knew it was a difficult piercing to heal, and was lucky to have it as long as I did. I certainly enjoyed it while I had it too - although I got incredibly negative reactions from almost everyone who noticed it. I'm not going to try this one again, but I will appreciate having it for that short time regardless.