At A Glance
Author	Nanboo
Contact	Nanboo@bme.anon
When	A week ago
Artist	don't know his name
Studio	adorned
Location	Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Last week I had my nape pierced with a surface bar. I had been inspired to get this piercing by a young man in the Tokyo airport, who had the same piercing. It was the first time I had seen such a thing and was instantly captivated by it; I couldn't stop thinking about getting one for myself.

Lately I have been feeling the need to get a piercing done every few months, so as soon as I had saved up enough money I was anxious to get my nape done. I did quite a bit of reading and research on the piercing; because it seemed a bit more complex than the other piercings I have, which are pretty ordinary. The piercer I went to said he was the most experienced piercer in Alberta, so I felt I was in good hands, which was important to me.

So on Sunday, after taking my mum shopping, I surprised her by dragging her along to the piercing place with me. She had no idea what I was going to have done. I said it would surprise. She thought I was going to have my eyebrow done, so she was a little shocked when I walked out, heh, heh, I like surprises.

I was rather nervous driving there, because I was anticipating that it would be pretty painful, but I'm always like that before any piercing.

When we walked in, we were the only ones there, so I got to go in right away, which was good, because I just wanted to get it over with.
The piercing guy seemed really calm and gentle, which put me at ease. He had me move my head up and down, and side-to-side to see where the best place to put the piercing would be. He had to make the surface bar himself, by bending the edges of a regular barbell, when he was bending the bar he said that it hurt him more than it would hurt me, yeah right, somehow I was a little bit sceptical. When he was bending the thing it looked friggin huge, but I trusted he knew what he was doing. When he was convinced that the barbell was shaped as well as possible, he sized it up against my neck, and it was all good.

Then he had me sit on the table. I was hoping that I would get to lay down, so I could muffle my cries of pain into the table, but it wasn't to be. He told me that this was one of the only piercings he does with people sitting up, because it would be kind of hard to breathe with my face buried in the table, ok he had a point there I guess.
He explained that he would pinch my neck, then he would tell me to take three deep breaths, and then he would do the piercing. Ok that was fine, I just had to keep breathing and relax, simple enough. One... I breathed in deeply through my nose and out.. Two... same thing.. Three.. AGHHH!! ..no I'm just kidding, I felt it go in, and I just kept focusing on the deep breathing. Five very deep breaths later, it was in. It was uncomfortable, yes but by no means was it painful and once it was in I was not sore at all. It was as unproblematic and easy as getting a piece of metal shoved through the back of your neck can be. I was pleasantly surprised at what a good experience it turned out to be.

He gave me a mirror to look at it with, and I was elated. It looked so awesome, I loved it.
He tightened it up for me, took another look to make sure it was in the right place ( what if it wasn't? somehow I don't think it would've been easy to redo! ), and told me to check in with him in a week, just to make sure everything was ok.

I walked out with a big smile, over the moon, and asked my Mum what she thought of it. She said she would have to reserve her answer , but the way she turned away in horror when she looked at it , makes me think she's not too crazy about it.
On the way home I was really conscious of the piercing even though I couldn't feel it. I was scared to turn my head or let my coat touch the back of my neck, I love how piercings make you so aware of the part of your body that they are in, at least in the beginning.

I went to visit my friends that night, and they groaned and said, "you didn't get that crazy neck piercing did you?" and "It looks like a staple in your neck". Not the exactly the reactions I had anticipated, but the main thing is I love it, and I didn't get it for anyone else but me.

The first day out in public after I had it done, I was pretty self conscious about it, afraid people would be whispering, 'ewww look that girl has a staple in her neck'. But a few days on I'm not bothered at all if people see it, and most people don't even notice it, if you wear shirts with a collar.

I've been washing it with Lavender soap, and soaking it with Chamomile tea, and have had absolutely no problems, besides a little bit of redness.
So basically If your reading this because you've been thinking about getting your nape pierced, I'd say hell yeah go for it, I assure you if you really want it, you will absolutely not regret it.