wanted to contribute a story about my piercing salon in Boston, called Tribal Ways. It's one of the BEST studios I've found in the Tri State area and they are run by people with Medical Certification . People with 20 years ofnursing experience (Stephen even taught French at my alma matta). The only thing they do is Body Piercing which should be a relief to first time piercees that worry about being horribly mutilated and permanently disfigured. They even have an emergency line going to the piercers homes in cases of dire need.

The thing that makes me choose them time and time again is that there is a kind of "No Hassle" jewelry selling policy. When I had my tongue first pierced, the piercing was done for free, but as a result of the free piercing, the guy made me buy a barbell that was $75 and WAY too big for my mouth. Then he tried to get me to buy two more, claiming that I would need to change the barbell every two weeks till I move to a barbell that could fit properly. At Tribal Ways, you pay a flat piercing fee, $65 no matter what size barbell they give you so you don't have to worry about them trying to make a sale. And only your piercer will determine what size you get so you know you that he's taking care of your best interests. They won't even consider selling you new jewelry until the piercing has heals completely, unless its completely necessary but when you are ready to purchase, they have some of the most righteous jewelry I've ever seen! They have everything from Marble sized barbells to Mouth Spikes.

They are also located in a very accessible area (they are across the street from the Hynes Convention Center stop on the Green Line. This is incredible to me, since no less than two years ago, I was the queen of back alley piercing shacks and self inflicted nose holes (that was back in high school however, luckily I'm MUCH older and wiser).

I walked in on a Friday afternoon, nervous as all hell. I had been there before (Micheal, the owner pierced my tongue... he was excellent at taking my mind off the pain and I even brought my old friend from high school in one week to have her eyebrow pierced... her first :) ), but I was nervous about how much it was going to hurt. They quickly set my mind at ease. They sat me down and gave me the list of how to care for the piercings and explained it to me in great detail. They showed me the bottle of the cleaning fluid so I could by the correct one, they explained to me both the oral care and outer care of the piercing and before I knew it, I was ready go upstairs, rinse my mouth with Listerine and assume my piercing position.

Aaron (the manager) had me sit in the chair in the overtly sterilized room (very white and very steel) while one of the techs cleaned the piercing area with an alcohol solution. We talked for a bit about how much it was going to hurt and labrette piercing till Aaron came in to mark the position with the India ink blotter.

He opened the ring in front of me and placed it over the spot that he had marked as the needle entrance area to give me a better idea of what it will look like when completed. It also gave him a better idea of where to move the ring if his aim was off with the marking.

The initial piercing wasn't that bad. Aaron had warned me about the "double pinch", there will be a pinch when the needle initially enters the spot, but there may be a second pinch that will hurt more than the first. Boy, was he right! It only pinched for a second and the only real problem I had was the piece of cork holding the needle in place, hitting me right in the gums while he was preparing to stick the ring through. I got up and looked at my ring in the mirror, it was perfection! Just the way I imagined it.

I got up, tipped Aaron and Jay (at least I think that's his name, I'm bad with names), went to the bathroom to rinse again with Listerine and warm water and was on my way back home in less than 45 minutes.

Tribal Ways always does its best to set the piercees mind at ease every time. They are the only piercing salon that I've gone into that supplies ALL clients with "The Piercees Bill Of Rights". I just think they needed a spot on your page. They double as a Pagan Bookstore too :). If people want to visit them, they are at www.tribalways.com.

Thanks for hearing my story

Karen