FINALLY Got My Ear Pierced!...Again! :-)
(First Published on BMEzine.com, Fall 2000)

I had an itch. I need a new piercing, another ear one would be nice. I was susposed to get it back in September but Abstract was closed for some reason. Hmm. Remind me to call in advance first! Ooh... march break.... okie dokey!

Friday Night

I called up the night before and asked a couple questions about getting my outer rim pierced again. Gre-gory called it the helix, so ok I got my helix pierced!! And I'll be getting it pierced again! So anyways. Friday night I was susposed to meet up with 3 of my friends, I would get pierced, then we would procede to watch movies & hang out all night. I made an unoffical appointment at 6pm.

At 6pm however, this b*tch whom shall remain nameless for now, never showed up. It took us half an hour to get to Queen from Finch, then another 15 minutes to Abstract. I go in, ask the person sitting in their mini-lobby area if Greg's still in. He left 5 minutes before. DOH! Now I am very pissed. I wanted the weekend to heal the ear since March break started, and that would have been an extra 3 days for it to get better before school!

Monday Morning / Afternoon

I had an university application interview I needed to attend. I'm back downtown. So I'm like "Hey, my interview is at 11:30am. Me meeting my buddy to hang isn't until 3pm... I'll get pierced!" Remembering LAST time, I decided to stop off at Mickey D's first. Blech!

Walk in, meet Greg again although I didn't recognize him (last time I saw him I coulda swore he was taller!) Either way, He checked my other piercing, said it's alright it's just kinda clogged up.

Went into the back room this time (last time it was in the main area, not that I really care, it's an ear!) So he gets everything ready and I ask about size since I wanted something bigger. Finally pick out a 12ga ring (which reminds me, the last one I got was a 14 ga!) where he's mentioning about seeing 00ga needles and the demonstrates the force needed to twist one of those in... and he gets everything out, marks 4 different spots on my ear all under the first one, pick the first hole most up-top... he goes through the routine of showing me everything being autoclaved and with the indicator tape & being all new & shiny. I sit back down, and warn him of last time me almost passing out.

He pierces, oww..., then comments me on me being alright, pushes the jewlery in, closes it up, makes sure it's nice & round and puts the bead on. And he told me this, if a piercer says jewlery needs to be ADJUSTED that just means they can't put it in properly after being pierced. Changing because of swelling or style (i.e. tongue) makes sense, but there's no need to go in a month after an ear piercing to get the ring adjusted! Then he makes me watch while the needle goes into a big bright hospital looking sharps container while I wave bye bye. He seemed amused. :)

We sit, we talk a little bit, he tells me to check out the ring. It's always bigger in the ear than when it's in it's little baggy! So I'm standing up to look in the full length mirror and I start getting kinda dizzy and lightheaded. Although I didn't start blacking out at least. So he's like "sit down, no one's in a rush don't worry!"

I ask him about his piercings & strechings & he basically flat out stated that I read BME. Good guess *hehe*. We talk about the barbeque's Shannon's had and the future ones we knew of... how to "heal" streaching that's gone too far and can't shrink back, my next piercing that will happen AFTER I move out... recomends that me being female and not IN in the industry, I shouldn't really strech my lobes much bigger than half inch since he doesn't think it looks that great. Scary enough that WAS the next thing I want done! I ask about if he uses dermal punches, he says no because he'd rather a more medical setting for that & says how he sends all those people to Blair. Hey, it's cool, he admits he won't and can't do it, and sends those people to someone who can and will. Tells me to get some epson salt for the first piercing since there's scar tissue around it and make it REALLY concentrated and rub it in to get rid of it. He offers me water since I was kind of pale for a little bit, I decline, feel much better, take a look at a couple posters with tattoo pieces going from the neck to the knees (that's only how big the poster was) and pay Greg.

Grabs a camera, asks me to turn so he can get a picture so I'm thinking "hey, I'm gonna be famous!" and turn, pose and he snaps the picture. He starts walking me out and I ask a general question about tattooing since he's not a tattoo artist at the same time. (Question was: If I design my own tatt, should I bring it in and book a later apointment or can I get it done there? Answer: If it's exactly what you want, then it's immediate, if it's a rough working, bring it in to work on and fix an apointment, you can also get a price guide)

The Healing Process

Cleaning it hurts! I had so forgotten how much it hurts I at the moment vow to never pierce carteledge ever again! (oh puhleeze like that'll happen!) Basically I just put soap on the ring, then wash it off without turning it the first two days. When it would turn without me crying, I turn it.

3 days later I went to get my haircut. BAD IDEA! The crease where the ring goes through in my ear, it swelled up until it stuck outwards. Basically, either hair was getting caught under it, pulling the ring around or the hairdresser would accidently snag it with a comb. IT HURTS OWW OWW OWW! is what I kept saying. I also went to the hospital on unreleated charges, and the doctor said I should use rubbing alcohol to clean it. My mom agreed and mentioned it again when we were home. I told my mom that although she's a doctor, she does not know the piercing industry. The person who pierced me may NOT be a doctor, but he knows how to heal piercings. Last on that subject.

I started my first epsom salt soak by pouring a lot (I bought a 2kg bag!) into a bowl, turning the tap water real hot and then bending over sideways to dunk my ear in. Ahh... bliss! I could turn the ring although it stung a little because of the salt, but the swelling went RIGHT down and it's all normal again! yay! My mother has also expressed she does not want the bowl back in the kitchen.

My routine

• Soak in hot water until water turns warm
• Rub off any blood & crusties off ring
• Soak again to get anything off the ring & turn to make sure it's off, if it isn't, IT'LL HURT!
• Rinse out bowl, pour in salt, put more hot water in.
• Soak ear until water goes from hot to warm, pour out most of water, put more hot water in (I always put in too much salt that doesn't melt) Repeat.
• Turn ring so ball faces one side, soak. Turn ring all the wat thru and soak again. (The hole is so loose that the ring usually falls back into it's natural position while I bend over because of the weight of the bead!)
• Q-tip away anything that seeps outta the hole (mostly a whiteish yellow discharge that looks like would be crusties)
• Rinse out bowl again, scrub lightly to make sure of no extra salt, put more hot water, dip turn dip turn dip turn to get rid of salt.
• Q-tip away all final future crusties and water from both holes.

The salt soaks are not only helping the second ring heal fast, it's also made the first piercing's scar tissue almost COMPLETELY disapear! After I'd had it for a good 6 months, 6 days worth of soaking's got rid of most of it! The scabs & dead skin I'm still pulling out of the first one. It's a beauty!!

I do believe I will call him up soon just to thank him for the idea!

I will have pictures soon too.

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check soon! BYE!

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