I decided to go crazy this week. I've been depressingly predictable and respectable recently, and quite frankly, something had to be done about it.
So I went and got another piercing.
Up until last Friday, I just had one piercing in the lobe of each ear. Very conservative. Acceptable to people of my parents' generation, and even to some people of my grandparents' generation (though admittedly, not acceptable to all of my grandparents).
I'd been toying with the idea of getting a cartilage piercing on and off for years. I think it started when I was about 14, and wanted several piercings as well as other additional body modifications...(words can't express how glad I am that I
didn't opt for the barbed wire tattoo around my neck.)
The cartilage piercing was the only thing that still appealed to me now...and I thought, 'Why not?'.
I knew my parents weren't too keen on the idea, but I wasn't sure whether they had just said no because they thought it was the thin end of the wedge at the time, and a possible gateway to the barbed wire tattoo.
Anyway, I asked them again, and to cut a very long story short, came to the conclusion that their main objection was on the grounds of taste - they didn't think it looked nice.
My Mum had told me several times in the past that she thought I should just wait until I left home, and then I could do whatever I liked; so, now that I am an incredibly mature, almost legal adult, I knew the kind of things they wanted to hear.
I explained that, while I knew they would prefer it if I waited until I moved out, I didn't think it would be productive to start coming up with a 'to do' list of things that I wasn't allowed to do at home that I was saving up to do at university. I pointed out that if I thought it was morally wrong, I wouldn't do it
at all, wherever I was living. I reminded them that I'm currently in a very narrow margin of life in which it would be socially acceptable for me to have that particular piercing, people will dismiss it as being 'one of those student fads', and 'a phase' that I'll grow out of eventually. Once I get that inevitable high profile job, I'll probably have to take it out, as it would no longer be appropriate.
I also (childishly?!) added the fact that I didn't actually
need their permission to go ahead with it, and was merely asking for their opinion in order to test the waters and establish exactly how long I may be in exile after returning home with the offending piece of jewellery.
In the end, they agreed that untimately, it was my choice. (Mum: 'I only carried it for 9 months, and let it take
all the goodness out of me, but it's
your body, do what you want with it, I don't care.')
Being the responsible person that I am, I researched it, completely freaked myself out, and decided that there are some occasions in life in which ignorance truly is bliss, and in which it is best to just do it and not think about the consequences (which actually demands a certain degree of maturity to realise....maybe...).
The internet warned me that cartilage piercings 'frequently' go wrong, and are one of the most dangerous to get. It said that, if done with a gun, there is a possibility of puncturing a main artery, or shattering cartilage, and that using a needle only slightly reduces these risks. It said that due to the lack of blood supply to cartilage, it is very easy for infection to set in, and that many people are hospitalised every year for cartilage infections caused by piercings.
Once I had calmed down, I remembered that it is not compulsory to believe everything you read on the internet. It also struck me as strange that it was possible to 'puncture a main artery' in an area that has a 'lack of blood supply', and that it was even possible to have a 'main artery' in your ear without it exploding from all the blood roaring through it at such high pressure. I also wondered whether it would be possible for something that isn't brittle (such as....say....ear cartilage) to shatter.
I phoned a relative who is a GP, and has been a GP for many years, and asked her how many patients she had seen with infected cartilage piercings. None. And she's seen a
lot of disgusting sights over the years.
So I decided I'd done enough research, and that I would definitely get it done.
However, although the internet strongly advised me to get it done in a 'proper tattoo place with a needle', I decided to opt for the gun. Call me crazy, but I'd rather not waltz into a seedy back room somewhere and allow a tattooed old man with no A Levels and any number of diseases to stab me with a needle of unknown provenance. The idea of getting it done in a shop window wasn't particularly attractive either, and I never thought I'd call the people who work in Claire's Accessories 'highly qualified', but I guess it really depends who and what you're comparing them to!
I can remember when you could get it done at Bentalls and H Samuels and other places like that, but they told me they didn't do it anymore... So in the end, the only place that would do it with a gun was Claire's Accessories. I got my first piercings done there, because I was 10 and didn't know any better, but to be honest, although they have been infected a few times, the first infection was several years after I'd got them done, and so can't realistically be blamed on Claire or the people who work in her Accessories shops.
I gathered some friends for moral support, and headed for our local branch ridiculously early so that nobody else would be around to watch through the window. I was
terrified. My hands were shaking so much that my signatures on the consent forms look like they were written in arabic.
Having slandered Claire's Accessories, I've got to admit that I was actually very impressed. The lady who did it was the manager. Although the fact that she was dressed in red hotpants with fishnet tights didn't exactly inspire confidence, she really seemed to know her stuff. She explained that you can't necessarily get a cartilage piercing wherever you want, because it depends on the shape of your ear and the thickness of your cartilage. She used a 'surgical pen' to draw little dots to show me where I could have it done, and explained how to clean the piercing before she had even done it. She remembered to check my ID, but I was very conscious of the number of things she touched after she'd put the surgical gloves on, but hey...at least she was wearing them, right?
As she loaded the 'piercing system' (apparently it is standard procedure to call it that, rather than a 'gun' due to a controversy that caused all the jewellers to lose their piercing licences) I took deep breaths and tried to relax as each of my hands were stroked by friends who already had sympathetic looks on their faces. She positioned the gun, and I felt my whole body tense. I closed my eyes. I heard a loud popping/crunching sound, and felt a small sting in my ear. Then nothing. I opened my eyes, and saw three anxious faces peering back at me.
That was
it!
I couldn't actually believe it was over, and I felt really pathetic for being so scared. It didn't hurt very much at all. It was just like having an injection; you're aware that something has been poked through your skin, but it's not as painful as you think it should be.
She handed me a bottle of 'Claire's Ear Care Lotion' (apparently not the same thing as surgical spirit), reminded me to keep the stud in for at least 12 weeks, and it was all over.
As I negotiaged my way to the till through all the shelves crammed with feathers and sequins and other bits of tat, my friends bounced up and down and told me how cool it looked, the manager bounced up and down and told me how cool it looked, and I bounced up and down and enjoyed the adrenaline rush.
We had literally
just walked out the door, when Phelan turned and said, 'You know what? That looks so cool, I think I want one as well'.
I said, 'What?! You mean
now?!
'. She thought for a grand total of about 2 seconds, and said, 'Yeah! I mean, it's not like it hurts or anything, right?'
So we headed back in for round 2.
It was only on the way out after she'd had it done that she stopped and yelled, 'OH NO!!!! WHATS MY MUM GOING TO SAY?!?!?!'
We didn't manage to convince Em to get hers done too. It was slightly more complicated with her, because she doesn't have
any piercings done yet, and so she'd have to get her mum to agree first. I get the feeling that it's only a matter of time though.
On our way to the bus stop, we met Kath, who saw our new piercings, and said, 'Wow! Did it really not hurt? I'll go and get mine done next week!'
I know, I know......I'm such a trend setter.
The thing is, once I was back home, and my mother had informed me that I now look like 'a thug', my ear started to warm up, and
then it started to hurt a bit. I think we were quite lucky that we had chosen a particularly frosty morning when our ears would be numb from the cold...
I've been really good at remembering to clean it and twist it though, and it only really hurts if I touch it a lot (yeah....I know....I probably shouldn't touch it at all). Yesterday at work, I momentarily forgot, and whacked the phone against my ear when I answered it. I managed not to yelp down the phone, but it did sting for about an hour after that.
Today hasn't been too bad though. I have to grit my teeth when my hair gets caught in it, but it no longer hurts if I twist it around.
So, if you've been thinking about getting yours done, my advice would be to go for it. Yes, it is more painful than a lobe piercing, but only slightly. And don't worry about getting it done with a gun - I didn't puncture a main artery, my cartilage didn't shatter or break off, and 3 days on, I still don't have an infection. My ear didn't swell at all, and the redness went away after a few hours. It
is possible to sleep on that side of your head if you're very careful and have a squishy pillow that you can make a dent in, though if any of you know where I can get one of those water polo hats with the plastic ear covering thingies, please let me know.
I still don't know how long it will take to heal. In my non-medical opinion, I'd say I'm making good progress, but according to some sources, it can take up to a year before it has totally healed (though it should stop hurting sooner, and you can change the earring before then).
The only down side to it is that yo've got to have one of those really big butterfly backs on it - the same as the ones you start out with in earlobe piercings. Apparently they help to stop infection (presumably just because they are so big, they cover all the space around the piercing so no dirt can get in) but I don't know how long I'll keep it before I switch to a normal back. I mean, I wouldn't want to be hospitalised with cartilage piercing or anything like that..... ; )
I'll put a picture up when I can find the camera....
I know it's kinda small.... it might go bigger if you click on it?
