piercings

i’ve always loved the look of piercings, and how different types of pierced people style themselves, their collection of jewellery, and admired the way they dedicated months at a time to healing trickier placements. i was first offered to have my ears pierced aged eleven, but at the time had a phobia of needles and was too scared to go through with it. six months or so later, i had changed my mind and was eager to get my first pair of sparkly studs, however, by this point, my offer had been retracted and sadly i had to wait until i was fifteen or so for my first lobes. in the meantime i tried a variety of clip on options, all of which gave me killer headaches, cut off the blood circulation to my ears or just fell straight off. 

my first piercings were done in a little high street jewelers, and i was sat nervously sweating on a black plastic leather chair drawn up by a young attendant. the little blue dots were drawn on, and piercing gun produced. at this point i didn’t know anything about the guns versus needles debate, how to take care of piercings or even what having them done meant. after feeling dizzy and a little sick for a few hours, i was admiring my newly decorated ears, and immediately scouring pinterest for more inspiration. 

i wasn’t allowed anymore piercings until i had moved out of home, at which point i promptly took myself to the first piercer i could find in my new city. luckily, this turned out to be a very positive experience as i had researched everything i possibly could ahead of time. i had been wanting a nose ring for as long as i could remember, and finally got it! i was ecstatic. as a broke student who hadn’t budgeted very well that month, i couldn’t afford the sterile saline aftercare, but assured the lady at the desk that i had some left over at the flat. (i didn’t.) i’m not sure how but it actually healed very well, despite the fact that i had got pierced during a cold and then had three in a row immediately after. freshers flu didn’t ruin my new nose stud! 

over christmas, in the midst of seasonal depression, an onslaught of work i had to catch up on, looming deadlines, work shifts and of course, family celebrations and christmas itself, i was overwhelmed and lonely. i was very dissatisfied with my appearance and decided to pierce my own seconds for a little change. i bought the disposable piercing kits that cost me two pounds for four, and sat on my bedroom floor to bring the piercing studio to me. two of the disposables actually broke before i could use them, which in hindsight should have been a red flag. the first semi successful attempt got stuck halfway into my lobe, meaning i had to use the given earring to finish the rest of the job myself. i face timed a nauseous friend who had to pass her phone to the group she was in the pub with at the time, so a stranger talked me through the bleeding and continued self piercing. it eventually went all the way through, and i could hang up and nurse my throbbing ear. the second side actually went without mishap, and i lay in bed and contemplated my poor decision making. the consolation was that my ears actually looked very cute. 

my next piercing was a very spontaneous decision. i got my belly button done on the day of my sister’s birthday, as i couldn’t spend it with her in person and felt like giving myself a gift. countless tiktoks and advice websites did not sufficiently prepare me for the pain of that one, and i unfortunately swore at the piercer multiple times. i apologised, and then realised the jewellery wasn’t actually in yet, so i swore again and apologised again. apparently she had heard worse before. i almost passed out three times leaving that appointment, my current record! 

my most recent is a conch on my left ear. from more tiktok research, the general consensus seemed to be that it was a very painful piercing experience as the jewelry goes through a very thick part of cartilage, and that the healing is a nightmare! however, i was out shopping with a friend and decided enough was enough. undeterred from what i had heard, i went to a new piercing and tattoo parlour and it was honestly my best experience so far. the piercer was lovely and it barely hurt which was very surprising to me. i was thrilled. as of writing, it is only three days old, and still bleeding a little every now and again. there is a sort of dull ache that persists, but very minorly. the only real discomfort is if i forget it is there and knock it. i would recommend a conch to anyone!

i can’t wait to add to my piercings. currently my next will most likely be a rook, which i have heard is also meant to be pretty painful to get, and far far worse to heal. it does scare me slightly as a very aggressive side sleeper, especially on my right side. i’ve seen the piercing pillows online, but again as a broke student who doesn’t budget, they are still out of my price range! what could possibly go wrong?