Poke.
Posted on January 17, 2010 in life | 3 Comments
Daith [d·aw·th]
-noun
- an ear piercing which passes through the ear’s innermost cartilage fold.
- OMFG THAT HURT
Eddie had decided a few weeks ago that he really wanted to go and get something pierced. He really wanted his septum done, and not being the type to go into the piercing shop and not get something done I set about to figure out what I wanted to get. As much as I love the look of a monroe, and as much as I absolutely adore the medusa, I can’t have either of them at work. He didn’t want to wait until our vacation in February and I figured that a weekend is not enough to re-learn how to speak, so the tongue was out (which I wouldn’t get anyway, because I’d probably manage to break half my teeth and choke on the shards). I decided to get an ear piercing, specifically one that I fell in love with a few years ago, the daith. I love how simple and how hidden it is. I loved the fact that it wasn’t going to get snagged on a hair brush or stuck in my shirt when I get undressed. Then I read some of the background on it and decided that I had to get it done.
“…rings left in an orifice of the body act as a ‘Guardian of the Gate’. They can be magically charged at the moment of the pierce to act as a ‘filter’ to what goes into and out from that orifice. In the case of the ear, an appropriately placed and charged ring could filter out all that is nonsense or bullshit and let pass that which is intelligent.”
I’m now the proud owner of my very own bullshit filter.
We got everything filled out and paid for and were waiting on the couch at the shop, when a woman and two teen girls came in. The woman was the mother of one of the girls, and I give her some credit, she’d done some research and knew what she needed to bring to prove that the girl was hers so that the daughter could get her navel pierced, and what jewelry they were looking for to put in it. The girl’s friend was asking if she was scared more of getting pierced or of getting a tattoo when she turned 18, to which the girl replied:
“I’m more scared of the piercing. The piercing goes through your skin and flesh, the tattoo doesn’t.”
Oh. My. GOD.
Eventually we did leave the waiting room, and after Jason marked my ears, I was asked to lay down on the examination table. Time does funny things in a piercing shop, or at least it does in Rockstar. You can sit there and everything will be normal, then you’ll get to the aftercare lecture and things start to slow down, like when the flight attendants start to demonstrate how to use your seat belt when all you want to do is get up in the air. Your piercer will get everything set up and say “I’m going to put this tube in place, so you’re going to feel some pressure.” And it will seem like he’s got his hands in your ears for roughly 10 minutes as he maneuvers that tube into just the right place. Once the tube is in place, he’ll say “Ok, I’m going to just start to line things up a little; you might feel a pinch.” That’s the point where time speeds up, and it takes somewhere between a millisecond and “two shakes of a lamb’s tail” before you’re told, “Take a slow, deep breath in, and then let it out just as slowly.” Everything at that point runs at light speed, your heart races and the blood roars through your skull and you feel every single thing.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve done some painful shit to my body. I had a giant bar shoved through my ear. I’ve pierced my nipples. I’ve pierced other parts. I’ve tattooed my freaking chest. But this was probably the most painful out of all of it. I said as much when it was done, to which Jason replied, “Yup, that one… she’s a stinger.” Plus, it’s the only piercing I’ve gotten where I was actually able to hear the fabled cartilage “pop”, but I attribute that to the fact that I just had a needle shoved into my ear canal. I’m going to see if I can find some head phones that go over my ears rather than into them, at least until this thing is healed up some.
And I’ll get a picture of him on the desk for you!
I like how the ring fits perfectly right in that spot. It looks just like a bullshit filter!
I wish I weren’t always so broke, or I’d get more piercings and tattoos. I just left a comment at Eddie’s telling him how I’m taking my sister to get her nose pierced for her birthday and am going to get my second tattoo, and possibly my nose done, too, for good measure. The tattoo is going to start my sleeve, so I’m super excited about that.
I keep forgetting to ask you: I have the top of my ear pierced. Would I be able to get the thinnest gauge in there or would the thicker cartilage be a problem? I’m getting sick of losing regular earrings or having them tarnish. I have the thinnest gauge in my other ear piercings because for some reason most metals irritate that part of my ear.
Whoa, longest comment ever, haha
I absolutely love my nose piercing. I was worried that I wouldn’t like it or that I’d be some freak getting it at over 30, but it suits me and was the easiest thing I’ve ever healed.
You might be able to get a really thin gauge in your ear. I thin standard earrings are around 22g or 24g, which might be a little difficult to find, but you can generally find some tiny little 18g or 16g in places like WalMart sometimes (I’ve got an itty-bitty ring in my cartilage from a failed industrial in my ear).
Walmart, really? I had no idea they sold gauges! Thanks!