I like to pierce on the one single exhale.
Most of it is all in your head.
Pain is temporary.
Vanity is forever.
My mom has this thing where her grandma
would always tell her, “If God wanted a hole on
your body, he would’ve put it there.”
Just to get my ears pierced,
I had to wait until I was in tenth grade.
And I begged for them.
My name is Melissa and
I’m getting a nose piercing today.
So I have both ears pierced,
but two holes on this side.
I had my cartilage done.
My nose done and my belly button.
I had my nose piercing for a little over a year
but I kind of got tired of where the
piercing was placed.
I really love wearing hoops
and mine hung way too low for me.
I’m definitely looking forward to going to someone
who knows what they’re doing.
We’re going to clean you up,
mark you up, and then pierce you up.
My name is Brian Thompson.
I own Body Electric.
I’ve been piercing for about ten years now.
If my Commanding Officer was to see me now,
he would say I was an idiot.
This is not in Marine Corps regulation
except for my haircut.
That’s what drew me to tattooing and piercing
is that I could manipulate and change my body
the way I wanted to and nobody had a say in it.
There’s two sides of piercing.
There’s the actually physical act of of piercing
and then there’s decorating,
knowing where to put it.
I am a decorator.
Placement is definitely important
when it comes to piercing.
When you get a piercing done,
it shapes your face.
If it’s in a weird spot,
you might feel uncomfortable
or you might feel like you look weird.
I don’t myself use a piercing gun.
That’s not to say that the gun doesn’t work.
It does.
But me, if I’m going to decide,
I’m going to get pierced with a needle
every single day.
I’m not going to use the gun.
When the piercing gun is used,
it is basically using blunt force trauma.
It is taking a stud,
that is fastened to a point,
and using the spring loaded force of
that gun to puncture it through your earlobe.
You’re going to see the fibers eject from the backside,
where the actual jewelry exits.
That’s happening to your ear as well.
Right after you’re pierced,
you’re going to have more swelling.
Inflammation causes pain.
So then you’re going to have more pain.
It’s going to take longer to heal,
especially if you have sensitive skin.
Now a puncture is going to heal slower than a cut.
A needle may be round, but it’s still cutting.
It’s basically like a circular, tiny little scalpel.
A piercing needle, its one mission on this planet,
is to do what?
Pierce the body.
A piercing needle is hollow.
It pierces quicker, and without any kind of drag.
It doesn’t remove any tissue, it just opens a space.
Right now I’m just setting up a little bit
of ink for marking, sterile lubricant, and
a little bit of soap for scrubbing.
When I get set up to pierce,
nothing is pre-sterilized,
I do it all while you wait.
Gauze, the needle, jewelry,
toothpick I use for marking,
everything runs through this machine.
It’s this button, there we go.
Once it’s complete, I bring the client back.
That’s when we pierce.
Alright so, what I’m going to do is get
lined up and once I am, I’m going to have
you take a big deep breath, okay?
In through your nose,
slow and concentrated, out through your mouth.
Okay?
Your right eye’s going to water.
Okay.
Just let it happen.
Take a deep breath all the way in.
All the way out.
I like to pierce on the one single exhale.
Deep breath in, exhale,
that’s when I pierce.
First, it’s a sharp pinch.
You have a lot of nerve endings on your nostril.
It’s a very sharp pinch, but it subsides very rapidly.
The next is you’re going to feel warmth in the area.
Blood is rushing in the area.
The eye immediately waters.
Well done my dear!
So, when you’re getting your nose pierced,
it happens quickly.
It’s a pinch.
It’s the anticipation that makes it feel
like it’s going to be a lot worse.
But it isn’t.
Everybody’s eyes waters.
Even Bruce Lee if he got his nose pierced,
his eyes would’ve watered too.
If you build it up, and make it about the
negativity of the pain, then I think you’re
going about it all wrong.
You should look at it in a positive light.
Can I do this?
A slight change made such a big difference.
He moved it up a little bit and to the side,
and I think it looks so much better.
If you really want to do it,
then sit down and make it happen.
You can always take it out.