Hey everyone. So today I finally took the plunge and got two dermal piercings in my left wrist. They still aren’t a massively common piercing option so I thought it would be relevant to write about my experience. Now as a side note, this is my own personal experience, and each persons body and healing times differ, so just because my piercing went the way it did, doesn’t mean the same will for you.
Okay, so… I guess I’ll explain what a dermal piercing is first. A dermal piercing is placed on the surface of the skin. They have an anchor which is placed underneath the skin, and a top part which threads into the anchor. The top part is what sits on the skin and is what you see. They can be placed practically anywhere, but they are a piercing that can catch easily. They are well known for rejecting and becoming infected. Previous surface bars were generally one long thin bar which would easily move underneath the skin. Most dermal piercings now use an anchor that has holes in, so the skin underneath can grow through these holes and keep the piercing in place.
Now, my experience. I went down to the piercing shop and it was an apprentice who was conducting piercings. He had done one dermal prior to me on himself and it looked fabulous. He was going to be observed by another individual who pierces, but they were currently tattooing so I had to go back after a few hours. In this time I went and ate, had a look around my local area and went back. I had around 7 hours sleep the night previously and like I said I had already eaten, so I was fully prepared for the piercing. Although I was scared of what the pain would be like, I wasn’t really nervous. My breathing was controlled and I was really looking forward to getting the piercing.
As I’m not a professional I’m not sure of the technical terminology, but, I was marked up and the piercing was done with a dermal punch knife thing. Its a circular blade that removes a piece of flesh in order for the jewelry to be placed inside. The process itself wasn’t exceptionally painful, it was more uncomfortable than anything else. However, the apprentice piercer had to stop as he was unable to get the anchor into my skin, and the other piercer took over. My first dermal was awkward as hell and the bar did not want to fit in. Apparently I have tough skin. Eventually, after some force, the anchor did go in. At this point I felt perfectly fine. It was so uncomfortable but I felt mentally and psychically fine, and gave the go ahead to get the other dermal done. This is where it started to go wrong.
The second dermal punch bled so much. They couldn’t even see the hole anymore due to the amount of blood pouring out. He was able to finally get the next one in, once again with some force. I suddenly felt really faint and queasy. I have never in my life fainted before, and never felt sick or anything after any piercings or tattoos. So I was scared as fuck! The apprentice was constantly checking to make sure I was okay, and he went to grab me a better chair and a glass of water. At this point I began to go slightly deaf, and started to fall off my chair. He came back into the room and sort of shouted my name. I moved into this other chair, and at that point I knew I was going to vomit. I asked him where the bathroom was and he took me straight there. I’ll save you all the gruesome details, but I did vomit. As soon as I had though I felt so much better. I suddenly felt so embarrassed.
When I went back into the piercing room, the guy reassured me and told me it was okay and not to be embarrassed. He went through the whole cleaning rigmarole and I paid. It was only £30 for both dermals as he was an apprentice. I came home and the plaster he’d covered with fell off because I’d been bleeding. I washed it in some warm water and left it to air dry. I will be covering it again with a couple of my own plasters before I go to bed.
Overall, the piercing itself is pretty chill. Its already got a couple of crusty blood scabs (I know its gross I’m sorry), but otherwise it doesn’t really sting and I can’t really even feel it there. I am praying to the God of Body Mods that it heals perfectly fine and doesn’t get infected or reject because it is so cute and I love them so much. If anyone has any questions then feel free to get in touch.
I was pierced at Immortal Piercings in Carlisle, Cumbria by Mike who was amazing and I cannot thank enough. These views and experiences are my own and were not influenced by anyone else. Below I have included photos of the piercings themselves and them covered up.
Until next time,
Chunky but Funky, xo
Chunky But Funky 