Random raves

When piercings in chest start to itch through healing, do not scratch! Ow. Although I will say encountering metal makes you realise what you're doing quite quickly.

And this is why I tape them up before I go to sleep. Although I had to run out and buy real Micropore, since the rip-off brand has given me a rash. Yes, my delicate fair skin is a bit sensitive to these things.

Other than missing the goddamn coach to Sydney by 2 minutes this morning, I had a most excellent day (it turns out the 2 buses through Lyneham go once an hour during the day, within 5 minutes of each other, WTF? They leave from the same place, also within 5 minutes of each other. Also, the supposed arterial road of Northbourne Ave can have 20 minutes go by with no buses, except when three come at once, and also no frigging taxis.)

I have my period, but it's pretty mild this time, and perhaps the Neurofen took the edge off my potential stampy-feet, because I went home, collected my car and drove to Sydney (passing the bus just north of Goulburn). It was warm, but not too warm, and was actually a nice day for a drive. Some of the gum trees are flowering on the way through the Great Dividing Range - very pretty.

I got three piercings done - daith in my left ear, and two microdermals in my chest, a few centimetres below my collarbone, if it were visible. I can't even feel the daith (although I'm sure I will once I try sleeping on that side), but the microdermals are a bit stingy. I was thinking of getting them done in my arm, but Robert at Polymorph reckoned they tend to reject more due to the wear and tear they get there. My chest was my second choice in any case, and I'll get a couple more done in the area if these go ok. He's a great guy - he's an excellent efficient piercer and just charged me for one piercing + jewellery - but I think I'm a pretty easy person to pierce. No hassle, I know what I want, and I'm suitably appreciative! Honestly, it's not pleasurable in the same way that getting your brains fucked out is, but the aftermath with the endorphins is pretty damn analogous.

Then I had nommy sushi, made it to Campos in time to get Coffee of the Gods before they closed, spent $130 in Berkelouw Books in literally 3 minutes (look, the Simon Schama History of Britain books were right by the door), got into my car and drove home. And I get to sleep in tomorrow! Which is just as well, because I'm completely snackerpated (a word which I just invented that means "tired" + "slaphappy").

Speaking of body mods, though, I am seriously seriously seriously thinking of getting a breast reduction. I really am not fond of my tits, and while I've had about a decade of being more or less resigned to them, I'm finding that as I grow older (and they also fucking grow), I am becoming less and less at peace with them. I have never felt they were really a part of my body. Also, I now have health insurance, and I can afford to pay the remainder. My aunt has had more run-ins with cancer this past year (she's already had a double mastectomy), and that's putting the wind up me too. However, I won't do anything about it this year - I haven't been at peace with myself for quite some time, and I want to be sure I'm not projecting unwarrented stuff onto innocent body parts. I don't want to get rid of them altogether, but if they can go down to a C cup from an E-or-more, that would be nice. I'm also feeling a bit blobular at the moment, so if I get some more regular exercise, that might help (although I don't tend to lose weight in my tits, but I might feel that my body is something to like in general).

Anyways, the thing about having a nice day is that it hasn't shifted what I was thinking there - give it another 12 months to gel and get the rest of my head in gear, and we'll see what happens.

I got my tragus pierced a couple of months ago, and it was refusing to settle down. It wasn't infected or anything dire, but it felt uncomfortable and was impossible to keep clean due to the short bar with a broad flange at the back.

So I went along to the tattoo/piercing studio where I got it done, and asked to get the bar replaced with a 14ga circular barbell. I didn't like being pierced with a 16ga bar, and I thought that the problems I was having was due to the fact that the piercing had no room to move.

The piercer observed that it looked "inflamed" (no kidding), and that it might be best not to mess around with it. I insisted we do do something about it! He flatly refused to do the 14ga circular barbell, so in the interests of getting the thing over, I agreed that 16ga would do. He took out the straight bar, commented that it was fairly oogy (I knew, due to the problems with cleaning), and then told me that I had a "keloid" in the interior part of my ear, around the piercing site. And have I (this was the third time he asked) had any similar problems with piercings? Actually, no. Then he reckoned that piercing in cartilage can be "sensitive". That's interesting, because my 14ga rook piercing with a captive bead ring has been in my other ear for nearly 15 years, and never gave me a problem (even though it's the side I sleep on).

At no time did he indicate he might have made a bad jewellery choice, and that the compression from the too-small bar had probably caused the piercing problem. I also don't like people who use incorrect terminology. A keloid is a fibrous lump that can form from scar tissue. They are pretty much impossible to eradicate without surgery, and even then, more keloids can form. What I think I have - since it's soft and was caused by pressure around the bar's flange - is hypertrophic scarring or a blowout. It may even be an abscess (although I doubt the latter). These are way more treatable than a true keloid, which just keeps growing.

So, while he's actually good at putting holes in people, I won't be getting any new work done there. If I think someone has more knowledge than I do, I tend to follow their advice, thus my not stirring up a fuss about the initial jewellery choice. I thought that perhaps only the one kind of jewellery was pre-sterilised, but I spotted plenty of other kinds when I was getting the barbell replaced - including circular barbells.

Summary of annoyances:

• No consultation about the initial jewellery choice
• 16ga jewellery (which is notorious for causing a "cheesecutter" effect
• Lack of acknowledgement of his possible contribution to the problem
• Refusal to upsize to 14ga when swapping over (he did explain he was worried about the state it's in, although it's not bad or excessively painful)
• Lack of suggestions to mitigate the problem - I had to suggest a circular barbell (or a CBR)
• Giving me a heart-attack by saying that I have a "keloid" (it is not a generic term for a lump by a piercing site!)
• I bought a new tunnel for my other earlobe - he placed the unwanted bar he removed into the same bag as the new tunnel (after a cursory clean with alcohol, but still!)
• And they have a crap jewellery selection in general

So, yeah, good piercing technique, shame about the rest. I do hope it's not a keliod. I'm giving it lots of salt water soaks (well, one a day), greasing it up with hypercal cream and trying not to fiddle with it. I hope it resolves soon, and I can get the jewellery I actually want put in.