During high school, I had always thought that I would stack my ear and get tattooed as soon as I turned 18. Yet, since turning 18 nearly three years ago, I have gotten a total of three piercings and zero tattoos! In part, it’s because they can cost quite a bit of money, and I’m a college student. However, the bigger reason I’m not as willing to admit is that the thought of getting either makes me extremely anxious. Not necessarily the pain itself, but the impact it would have on my productivity. If it got infected, would it impact my studies? Take away my attention during exams? Mess with my ability to listen to music at the gym? I know, it’s so silly, but all of those thoughts have seriously been holding me back!Â
So, as I prepared for my final midterm before a month-long break from exams, with a little morale boost from my roommate who had recently gotten pierced, I finally booked an appointment to go get my ears pierced. I couldn’t use the excuse of school, and by booking the appointment, I couldn’t chicken out without paying a cancellation fee. The day after finishing my exam, I walked alongside my emotional support roomie to my appointment and freaked out the entire way there.Â
I’ve gotten piercings a few times before, and each time I’ve been nervous, but getting one during such a busy time in my life was really stressing me out. As we walked, I thought about every possible negative scenario. Even as I began talking to my piercer, who was so passionate about his job that I should have immediately calmed down, I continued to freak out. It was not until I was sitting on the piercing table that I finally accepted my fate. His advice to me that I repeat for anyone nervous to get pierced: “Focus on the end result, not the path to it.”Â
Here, the story becomes anticlimactic. He put the needle to my ear, told me to take a deep breath in, then pierced my conch as I breathed out. My thoughts? It hurt so much less than I anticipated that I was mad at myself for putting it off for so long! The second piercing, my helix, was more of a doozy. It hurt significantly worse, but I have gotten helixes before, and they hurt, but nowhere near as bad as you anticipate them to. And, though I was lucky enough that neither hurt badly, the pain is worth it regardless. I have not stopped staring at my ear since getting the new piercings!
So, if you’ve been thinking about getting a piercing, but haven’t because of anxiety, face your fears! The anticipation is truly worse than the actual piercing, and it only builds the longer you wait. If you’re a University of Michigan student, I cannot recommend Ideal Body Piercing enough. They’ve fostered such a comforting environment, and my new piercings turned out amazing!