Yesterday I retired two piercings. It was a tough decision because I had really become attached to them, they were my mircodermals. I love them and I’d had them for two years – which is a long time for microdermals.
I chose to get them removed for three reasons. Firstly, I want to do more sports and to swim more. If you’ve read my microdermal aftercare blog post you’d know that swimming pools + microdermals certainly do not mix. Secondly, they would regularly become infected from dirty water. If I ever went swimming, got rained on, put my arm too far into the bowl when washing up plates, they would become angry. It would then mean 2-3 days of salt washing and irritated skin. Finally, due to the first two reason, they had started to migrate. That means they began to move out of the skin and thus become more liable to infection and being caught on woolly jumpers, loose seams inside clothes and anything else you can think of.
Luckily for me my piercer and good friend, Iestyn, returned form his holiday in New Zealand last month. There is no-one else in the UK I trust more with my body modifications, he’s also a top bloke. He recently started working at Divine Canvas, home of some of London’s most talented tattoo artists. I’d highly recommend Xed LeHead’s work if you are looking for exquisite black work. I have seen a number of his pieces in person and they are stunning!
Anyway, enough pimping, here’s a short write up of my microdermal removal experience:
To begin, as you would expect, Iestyn washed down all the surfaces he would be using, washed his hands, and donned rubber gloves. He then began choosing which tools to use, all of which had been sterilised. For this procedure he used a scalpel and forceps. He then taped some blue poly-backed tissue to his leg and asked me to rest my hand on his leg. He then sterilised the area around my microdermals.
For those who are unsure what Emla is, it’s a cream that slightly numbs the skin. Some people use it for tattoos if they are finding it particularly painful. Next he clamped the top of the first microdermal and locked the clamp in place. He made a small cut along the leg of the microdermal (the part under the skin, I’m not really sure what else to call it!) and used the forcepts to pull out the microdermal. This sucked a bit, I wont lie. After two years of making sure I didn’t catch them it was quite surreal to let someone cut them out. The pain was short and it was a particularly quick procedure. I did swear a little when the first didn’t want to come out. After the removal he cleaned and dressed the area. They’re gone!
Overall the removal process was very quick and mildly painful. Nothing a bit of gurning wouldn’t see you through. There will probably only be slight scarring once healed but I’ll get a photo for reference any way. I kept the removed jewellery so if I ever felt like getting more in the future I can get them sterilised and reuse them.
Before I left I discussed a other procedures I would like done in the future including a hand-tattooed design on my feet. I also gave him my deposit for the second half of my scarification and tentatively booked a date to get it done. I’m much more nervous about it now that I know what to expect. The cutting was fine but the healing was brutal. At least I know it’ll be beautiful once it’s complete! I also had my right lobe stretched to 8mm to match the other ear.
After leaving the studio I took a walk into town to meet up with Joe and my superBFF Lauren. On the way I saw some funky mosaics by the river in Camden. I took photos of it because I’m a dork. Upon meeting Joe and Lauren we indulged in a delicious vegetarian lunch before doing a little shopping and enjoying some bubble tea in the sun. I gave Joe his Shadow of the Colossus painting and he was really happy with it which is awesome! I had a cracking day and treated myself to some new gaming pants and an AMAZING bag. It combines two of my greatest loves – insects and zombies! Check it out!
