dermal punch you say?

At A Glance Author AJ Contact AJ@bme.anon Artist Terry Studio Aardvark Location Hamilton, Ontario

Well, after over 2 years of wanting an inner conch piercing, I finally have one! After a failed attempt almost exactly 2 years ago, I decided to try again. The first time around, I was relatively new to piercing, and didn't know what to expect from it, so when it became very crusty and very swollen and painful, I took it out after only 6 or 7 days. That time, it was pierced at 14g, with a needle and the initial jewelery was a barbell. This time, I have gone and done everything differently, although that's not how I had planned.....

My birthday was a week ago, and my best friend told me that for my birthday present, she would pay for me to have my ear pierced, as I have been talking about getting it done again for some time now, I just didn't have the money. So, I told her that would be great, and made my appointment at Aardvark in Hamilton. I had a few days to wait, and over those days, I really wasn't sure if I should try again, thinking that maybe I just wasn't meant to have my conch pierced, but in the end, I decided, I might as well try.

As I mentioned, I decided to do some things differently this time. I had already decided that I wanted a ring for the initial jewelry, instead of the barbell, and I was getting it done in the opposite ear, but that was partially because I have my tragus done in my left ear, and I wanted to even things out, so decided to get the conch in my right ear. I also have learned that my body may not have liked the bactine I had used to clean my conch the first time, as my tragus healed very nicely with anti-bacterial soap, so I chose to use that for this piercing as well.

Anyway, so on with the piercing......My friend and I drove downtown, ended up being a little late, but this wasn't a problem, they had just opened for the day anyway, and got the paper work out of the way. There was concern of whether or not he could get a ring in the piercing, because he didn't know if he had one big enough. I also wanted it done in 16g, so he warned me that being thin and a large diameter ring may cause the ring to open unexpectedly, but other than that, he didn't foresee any problems with doing the pierce at 16g. He exited to find appropriate jewelery, then came back to tell me that he had a ring that he thought would work. This is also where he asked if I wanted the pierce done with a needle or a dermal punch. I hadn't even thought of this prior to his asking. I initially said needle right away, without deliberation, because from BME, I now knew what a dermal punch was, and honestly, the idea was scary! He then explained to me that if it were done with a punch, it would probably heal better, and there was little chance of a lump forming on the back, which you sometimes see with cartilage piercings. I thought about it, and still said I wanted the needle. So, he left again to get the equipment set up. My friend and I went outside for a smoke, cause I was getting nervous, which is odd, because I usually don't get nervous when I'm waiting to get pierced? Oh well.

While we were outside, I started thinking that I really didn't want this piercing to get messed up, and knowing that my previous conch experience done with the needle didn't work out, and after persuasion from my friend, I went back in and told Terry that I wanted to go with the punch. I mean, it's only a 16g piercing! It can't be that much different. So, he said that was fine, and I actually felt better about it being done with the punch rather than the needle. I just felt like a big pain in the ass, because I was being so indecisive that day!

Finally we were ready to get started. He was explaining that the punch would cause more bleeding, may hurt a little more, and would produce a crunching sound when it went through. My response was that I don't tend to bleed when I get pierced, I have a high pain tolerance, and my tragus crunched too, so I wasn't too concerned. So, he marked my ear, and placed the jewelery around it to make sure it would fit and so I could see if that was suitable placement. I said it was fine, and we were ready to go. Well, it wasn't really painful, just pressure. It took a little longer than a needle; apparently I have very thick cartilage! My friend, who was on the opposite of me side, heard the crunch from where she was standing! The only part that hurt was when he twisted the punch to make sure everything was cut away, not attached at all. The jewelery was inserted, and I was fine! It was until after the jewelery was in that I bled at all. And Terry and the apprentice both commented on the fact that I barely bled, only a little pool on the inside of my ear, nothing more. They were surprised, but I didn't think I would bleed much.

This all happened only 2 days ago, but I already think that this conch will heal better and will stay! (let's just cross our fingers) It isn't very sore, only when it gets knocked when I change my shirt or whatever, and as far as I can tell, isn't swollen at all! Right now, I'm glad that I decided on the punch instead of the needle, and would recommend at least discussing the options with their piercer before getting a similar piercing.