This all started because I decided it was definitely time for a new piercing. My last piercing (navel) was so useless that I got rid of it after a week because all it ever did was annoy me. So I started looking at possible ear piercings, being that the rest of my body is about as pierced as I want it to be for now. While looking through the pictures here at BME, I stumbled across the tragus and daith piercings. I had always liked the tragus, as well as the conch, but had been too afraid of the pain. And I instantly fell in love with the daith, which I had never seen before. But after reading a few "it hurt like hell" stories about the daith, I settled on either a tragus or a conch.
At A Glance Author bethanie Contact desperate_butterfly@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Lucky Studio C&D Custom Tattoos Location Alabaster, Alabama So the weekend before I planned to have the piercing done, I stopped in to see my friendly neighborhood piercer, Lucky, and asked which would hurt more, tragus or conch. He said they're both hurt about the same but suggested that I do the tragus first. So that's what we decided to do.
During the week before the piercing, as I got more and more excited about my first tragus piercing, I found a good picture of a conch piercing. I had seen them before, but not recently. I have one friend with a double conch piercing and another who has barbells through both of hers, but I've always preferred CBRs. And the picture that I found just made it look so sexy! So, after much deliberation, I finally decided to go against my piercer's suggestion and get my conch pierced.
So finally the day came. My friend Maureen, a piercing virgin, went with me. She'd never watched a piercing before, and she was more scared that I was. So she and I went in to C&D and took Lucky his birthday cake, and when I told him what I wanted to do, he made the worst face! Not just a "it's going to hurt" face but more of a "are you insane?!" face. So I filled out my paperwork and settled into the chair with my piece of cake to wait. And then, after watching a very terrified girl get her tongue pierced, it was my turn. That's when the nerves kicked in.
I went into Lucky's booth and hopped up on the table. Razor, Lucky's apprentice, was standing beside me, making fun of me as usual, and Maureen was standing near by, ready to have her hand squeezed when necessary. So Lucky got everything set up and slid the ring onto my ear so that I could position it where I wanted it, and then he marked it. I was so scared! I have had 6 other piercings, all done by Lucky, and I have never been so scared in my life! I was curled up in the fetal position, whimpering, and begging him not to hurt me. He and Razor tried to convince me that it would only take a second and would be over before I knew what had happened, but I didn't believe them. Lucky promised to do it really fast so that it wouldn't hurt, but I just knew that this was going to kill me. And Razor promised not to laugh at me when/if I passed out, which I was convinced I would do.
So finally it was time and too late to turn back (though I tried!). Lucky looked at me and said, "Alright, turn to the side and sit up straight." But I wouldn't do it. After pleading with me for about 10 minutes, he finally gave up and came to me. I was sitting at the end of the table, and Razor had been standing beside me, but he left the room for a minute, leaving the spot open for Lucky. So he moved over, dragging his table of equipment with him, and I covered my ear and cowered away like a wuss. But finally I gave in and grabbed onto Maureen's hand for dear life.
So I closed my eyes as tightly as I could and started squeezing Maureen's hand. The next thing I felt was a slight sting as he lined the needle up. Then he shoved it through. I screamed "SHIT!" about 5 or 6 times, and *poof* it was over. It hurt, but not nearly as much as I had expected it to. There was no blood and no popping/crunching sound, as I had been warned to expect. And afterwards, it didn't hurt nearly as much as my other piercings (eyebrow, cartilage, nipples, and navel) did. It didn't throb or ache; it hurt enough for me to know that it was there, and that's about it. I didn't pass out or throw up; I actually felt pretty good (got to love endorphin rushes). But apparently I had screamed louder that I realized, because Spider, the owner of the shop, had to come into the room to make sure Lucky wasn't trying to kill me or something.
But now that it's over, I'm very glad I did it. I love my new piercing, even if I can't sleep on my left side for awhile. And for those considering it, find a piercer who knows what they are doing and is willing to do it quickly, especially if you have an allergic reaction to pain, like I do =)