The story of my Conch (An Industrial to be).
At A Glance Author Jennie Contact Jennie@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Sam Studio Ice Accessories Location Box Hill, Melbourne, Australia Two weeks ago I made a decision to finally see my beloved piercer Sam and get my much anticipated industrial piercing. I had purchased the 14ga barbell the week before hand and finally got around to seeing her. Sam is my regular piercer, she I trust her completely, she was the one I went to after recommendation after my original regular piercer closed down, he pierced my tongue, nose and my tragus both 14ga and she's since had the opportunity to pierce my labret, navel and nipple.
I walked into the store and she greeted me with the usual 'nice to see another regular coming back for more smile'. I've discussed the idea of getting an industrial with her before and we toy with the idea about piercing them one at a time with 14ga cbr's or going straight to the barbell. I mention I've already purchased a barbell at the correct length for my ear. She looks at the barbell and holds it up to my ear. She's then hit with a stroke of genius. She knew I was interested in getting a conch piercing at some point as we often have long talks about what I hope to get in the years to come. She suggests a conch to helix industrial, I instantly fall in love with the idea and so she makes the arrangements for me to be pierced in 45 mins after sterilising the 14ga cbr to be used to pierce my conch. We came to the decision to pierce my conch with the correct placement, give it three months to heal and then for me to return to get my helix pierced.
I head down the to Donut King and pump myself full of sugary doughnuts, as I've had an unpleasant near fainting experience before and I like to come prepared with a blood stream full of sugar these days. It gets close to my appointment so I head back to the store and I fill in the usual forms and show ID proving I'm 16 and sign saying I'm aware of what I'm about to do to myself and pay my $45. Sam comes out to the front of the store after prepping the instruments and sterilising my jewellery. She walks over and collects me and I head out the back with her into the piercing room, smelling sweetly of disinfectant and decorated with images of beautiful body piercings.
I sign documentation that the instruments have been sterilised after viewing the spore test. Sam puts on her latex gloves, wipes my ear down with some alcohol swabs, marks the placement using ink on a cotton bud and gets me to check it in a mirror. I'm happy with the placement so at this point she changes over her gloves and gets out open the needles and tools that have been sterilised. Sam understand my interest in body piercings and how I desire to be a body piercer when I turn 18 and leave school so she's quite happy showing me the needles and talking to me up front. She asks me to lie down on my side and I do so, she clamps my ear, which was a tad uncomfortable, and I feel the needle pressing against my skin. She starts to push the 14ga needle through my conch but has difficulty as she is piercing the thickest part of my conch and has to re-arrange the clamps, she does this in no time at all and then pushes the needle the rest of the way through my ear. Sam says that a l ot of people find that the jewellery insertion is the most painful part of a conch piercing, but I'd beg to differ and say she quite easily slipped the cbr into my hole with next to no pain at all. It was then the ball decided to be a slippery little sucker and she had to change tools in order to fit it into the cbr. Sam then wipes my ear down with another alcohol swab and gets me to sit up slowly, she gives me the run down on salt soaks (one cup warm water to a quarter tea spoon salt) quickly quite sure that she is boring me and advises me to watch out for keloiding which conch's are apparently prone to.
I quite happily leave the store and head to the nearest toilet to admire my ear again before heading home on the bus. For the two weeks I had a regime of cleaning my ear morning and night with salt soaks and have now reduced it a salt soak every two days or so, which is also helpful for the rest of my piercings so I tend to do both of my ears. Until this day I've had no problems with my conch, and I think it's absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to make my industrial complete in two months time when I get my helix pierced and my barbell fitted.