Ouch, you punched me in the ear!
At A Glance Author msmith Contact msmith@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Russ Fox Studio Foxx Works Body Modification @ the Tunnel Location Alliston Ontario I chose to modify myself in many different ways, some ways more extreme than others. I recently chose to have my ear cartilage dermal punched with a 6mm punch. I imagine myself with many large punches down the cartilage of both my ears but I figured I'd start with one side to give myself a chance to really experience my first punch in it's entirety. It turned out for the best.
In many cases an individual can decide on the right modification for them after they have seen, or heard first hand, a successful piece on someone who is satisfied with their outcome. I am no exception to this. I had been planning to get my punch ever since I witnessed a successful punch on the conch of a close friend of mine. He gave me the desire to have this mod by providing me with the eventual positive outcome of his punch. The only thing he had to say that discouraged me a little was that he did not enjoy the actual procedure of the punch, but I knew that he didn't enjoy any of his mods in that way, so I wasn't swayed from my eventual goal. I hope my experience will provide you with similar encouragement to fulfill your modification desires.
I have been getting pierced for the last three years by manly one professional piercer who is now apprenticing me at his own studio. I have seen much of his work and I trust him completely because I know how much he cares about the safety of all of his clients including me. I would strongly recommend a similar level of trust with your piercer if planning on having such a procedure performed on you no mater how minor you think it may be.
The procedure is fairly simple but not at all like your average 14g piercing. I was thoroughly checked for large veins and arteries at the top of my ear and cleaned. The appropriate area was marked as a guide line and the tools layed out in a sterile way. Then I was ready for the punch. A cork was placed on the front side of my ear and the dermal punch was lined up with the marks at the back. It was decided to do it in this manner because we stretched the punch directly after to help control a bit of the bleeding and because the jewellery was a 0gflared tunnel which was preferred to be placed with the flare at the front of the ear. The punch was very surprising to me in a good way. The feeling of pressure that I was familiar with from a standard 14g piercing was almost non-existent. The punch slid through the cartilage in my ear with no more than the slicing feeling of a razor. I found it quite refreshing from the norm (I'm kind of a sucker for a little pain), but I can 't describe this as painful. Once the punch was in we took a few seconds to recoup before we slide the 0g taper through. The taper went in very easily but it did bring that pressure factor back which cause a throbbing to start around the hole. In the amount of time it had taken to simultaneously push the punch through my ear with the taper from the front, the blood ran down the back of my head as I was lying down. This didn't make feel any different until later because at the time I didn't know that it was blood because it just felt mildly warm. It also seemed like a lot at the time but it was probably no more than a table spoon. From this point we needed to slide the taper all the way through with the jewellery following tightly behind. This should go smoothly as long as the jewellery is properly positioned on the taper but in my case it was a little off causing a slight popping feeling when the jewellery caught the side of the cartilage and jumped through the hole. This f eeling was strange but mostly just sudden and a little shocking, not a ll that bad in terms of pain. We took a minute after this to let me get a better breathing pattern back and then I was cleaned up and the blood wiped from my hair and neck. We put a rubber "O" ring on the back to keep the jewellery from sliding out and I was done. I took a few minutes before I sat up just to regain some composure and to monitor the bleeding situation. There wasn't any more bleeding at all and I was fine other than a nice adrenaline rush so I sat up to take a look at my newly modified ear. The whole upper half of my ear was mildly red but otherwise just a little bit holier. I was nearly overwhelmed with the satisfaction from the entire experience and excited for the inevitable healing process.
I generally took care of my punch the same way I have taken care of my piercings, so if you have a method that works for you I would stick with that. I cleaned my punch with anti-bacterial soap while in the shower twice a day at first then once after healing begins. I also clean it once a day with saline solution by lightly applying the solution with a cotton swab while gently removing any unwanted debris. I also stick to the more you mess with it the worse off it will be, for any piercing.
In conclusion getting punched in the ear was one of the most satisfying of all my mods to date and I'm planning for another few in the near future. Please take precautions to choose a qualified studio to have this procedure done. If you have any questions about an aspect of my procedure I have failed to mention please e-mail me through BME.