I'm sat here now with my shiny new tragus piercing, 3 hours after I had a hole put into my "sticky out bit!"
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Mike Studio Stefs Location Bolton, UK I first saw a tragus piercing about 6 years ago on a girl when i was on holiday in Lanzarotte and thought it was the most horrible thing I've ever seen! I was, however, slightly intruiged and wondered how the hell they managed to pierce through such thick cartilage.
Fast forward 6 years and I am 16 and just starting college; I didn't actually see that many piercings during my first few months but occasionally spotted the odd person with the "sticky out bit" pierced and I really really liked it.
I'm not exactly an experienced "piercee" (I have nose, navel, standard lobes and cartilage pierced) but I always come to this site whenever Im interested in a piercing. I spent weeks reading experiences and looking at photos and decided that I was defintely going to get it pierced. I asked my mum and although she wasn't ecstatic at the idea, she agreed.
I mentioned the piercing to my friend and she said she wanted hers done too so today (the day after boxing day) we made our way down to Stefs in Bolton.
I had only been to Stefs once before for my nose and im pleased with the job they did then. I didn't go there for my navel and regret it very much now! So, me and my friend went in and sat down. It was pretty busy so we pretended to look interested by looking at the jewellery and models of different body parts. The queue became smaller and smaller and we became pretty nervous (you could tell this by the way we were talking utter crap at top speed!)
After what seemed like an eternity we were at the front of the queue and Mike (the piercer) came out to ask us what we want. I told him we wanted a tragus each and he gave us the forms to fill out. We both walked into the (very clean) piercing room and he joked that he'd never seen two women so quiet in his life. I was very kindly volunteered to go first, although Im glad of this now cos I don't think I'd have actually gone through with it after watching the procedure.
I sat down on the chair and was pretty nervous, I don't actually know why I was so nervous becuase I had read so many experiences who said it didn't hurt at all. To be honest, it was all over pretty quickly, and I was so nervous I can't give a particuarly accurate experience! All I can remember is my tragus being cleaned, clamped, numbed and then... OW!!! Shit, it hurt! So many people told me that it just doesnt hurt at all, and I beleived them. I'll be the first to admit that I have a very low pain tolerance, but it was pretty painful. I sat there I felt myself going very hot, and just bit on my jumper. The pain dissapeared after literally 10 seconds, and it was more uncomfortable than anything.
Mike asked me if I'd had much to drink over christmas and i said yeah, he laughed and said thats explains why I'm bleeding so much (apparantly alcohol temporarily thins the blood)There was a slight burning sensation in my ear and I realised that I was sat there with a needle in my ear, followed by a warm sensation. I saw Mike grab some paper towels and pinched my ear, I realised then that the "nice" warm senstation I had just experienced what a load of blood trickling down my ear. I felt a bit of tugging and then it was done. I got handed some more tissue, an afterare sheet and a bottle of antiseptic and was told to clean it 4 times a day for the next 12 weeks.
Next up it was my friends turn, who was looking horrified after the look on my face. She sat down and I saw everything... i watched as the needle went in, and the jewellery was put into the hole. Hers seemed to take half the time mine did, she stood up and her ear looked fine with no blood at all, but sure enough, 1 minute later a small amount of blood formed around the hole.
All in all Im really pleased with the piercing. Its not sore yet, but its only been 3 hours. It looks really cute and I can't wait to change it to a different ring.
Don't be put off by me saying it hurts, cos i am a total wimp. If I can survive having a needle shoved through that then anyone can. Its a great piercing, and the pain lasts only a matter of seconds. I guess the real test now is to keep it looking pretty and infection free... lol