I had normal helix piercings for a while. Then I had my right helix punched at 7ga and stretched to 6ga. My piercer, who will remain anonymous, put acrylic jewellery in it that was too small. I gave up on it and let it close. It closed completly with hardly a scar. I could fit 14ga rings in if I used a lot of lube and force. Then I started with industrials. Industrial in one ear (just a standard industrail) and a 4-spike helix project in the other. The industrial was done too shallow for one hole and too deep for the other, and it was rejecting at the rate my Grandpa's shrinking. :) The 4-helix project wouldn't heal, probably because we did them all at once and my health was bad. I was fucking around with drugs, and taking antidepressants that I was (severely) allergic to. Ah, the joys of being 16.
At A Glance Author San Contact San@bme.anon IAM BlueStar When Three months ago Artist Sean Studio Artistic Impressions Location Niagara Falls, Canada I decided, three years later, to have my helix punched at 2ga. I wanted to use these gorgeous blue pyrex spirals I bought in Ohio but my piercer, Sean, didn't want to use pyrex. Just in case. He's super careful and with him, the customer comes first. So I brought in 2 matching 4ga, fairly long, stainless steel plugs. Sean autoclaved them and my friend Eric and I hung around for a while while it was being done. I was a bit nervous, but not really, since I've been through a lot. (Piercing, tattooing, cutting/ink rubbing, branding, implants, dermal punching)
The plugs were finally sterilised and Sean took us to his piercing room. I assumed the position in the chair and he disinfected and marked, and remarked, and remarked, and so on, until they were exact. He broke out the callipers and made extra sure. Mackenzie and Remi wanted to watch so we let him it. The first one I was laughing, so no one heard the obnoxious crunch except for Sean and I. He held the punch to the mark and asked if I was ready. "Yes"
"Big breath in."
"Hold it."
"Big breath out."
*CRUNCH*
There was very little pain. Until he got the taper. He had pre-warned me that I was going to hate him after this was over. How can one hate Sean though? He tapered it through with a lot of pressure and some pain. There was no blood, and Remi and Dave just stared. Eric told them to shut up so we could hear the crunch of the second one. Cool.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes, of course."
"Big breath in."
"Hold it."
"Big breath out."
*CRUNCH*
"HOLY SHIT, that's disgusting!"
"Oh my god! You've got bigger balls than me!"
Now for the fun part. The taper. This time was worse for some reason. I suppose it was because the other ear had been dermal punched before and he probably hit around the same area. I can't tell, I've got too much going on in that ear now. Remi and Mackenzie had left by then and it was just Eric, Sean and I. I we goofed around until my ear was all good to go. Sean asked if I was ok. I told him I wasn't and started to wobble, and we laughed. I hadn't lost a drop of blood.
I went to bed expecting there to be a lot of blood the next morning, on my pillows, but there wasn't. I soaked the hell out of them (twice a day) and basically left them alone. Occasionally, I'd pick at the crusties (bad! don't do that!) but there were pretty much no problems. I stretched one side to 2ga but the other side (the one that we had a hard time tapering) wouldn't work out and I'm a symmetry freak, so I put the 4ga plug back in. It's now winter in Niagara Falls and the cold instantly hits the stainless steel plugs and absolutely kills me. I don't have any acrylic jewellery to put in them, so I just wear a hat. I definitely don't reccommend metal jewellery in sub-zero temperatures.
After a few months they healed up fine. The hole is a perfect circle when the jewellery is taken out and they're perfectly even. I'm very happy with the way they turned out. Oh, ya. They dared me to eat my ear chunks. I didn't. (I'm a vegetarian!) I didn't keep them either. I kinda regret that now, but fuck it. Remi and Mackenzie were really bugging me to eat it. They put on gloves and touched it. You could see the purple marker and the scars from the old piercings. As well as the layers of cartilage and skin. It was really neat. Kind of like a little biology lesson. Except it's more fun.
Good luck and happy piercings.