One day while visiting my favorite piercing establishment I noticed a pair of custom rings from Custom Steal that looked to damn beautiful to pass up. The only problem was that I didn't have any holes that fit the jewelry in site. At this moment I knew what I had to do, I needed to create holes, now I remember Kelly telling me before that the largest needles he carried were 4ga and it just so happened that the jewelry in question was also at 4ga... coincidence? I think not. I had always liked the look of large gauge cartilage piercings and it also just so happened that the rings would fit perfectly in my conches. Things were just lining up to well and I knew then that at some point in time I would have 4ga holes in my conches that would be filled with those beautiful rings.
At A Glance Author uncertain Contact uncertain@bme.anon IAM uncertain When Six months ago Artist Kelly Brookes Studio West Coast Piercing Location Surrey, BC Jump ahead to the next day
I NEED to get to work on my conches. I swing by West Coast and drop off some 4ga jewelry I had used in my lobes that would work for this piercing. Now being that I'm a big fan of sleeping I decided to do my conches on separate occasions that way I'll still have one usable side of my head to sleep on. You may be asking why I was supplying my own jewelry when there were these custom rings that I loved. The reason for this was because custom does not only mean sweet, it also mean expensive. I would create holes for these rings and then give the rings a good home when my wallet was a little thicker.
Jump ahead to pierce
We spent our sweet time marking up my ear so that the ring would go exactly where I wanted it. Being that my end goal was to use the custom rings we lined everything up using them. Once the marks were in place I took my place on the table. My ear went in the clamps and I relaxed my body. Deep breath in... pierce on the exhale... ummmm usually it's over by the exhale, what's this pause for? Pop, oh there it goes. Haha as it turns out 4ga needles are kinda big and it takes a lot of pressure to get the needle through. I would learn this at a later date when it becomes my turn to be on the pushing end of the needle, but that's a whole nother story. Now I am lying there with a needle in my ear and a suddenly very light headed girlfriend holding a video camera. The Jewelry went in and the small amount of blood was cleaned up. Seriously both myself and Kelly were surprised because we figured there would be atleast some bleeding and all we got was a drop or two. Once I was cleaned up I took the camera from my girlfriend and let her grab a seat, we got her some water and let her get her head space back. I chatted with Kelly for a bit more, thanked him for his services and drove home.
Skip ahead about 6 months
A few months after the first conch Kelly was kind enough to let me apprentice under him. About 4 months into the apprenticeship Christmas rolled around. Thanks Gramma for the spare change! I walked into West Coast with my newly thickened wallet and threw my sweet custom rings into the autoclave. I set my tray up while they were getting ready and then I slapped my cash down in front of Kelly and told him that today was the day. The moment I said this a customer came in, and then another and so on. My conch had to be postponed sadly, but everything was paid for so it was only a matter of finding the time.
A week later
We find the time for my conch so once again I set the tray up. This time everything is a little different being that I am now working on my apprenticeship. As Kelly gets to work he starts going over everything with me as a student as opposed to a client. The pierce felt pretty much the same this time except the video footage we got this time was sooooo much better. Good job on the camera Sean.
Healing
The hardest part about both of these piercings was the insane amount of lymph fluid being produced. My ears were both crusty for a solid month then it was like one day I woke up and everything was perfect. I've been extremely happy with how everything went and both of my ears are doing great. It's been about 6 months since the last one was done and my ears are flawless.
Final note
For anyone considering large gauge cartilage work or any work for that matter make sure you find an artist that is knowledgeable in what they are doing. I hear a lot of great things about dermal punches but for me the needles worked out quite well. Either way though find a professional who you are comfortable with, and you are bound to experience great results.