Ok first of all I haven't included the artist or the studio where I got my tragus pierced because I don't want it to seem like I'm putting the blame on them or anything. They have done just about every piercing I have, and I haven't had any trouble with any of them, except the tragus. But no one is to blame for the incident.
At A Glance Author Krissy Contact Krissy@bme.anon When N/A A tragus piercing was probably the only piercing I was worried about getting (I have 3 sets of lobe, 2 cartilage, rook, conch, nose, tongue-web), so I'm guessing that was kind of a warning not to get it done. However, I went and got it done. It didn't hurt at all, which is what I was probably most worried about. A few days later I went back into the piercing studio to get another piercing and I was told my tragus was settling down perfectly. It was only until a few weeks after that things all went horribly wrong.
One morning I noticed that the ball of the bar looked as though it was slightly going into the skin. Deciding it as probably nothing, I forgot about it and didn't tell anyone. But for days afterwards, it still seemed to be going into the skin and was very red and swollen. It was only until a week after that you could just about see a bit of the ball because the rest had gone under the skin. It became quite painful to touch the side of my face or anywhere around the piercing I decided to tell my mum (who doesn't really like all of my piercings, but respects my decision in getting them) and her obviously worried for my own health asked me to take it out. After struggling for hours with it, I couldn't unscrew the ball because I could barely get to it seeing as it was so far under the skin. My mum gave it a go by clamping the back of the bar and pushing it forward so the ball emerged from the skin slightly, but it caused me too much pain so I knocked her hand out of the way, whi ch caused her to rip the remaining visible bit of the ball back though the skin. I was looking in the mirror at that time and when I saw the ball disappear through the skin and blood coming out the tragus I screamed like mad. I can't remember the pain being that bad, but I was in floods of tears, mainly because I don't like loosing piercings as I recently had to loose my navel piercing. My mum was worried to see me in such a state but her main worry was my health, rather than me being upset for loosing a piercing.
Anyway, the same day my mum took me to A&E where we waited for soo many hours. When I was finally seen to, all the man told me was to come back the next day when a doctor who specialised in ears could see to me.
Over night it got worse, and you couldn't see any of the bar except abit of silver from the ball under the skin. I went back to A&E. The doctor (who happened to have a tragus piercing!) told me the trouble she's had with hers and other peoples', she saw how desperate I was to keep it in. My mum wanted it out and the doctor advised to take it out, but together they decided to compromise with me. I was to take really strong antibiotics and antibiotic cream for 4 days. When I came back after 4 days if it showed no sign of improvement then it would have to come out. I agreed to this because I'd do anything to keep it in.
Later the same day it had already started to show slight signs of improvement so I was determined that my tragus would stay in.
I went back to A&E, but had a different doctor who didn't really like the look of it but because it had improved so much he had no reasons to remove it. I was over the moon, but was then told I had to be put back on the antibiotics and return again the next week.
It got really tiring going to and from A&E all the time, and having to take 4 antibiotics day and all that kind of stuff but it was worth it because when I returned for the final time I was told it was 100% better and there was no signs of infection.
I'm really lucky to still have my tragus piercing in but where my mum ripped the ball through the skin, the piercing hole was enlarged so it's healing back to normal size at the moment. I guess if I had told my mum when I first noticed the ball sinking into the skin, then it could have been stopped before it got as worse as it did, so I'm to blame for that one.