Well, it all started one night when I was browsing through pictures of ear piercings on BME. At that time, I had a lip piercing, two navel piercings, 8 gauge lobes, 14 gauge lobes, and 6 other sets of piercings all along the rim of my ear. I wanted more ear piercings. When I saw the vertical tragus piercing, I fell it love with it immediately. I was very determined to get two of those done on me. I did not know if my tragus was suited for this piercing so I was a bit worried about that. The next day, I went shopping in San Francisco's Haight with my friend. The vertical tragus piercing was still on my mind. Since there were so many piercing shops around, I decided to go around and ask for the opinions of different piercers to see if it would be possible to vertical tragus piercings on both my ears. Unfortunately, all the piercers I talked to said it would probably be a bad idea since my tragus was so small. I was disappointed but still very determined to get it done.
At A Glance Author AFITheLostSouls2 Contact SingtheSorrowM03@aol.com When A month ago Artist Kerri Studio Zebra Location Berkeley, CA Flash forward one week: I was in Berkeley with my friend and I wanted to add to my ear piercing project so I went to Zebra to get a seventh set of piercings along my ear. While I was at the front desk, I asked if I could do two vertical tragus piercings. Sadly, the people there advised against it. I was expecting them to say that and I decided I would rather get the opinion of the piercer since they would be the one doing the actual procedure. I just moved along to the cash register to pay $25 for my earlobe piercings. (This is a good price because it includes two ear piercings and two piercing studs.)
I waited around a while in line. When my number was finally called, I went over to the piercing room. The piercer working that day was Kerri. She had pierced my lip a few months before and she also did a set of my earlobe piercings. I asked her if she could do two vertical tragus piercings on me. She poked around a bit to examine to my ear. After a few seconds, she said yes! I was so excited. So, she did my earlobe piercings and I left her a $5 tip. I said I would be back in a few minutes.
So, I went to the front desk to pick out two plain silver 18g curved barbells. I paid $83.30 total for two tragus piercings and the jewelry. I waited a few minutes in line again. When it was finally my turn, I got nervous since I had been told that tragus piercings are one of the most painful ear piercings. First, Kerri cleaned off the tragus on both ears with a cotton swab. Next, she marked the entrance and exit holes of the tragus on both ears. I could not see the marks since it was right along the edge of the tragus on both ears so I just decided to trust her and I told her to go ahead and pierce me.
She pierced the left tragus first since she said this one would be tougher to do. It did not hurt at all. The piercing went a bit slower than all my other piercings but it did not hurt me. Right after the needle went though, she quickly threaded on the jewelry.
Next, she did the right tragus. This one went even slower. I felt the needle going through my tragus but it honestly did not hurt. She commented that my right tragus was thicker. After the needle went through, she threaded on the jewelry. The barbell seemed to feel snug in the hole. She had to apply some pressure to get it through. It also took her a while to screw on the ball to the end of the bar since my ear was starting to swell. I thanked her and left a $10 tip.
I have had the two vertical tragus piercings for almost a month now and I have not had any trouble with them at all. I clean the piercings twice a day with piercing care solution. I have not soaked the piercings with salt solution as much as I should. It has not given me any problems though. Besides, it is hard getting a shot glass to form the suction around the tragus. When I tried, the salt water ended up dripping and soaking my shirt. The morning after the piercing, the entrance and exit holes were covered in crusted blood. That stopped happening after the second day.
If anyone in the Bay Area wants to get pierced, I would highly recommend Zebra. The people who work there are friendly and the piercers are great. I highly recommend getting pierced by Tim or Kerri because they are both awesome. If have any questions, feel free to e-mail me!