Getting any type of body modification has never been a spontaneous decision for me. Before getting my tragus pierced, I contemplated the decision for months, looked up pictures, and thought through the consequences -- something I'm glad I did. I have an internship in a fairly conservative corporate environment, where my dyed hair already makes me stand out. I fence competitively, for which I have to wear a helmet that bumps on my ears. Finally, my family tends to disapprove of piercings; I had to beg my mother to allow me to pierce my earlobes for the first time at the age of eleven and have received nothing but displeasure at every subsequent piercing. At the time, I had two lobe piercings in each ear and my left rook and helix pierced. Making the best of the situation, I decided to wait until fencing season ended but before my internship started, let my parents think what they would. It was my decision to make.
At A Glance Author Lisa Wray Contact Lisa Wray@bme.anon When Three months ago Studio Spiderbite Location Manchester, NH For the actual piercing I went to Spiderbite, where I've gotten all of my piercings done to date. Their studio is roomy, brightly lit, and peopled with enthusiastic and competent piercers who can be seen poring over the latest mods on BME in their free time. I explained that I wanted the tragus on both of my ears pierced, supplied my ID to be photocopied, and filled out and signed the required forms. The procedure wasn't new to me, so I was barely nervous. The piercer took me to the rack of jewelry and suggested small 18-gauge captive bead rings for the piercings, which I agreed to readily -- all my other ear piercings had been originally done with similar jewelry. I lounged on the leather couch, hardly nervous, while the jewelry was sterilized.
The actual piercing went less smoothly than others I've had. The piercer cleaned my ears, marked dots, and prepared needles, corks, clamps and pliers, changing and donning gloves at appropriate times. The problem came when performing the actual piercing. Although I didn't hear a "pop" like some people have reported, I did hear the needle as it pushed through my cartilage. Inserting the jewelry hurt a little, too, but not badly. The second ear was the problem. After clamping my ear, the piercer inadvertently pricked me painfully while lining up the tip of the needle, then pushed it through more slowly than the first piercing. Whether because it was the second piercing and I was more focused on the area than before, or whether he did something differently, it was much more painful. Once the jewelry was in and the blood dabbed away, though, both ears were completely free of pain. I was slightly unsatisfied with the size of the CBRs, which seemed to nestle awkwardly aga inst the lower ridge of my ear, but I was so taken with my new piercings that I let it slide. After all, I figured, it was only temporary jewelry!
As it turned out, my aesthetic concern soon transformed into a medical one. In the weeks to come, the size of the CBRs made them rub against the lower ridge of my ear and wedge in awkward, painful positions while sleeping. Despite a dedicated aftercare regime, which I later expanded to include long hot-water soaks, I began to develop keloids on front and back of both piercings from the constant friction of the rings. A good two months after getting them, the piercings continued to ooze fluid and occasionally even bleed. Even the surrounding cartilage was inflamed and hurt to touch. I had difficulty finding comfortable positions to sleep and could barely stand to let someone touch my ears.
Three weeks away from returning from college and desperate for a solution, I finally pried open the CBRs with my fingers and put small studs in the holes. The sensation of relief was almost instant. The solution wasn't perfect, though: The studs were a "sterling silver" star and moon I had bought at WalMart for $3, probably 20-gauge if anything, and likely some cheap combination of metals. Even more, the keloids on the back of the piercings prevented me from being able to fit the butterfly backs on the comparatively short earrings. The studs often fell out, and (at least in the first week) the backs were sometimes entirely covered in blood or crusties. Soon, though, the swelling and keloids subsided. There was little to no pain or redness, the earrings spun freely in the piercings, and I was even able to ease one of the earring backs on, promising myself I'd do the other ear later that night. Finally, I was thrilled with how my ears looked.
Unfortunately, I woke the next morning after a night of drunken revelry to discover that the earring without its back had fallen out. I tried and tried to reinsert another earring, but the hole seemed to have closed up, and after much blood and tears I gave up trying to force it through. After all my care, suffering, and frustration, it seemed so unfair to lose a piercing this way -- not to mention the loss of $30. But there was nothing to do. I kept cleaning both piercings, one with jewelry and one without, and by now they're completely healed. One is beautiful with a silver star, and sadly, one is just a glossy pink dot of scar tissue.
Despite what I went through, I'm glad I did make the decision to be pierced. My tragus piercing is beautiful and could last the rest of my life. Surprisingly, I've gotten compliments on the little star in my ear from everyone from my mother to my boss. And despite the unfortunate accident and the misfitting jewelry ... it hasn't put me off piercings! I plan to have my left tragus repierced as soon as I can drive up to Manchester. Despite the jewelry snafu, the piercings themselves were done flawlessly and I would wholeheartedly trust Spiderbite to pierce me again. The end result -- those delicate matching glimmers on my ears -- will have been worth every second of pain and frustration.