For about a year now I have wanted a piercing my the upper part of my cartilage, however I soon noticed that a lot of girls in my school (I live in a small town with about three hundred people in the high school) already had theirs done, which would only make my experience into one of those dime a dozen things. I then began to fancy larger gauges, until my friend, Tyler, stretched his ear lobes to a 0 gauge, and I fell in love with plugs. It was around this time (about 3 weeks ago) that I decided to gauge my cartilage so I could wear earlets and small plugs. Now to convince my mother that this would be acceptable (she's a fairly conservative lady)-- this was the hard part, however being well informed about the procedure that you want done is to your benefit when talking to parents about getting body modifications done. Finally I dropped it on her the morning of a day we knew we'd be in Fargo, this way it would be harder for her to back out, and she agreed upon the terms that I pay for it, and never ask her to get another thing pierced in my life.
At A Glance Author Amy Contact Amy@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Ryan Studio DeadRockstar Location Fargo While in Fargo we headed into DeadRockstar, and filled out the forms and necessary material. Originally I was going to get an 8g, but the only thing they had in an 8g was a 5/8" diameter captive bead ring... however they did have earlets in a 6g... so that's what I decided on. Next, did I want it dermal punched... or it pierced... I thought the needle sounded far less painful; however they didn't have a needle in a 6. So if I really wanted this done-- a dermal punch was my only choice. Ryan assured me that the pain would be comparable-- if not less with a dermal punch because the cutting surface was going to hit at the same time, and it would heal better because there would be less pressure. So, another quick wait and Ryan came out with his hazely-brown eyes spread WIDE OPEN, kind of crazy like, and asked if I was ready... SURE THING!
Now Ryan-- Ryan has about 15 piercings on his face... So I figured he knew what he was doing. He then took me into the room, kind of like a doctor's office, only with more Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails posters on the wall. So there I was, no turning back (there was even a sign telling me if I "chickened out" they could not refund my money), freaking out in the inside, being asked by somebody that looked like pain was his favorite thing if "I was alright". Ryan really must love his job, because every time he was answering one of my questions his eyes would widen again... which kind of made me nervous, but also made me smile and feel at ease (finding a piercer that loves what they're doing, and is knowledgeable also makes this a positive experience). Prepping was the worst part because I started to get really nervous... Mapping out the veins in my ear was also a challenge, because I had two large veins right where I wanted it. He asked if I had ever considered getting my conch done, and I said I thought "it looked utterly painful and that my mother would think it was really obnoxious!"... It was out of the question. Finally we had it figured out, and he re-adjusted the chair so I could lie down and he could work effectively. My suggestion to anybody that wants this done and is nervous is to have everything explained to you as it is happening, and not to be told when it is about to happen-- this will only heighten your fear of the pain. So everything was explained to me, a cork was put behind my ear, and I asked for a towel to hold onto as the punch passed through-- and TA DA! Pain? Umm, not initially, when the punch was sitting waiting for the jewelry to go through it was a somewhat painful and fairly uncomfortable... that conversation went a little something like this...
Ryan Are you alright?
Amy: Yup!...
Ryan: Are you ready for me to put the jewelry in?
Amy: ... Will it hurt any less once it's in... because if you could make it hurt less right now that would be GREAT!
Then there was a little bit of pressure, and it was over. He cleaned it up, I got a picture with him and I was on my way. The pain is comparable to getting stitches taken out, it hurts, but it's not a really bad pain. And I love it! Another suggestion if I may-- dermal punching is not as scary as it sounds, granted I've never had a piercing done with a needle (My lobes were done with a gun when I was 9), but the pain was not bad at all, if you want a larger gauge done, dermal punching might be something good to at least consider. If anybody has any questions about getting large gauge cartilage piercings they should feel free to e-mail me.