The following is a cautionary tale and a list of expenses that all should keep in mind whenever they do a piercing.
At A Glance Author WasabiTurtle Contact WasabiTurtle@bme.anon IAM WasabiTurtle When N/A I'd always liked the look of cartilage piercings, so I decided to get one. I'd previously gotten my ears and navel pierced with no problem, so I figured that cartilage would be little different. I picked a local skate-board shop that had a piercing studio attached. You might think, "Bad idea," but the studio was clean and professional with autoclave and trained piercer, so the choice was not as bad as it could be. I handed over my $50 or so to the piercer and got ready. We checked placement. I relaxed on the table. He used needle and cork method and put a captive bead ring through. The pain wasn't bad at all, definitely tolerable, and I went on my way.
That is when the trouble started. You see, I'm a side sleeper with very long, curly hair. Although I slept on the other side with my hair in a bun, my hair tended to wrap around the ring and pull on it constantly. My aftercare was also admittedly less than perfect, though I am sure I tried to keep it clean and free of debris. As a result, the ring never healed correctly, and instead formed a hypertrophic scar. But, I am getting ahead of myself.
What does never healed look like? I'll tell you: first, the back swelled up, then the front swelled up. On a weekly basis, the entire piercing would fill with blood and pus that I would puncture with a needle to get some relief. There's nothing quite like watching a sharp straight-pin disappear into a hole in your cartilage, followed by a burst of yellow-green pus and then a huge droplet of blood. The stuff PG-13 ratings are made of. When it wasn't swollen, it did look very cool, though I made the mistake of changing to a larger gauge ring too early. I'm sure that contributed to the demise of the piercing rather quickly.
After about a year of fighting with it, I developed two hard lumps on either side of the piercing. The back lump looked like a large swell under the skin, while the front lump looked like the piercing had inverted itself. Hoping that they would go away, I took out the piercing and let it close up. Also, by this time, I had grown sick of only sleeping on one side, since even slight pressure would cause an infectious flare-up. Unfortunately, this didn't totally alleviate my problem. The lumps shrunk somewhat, but stayed around. I got a few cortisone injections (insurance covered them , around 45 dollars apiece) and the lumps shrunk down.
Figuring I had learned from my mistakes, I got the other ear done. Same studio, though this time I went with a curved barbell instead of a closed ring, but it didn't matter. This piercing only lasted six months until I got sick of it and took it out. The infections were even worse on this side. Once again, two lumps formed. I took out the piercing in the hopes of stilling the damage. Unlike the other ear, however, these lumps stayed and grew. And grew. And grew.
Eventually, I had a mass the size of a lima bean protruding from the side of my ear. It was rather disfiguring and I became very conscious of it whenever I put my hair up, which was daily. It was a reminder of what a moron I was to do to the same stupid thing not once, but twice.
Lucky for me, I have sinus trouble. (Huh? Keep reading!) I tend to grow things in my nose called nasal polyps. I've debated piercing them, but no luck. Anyway, during my visit to the otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat doctor), I showed him the mass and asked if he could remove it. Since I would be in the office for another procedure, he was happy to remove the lump for me, along with clearing out my sinuses with a huge tube.
So, one fine winter morning, over a year since I'd taken out the ring, I went to the doctor to have my lump removed. He pumped the ear full of anesthetic and cortisone, repeatedly poking me to make sure that the feeling was gone from the area. Then, he took a scalpel and carved out my error in a single fluid movement, leaving the lump of tissue on the table for me to poke. It felt like a cold jelly bean, which until only minutes before had grown on my ear. He said that the wound was too large and shallow for him to stitch, so I should just keep it covered and treat it seven days with Bacitracin and seven days with cortisone cream. Total cost: well over $1000 for his time, the drugs, and supplies.
The healing was more painful than the piercing. This was a large area of skin and tissue that had been sliced open, with only a Band-aid and a coat of ointment to protect it from the air. I was in constant throbbing pain on that side that kept me from sleeping comfortably for a week. It was diffuse and burning and did not abate even with the aid of painkillers. In addition, the whole thing looked disgusting. I had a massive black crater in my ear, a scabby oozing mess of blood and lymph, that showed through even the dense cotton covering.
After about four weeks, the pain went down and the scab fell off, leaving me with only a slight indentation, much to my delight. But that delight has been short lived. It is growing back. The scar tissue has been expanding a bit and where there was a crater is now a slight raised area. I've been given steroids to apply to it, but something tells me I'm going to be back in the doctor's office before long to have him slice another hole in my ear.
In total: $100 for two piercings, $1000+ for recovery costs, not to mention pain and disfigurement. Plan your piercings, kids, or this can happen to you.