I've always loved and wanted large gauge conch piercings, but was just too intimidated by the thought of a dermal punch to go through with it, well, up until about two and a half months ago. Finally, I started to feel as though it wouldn't be a problem for me, and decided that I would wait until I had returned from my vacation to go through with the procedure. My week away felt more like a lifetime, as I started to get more anxious to have either a 4 or 2 gauge hole in my right conch. On my third day back, I finally had a day where I was off work before Adorned closed, so I knew I had to go through with it then.
At A Glance Author Kim Contact Kim@bme.anon IAM fallen_starlig When Three months ago Artist Rick Gilmour Studio Adorned Location Calgary About ten minutes after I'd finished work, I found myself giving them a call, to ensure that there was some jewelry ready to go for me when I got there. By now, I was really appreciating the sushi I'd picked up while leaving work; it helped keep the butterflies in my stomach from turning into full-on jitters. Upon opening the door to Adorned, I was immediately comforted by the lovely, sanitary scent of cleaning products, just one of the many things about that studio that puts me at ease.
The jewelry that had been picked out for me was a pair of blue 4 gauge glass plugs, and it took only a few seconds to sell me on the idea of having the two plugs in my one ear, to balance out my other conch (three 13 gauge barbells). My only real issue with it was price, and with some button pushing and creative discounting (I'm sure) Rick presented me with a figure that was the exact amount I had on me. I filled out the consent form and was ready to go, more excited than anything at this point in time.
In the piercing room, I sat down on the doctor's bench as usual, as Rick proceeded to clean my ear and start marking the placement, showing me that everything they use is still sterile and single use. Knowing that I trust him fully, Rick didn't have to show me his markings for placement at all, he's the biggest perfectionist I know, so if it's good enough for him, its great for me too.
Lying down on the bench, I had already started the deep breathing, expecting this to be the most painful and intense experience yet. The bottom one was first, and by the time Rick was lining the punch up and telling me that I would start to feel a lot of pressure, he'd twist it and I'd be done, I was so lost in my own little daydream that, although I heard what he was saying, it meant absolutely nothing to me. This was the first procedure that I didn't hold my breath through, and that was the only thing I seemed to be able to comment on afterwards. We went straight into the second punch, because I knew that the longer I waited between them, the more it would hurt. This time I was much more aware of what was going on, and while it didn't hurt, it made the most disgusting popping sound I'd ever heard.
Soon enough, the blood (which I'm told was minimal, I couldn't feel anything dripping) was cleaned up, and I was ready to look at them in the mirror. With a few comments on how he should really adjust his mirror so I can actually see in it without standing on my toes, I got to see the beautiful work that had been done, the placement was just perfect, and I was so pleased with the jewelry as well (this was my first time actually seeing it). The aftercare I was given was just about the same as usual; sea salt soaks, cleaning the crusties off with saline and washing with an all natural soap in the shower, the only difference was that for the first three days, I was only to clean the crusties off, anything more would stop the clotting that my ears were trying so hard to do. I happily paid, and continued to float down the street in search of food.
Everything was feeling just fine until the third day, when I was out at the bar with some friends, and one looked over and noticed that my ear was full of blood. I quickly rushed to the bathroom to clean it up, and hoped that it would have stopped by the time I got home, but no such luck. At this point in time, the only thing that concerned me was the thought of blood somehow flooding my ear canal and causing me problems, to be honest, the amount of blood constantly trickling from my ear didn't bother me at all. Before going to bed, I made sure to cover my pillow in a few dark towels, just to make cleaning up in the morning easier. Unfortunately, in the morning, there was no sign of it slowing down at all, Adorned was closed that day (as they are closed on every Sunday, and Monday too) and I had to go to work, so I did the only thing I could do; put some tissue in it and hope that I wouldn't be dripping blood all day at work. The blood continued all throughout the night, and although a clot had technically formed overnight, it was gelatinous, filled my whole ear, and reminded me of my wisdom tooth extraction to the point where it made my mouth hurt. The clot actually really disgusted me, so I carefully took it out, also worried that it could cause some sort of damage to my inner ear. With an afternoon off, and Adorned still closed, I decided that I should at least humour my friends that were all freaking out and just go visit the doctor. He couldn't tell me anything that I didn't already know, and when he suggested that I take it out, I almost laughed in his face. While I was out, I figured that the least I could do was pick up some sterile gauze, as it'd at least be a little better for my ear than the tissue and toilet paper I was having to settle for. That night, I was sent home from my other job for bleeding too much, but finally got the bleeding to stop. What did the trick (even though all the pressure it required was insanely painful) was applying as much pressure from the front with gauze, and matching tha "\Ãw"ë t pressure on the back, but with an ice cube instead.
After all I had been through in those three days, the possibility of it starting to bleed again was something that I just didn't want to think about, so I treated it as though it were fresh and waited another three days before performing any sea salt soaks. Since then, I've been doing the occasional soak (nowhere near as often as I probably should), and have been cleaning the crusties off with q-tips soaked in saline, but aside from that, I've been leaving it alone and they're healing beautifully. Naturally, since it's only been two months, I still can't comfortably sleep on that side, and there's also a considerable amount of crusties that continue to form.
To anyone who is considering a larger gauge cartilage work, I recommend that you go for it. I had expected it to be so painful, but honestly, the two 4 gauge punches hurt less than one of my other 12 gauge conch piercings. The only other thing I can recommend is that if you start bleeding, don't wait for three days to apply as much ice and pressure as you possibly can, and of course, if you're ever concerned, visit or call your piercer, they'll have the best advice for you. Also, to anyone in Calgary, I recommend going nowhere but Adorned, it's the only place that I'll ever go to get anything pierced.