At A Glance
Author	Alysia
Contact	Alysia@bme.anon
When	It just happened
Studio	Hot Rod
Location	Pittsburgh, PA

Alright so I just got back from getting this done so I am totally excited and ready to spread the word about dermal punching!

Aren't new mods awesome?? I dare you to say no.

So, I guess the cartilage thing all started 2 years ago more or less when I got a 14 gauge Industrial rod in my left ear, which I really liked, but it was always getting infected. I thought I was finally done with it acting up, but then I went to Brazil (where infection totally thrives) and it just got worse. So it was over, I finally took it out (this was after about a year). I've since been feeling very bored with my plain cartilage, nothing there and so much potential for change! So I'd been contemplating something new, however I thought that the industrial really hurt (always make sure they use internally threaded rods!) So I hadn't been in a hurry. I was totally spooked by the industrial experience and not trying to feel that agony again (I know, I'm a wimp), but lately I've really been getting that itch. (If you're reading this you gotta know what I mean). I just had to do something!! :P

So I went in to Hot Rod today. I go in all the time with a friend of mine, we're always contemplating new mods. Its a chill place, and we always end up spending an obscene amount of time talking to the guys who work there and not really getting anything due to lack of funds. Today I had intentions of getting a plain hoop or something. I thought I'd play it safe this time, something tame (silly me). So we looked around, chatted, checked out some magazines, lamented the perils of being a poor college student, all that great stuff we do all the time.

One of the guys who works there, however, has just about everything pierced, including two dermal punches in each ear (one pair is 00, Im not sure about the other) which I have admired for a while, but I was positive it must be the most painful thing ever...

Punching a hole in cartilage?? This has gotta kill like crazy, I thought...

So we got to discussing it, and he insisted that it isn't nearly as painful as all the specifics would lead you to believe. I have practically no piercings, and have wanted something different for a while now, so I decided that maybe I should just suck it up and go for it. My piercer informed me that they are the only shop in the area who does this particular procedure and that he's only done it on a limited number of guys and never done it for a girl, so naturally I was sold. :P

So, after holding several glass plugs up to my ear, I decided on 4g (I have small ears). Im not one to get stressed out, but I have to admit I was quite nervous for this!!

I went to a nearby coffee shop for a drink and a scone first as I hadn't eaten for a while and though I've never passed out I've also never had a hole punched out of me so I thought it best to take this precaution.

So afterward I came back, sat down, and he marked some circles in my helix, a bigger one for the head of the plug and a smaller one for the actual hole. I gave it the AOK, and it was go time.

I laid there on the table, super freaked out by that scary tube he was about to ram through my innocent little ear, and then...

ouchie... (cutting through the skin and twisting)

CRUUNNCHH!!! (there goes the cartilage!)

Pop! (the plug)

Wow!!

it was over.

I am not supertough, I shook from the pain of my industrial for like a half hour afterward, and almost broke my friend's hand getting the tattoo on my foot, but..

This did NOT HURT. It just went numb!

My piercer says that this is because your body more or less freaks out from the size of the hole and shuts down the nerves.

I say: that is awesome.

So one more:

Ouch..

CRUNCH!!

Pop!

YAYYYYYYYYYY

He even showed me the little circles of my ear that he cut out.

Kinda gross but kinda cool (I guess you wouldn't get this piercing if you couldn't appreciate those little circles).

So its all over, and I think they look totally bangin.

So there you go!! Not scary. And Im so happy with my new little glass plugs!!

Though we'll see how they feel tomorrow when the numbness goes away..

(it'll be worth it.)

I highly recommend both this piercing and Hot Rod if you're in the Pittsburgh area.