For years ear piercings, especially those through cartilage have been my favourite piercings. I find them the least painful and the most beautiful. At the end of last year I had a few things to celebrate, I had finished high school and I was turning 18. I wanted to treat myself so I decided to get another piercing. After much thought I decided to get a snug piercing, mostly because I've always liked them and also they are not very common where I am from. My cousin, who had recently gotten an anti-tragus piercing said it was a good choice and she was thinking about one for herself. The two of us have a lot in common and her agreeing that it was a good decision made me feel more confident that I had made the right choice.
At A Glance Author Natalie Contact natseb17@hotmail.com When A year ago Artist Jackie Studio Wildfire Body Piercing Clinic Location Cape Town, South Africa So one friday afternoon in December I went down to my regular piercing studio armed with a picture of what I wanted. My piercer said she would do it but would have to pierce it slightly lower than in the picture due to the shape of my ear. I said that would be fine and I chose my jewellary, a 14gauge straight barbell and then followed her into the piercing room.
She cleaned my ear and marked it, once I was happy with the placement she took out the needle and clamped my ear. She told me to take a deep breath before she pushed the needle through. I heard a slight crunching sound but the piercing itself was not that painful, i expected much worse. She handed me a mirror and asked if I was happy with it. She told me it looked "realy rad" and that I was lucky because she herself wanted to get one done but she couldn't because she had a very visible thick vein running right up her ear and it often caused problems with her piercings and a snug would be especially bad.
I hardly felt any discomfort or pain so I hung around for a bit of a chat and Jackie told me that if I have any problems at all I should come back without hesitation. She gave me my free saline and also a little "travel pack" consisting of q-tips and cotton wool because my ear was bleeding a little bit and I still had a few more things to do before going home. I thanked her again and I left feeling very pleased about my new shiny piercing.
But this was not to last. I first noticed there was a problem a few days later when I found it impossible to sleep on that side of my head.I knew that it should hurt a bit, I was used to ear piercings, but this pain was very sharp. Even if I touched my ear gently the pain was unbearable. Within a few days my ear had swollen to twice the original size and the area was red. Even though it was pierced with a slightly longer barbell to accomodate the usual swelling, both of the balls were now pulling into the whole making it even more painful. This came as a bit of a surprise to me because I usually heal very well and quickly.
It was a weekend so I had to wait a few days before I could go have it seen to. I continued to clean it with saline and did a few sea salt soaks hoping that they would help. I went back to the studio as soon as I could, Jackie wasn't there but one of the other newer piercers as there and she said she would take a look. It was a saturday afternoon and with the studio being in a busy mall the place was full of teenage girls getting there navels pierced. I took a seat and waited patiently to be called. When my turn came I walked into the piercing room and sat down in the leather chair. As soon as the piercer touched my ear it started oozing. She said it was definatly an infection and she took the barbell out. This wasn't an easy task as the balls had pulled in so much that it was difficult for her to get a good grip and the pain was incredible. She made a joke about how she'd hate to have someone tugging on her ear but I said I didn't mind it that much if it would help. She put a longer barbell in to help the swelling and suggested I use Bactroban to clear up the infection.
Luckily there was a pharmacy nearby in the mall and went straight there to but the ointment, the pharmacist reassured my mother ( she had visions of an ear amputation) that these things happen and that the Bactroban should help. I used it for a few days but it didn't help that much, and while there was an improvement the infection would not go away. So off I went to the family doctor. My doctor prescribed anti-biotics but as I expected he said I would have to take the piercing out if the medicine didn't help, but luckily after the second course of anti biotics, the swelling began to go down and the reddness faded.
For a few months whenever I bumped my ear while I was sleeping I would wake up to a swollen ear so i continued to use Bactroban whenever it swelled a little bit which it did for about 4 months on and off. I also developed a small hypertrophic scar on the inside hole but I treated it immediatly and it disappeared within a few days.
After a while the occasional swelling stopped and I have now managed to put a much shorter barbell in. The pain and discomfort was definatly worth it and even though my poor little snug went through hell it is now fully healed and looking great.