I've been in love with piercings for almost as long as I can remember, and ear piercings, especially cartilage, were some of the first to capture my attention when I stumbled upon BME several years ago. I have quite a few other piercings, including my septum, vertical hood and an bunch in my ear and decided recently that it was time to go for it and get one I had been waiting for for awhile now, my inner conch.
At A Glance Author ashley Contact ashley@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Tom Studio Staircase Tattoo and Piercing Location Santa Cruz, Ca I've gotten all my piercings (and tattoos) since moving to Santa Cruz at Staircase and have nothing but respect for the shop and everyone who works there. I went in a few months ago to talk about potentially getting my conch dermal punched. At this point I didn't have a lot of extra money (not that I do now) and was still just toying around with the idea. I asked Tom whether he did dermal punches and if he could do my conch in the future and since I have a fairly good relationship with the shop he said he could do it for me, I'd just have to let him know in advance so he could get the tools and I'd need to order the jewelry. I wanted to go with titanium because I've had less than great luck with stainless steel in the past, and also because it's a bit lighter, which I figured (and was told) would be more comfortable.
After this initial conversation, I put off talking more seriously about it for a couple months. I was going home for winter break soon and didn't want to be healing a fresh piercing (especially with my very anti-piercing mother around) and also didn't really have the funds (college and rent and all that..). I wanted the piercing so much though, and told myself I'd go in for it when I got back from break. Upon returning to Santa Cruz and realizing I was now faced with the immediate possibility of getting the piercing, I was excited, but slowly starting to realize how scary the idea of removing a part of my body (albeit and incredibly tiny one) was. I'm the sort of person who cries when I have to get blood drawn (seriously), so, although piercings are a whole different ballgame for me, it's easy to see how I was a bit nervous about this prospect.
Nevertheless, I went in last week to see if I could get it done, as Tom had told me recently he had the dermal punch, only to find out he wasn't working that day. I talked to the other piercer Todd though, and he was very nice and gave me some information and tips to facilitate healing. I went back the next day, ready to get it done while Tom was working. They didn't have the jewelry I needed in stock however and I had to order it.
The jewelry, and 8g titanium barbell, came in early this week and now all I had to do was wait until Thursday when Tom was working. I'd had a really stressful week so far (a new quarter at school, lost power in my house for three days, etc. etc.) and was beginning to get more and more nervous and preoccupied thinking of the piercing. It shouldn't have scared me that much, I know, but it was a procedure I had never had done before and it seemed pretty scary to punch out a little piece of cartilage. I kept thinking of how gross an idea that was and how much it would probably hurt and I've heard conches tend to bleed, so I worried about that too. I started taking multi vitamins every day to keep my immune system up as well as vitamin K, which is supposed to reduce bleeding.
I never quite lost sleep over it, but I really was unnecessarily nervous about it.
Finally Thursday came and I went in to Staircase after school with my housemate David for moral support. Everything was ready and I paid my money, signed the form and was given a printed and personalized aftercare sheet. I confessed my nervousness to Tom who assured me it would be "weird, but it's only a couple twists of the punch and then it's done". Finally it was time to get punched. I was led into the piercing room and lay down on a table while my ear was cleaned and marked. The mark was where I wanted it, low in the 'bowl' of my conch, and I was ready. By this point most of the fear had dissipated, I was just anxious to get the pain over with. The punch was placed at my ear and I was told to take a deep breath in and out. Sometime during this, the punch went through with a delightful cruuunch and I was shocked and excited to find it hurt no more than any other piercing I've had, maybe less than some. And it was over! A taper was put through and then the barbell, none of which I felt at all, and a few minutes were spent carefully wiping away the blood. I have no idea actually how much I bled, but I don't think it was much, and it was gone shortly. I was given sea salt and wished goodbye and went on my way, still with fairly little pain.
It's been about two days now and I've soaked it a few times and wiped the dried blood off with a q-tip. It hasn't bled at all since the initial piercing and doesn't hurt unless I'm cleaning it. I made sure to sleep with my head slightly elevated and to my surprise had a great nights sleep. When I woke up I actually thought it might have fallen out because I couldn't feel it at all. There has been hardly any swelling and I think it's going to heal nicely.
Overall I'm really happy with my new piercing and would highly recommend Staircase to anyone for any procedure. Now I know what it's like to be dermal punched and if it ever comes time to get it done again I know I won't have any irrational fears or overhyped expectations of pain or bleeding. Because it hardly hurt or bled.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me!