At A Glance
Author	Manada
Contact	Manada@bme.anon
IAM	Manada
When	A month ago
Artist	Tom Brazda
Studio	Stainless Studios
Location	Toronto, ON

There are so few daith experiences written, so I thought I'd write mine – I'd hate for someone not to get their daith pierced because they couldn't find enough information on it!

I'd seen pictures of rings through the daith on BME while I was researching for my industrial, but it wasn't what I wanted at the time, so I didn't give hit much thought. The day I went into the consultation for my industrial, Tom spent a long time looking at my ear. I sat there for a bit while he stared, right at the point where I was starting to get a little self-conscious, he straightened up and said, "You have the perfect spot for a daith". I did a mental check – where was the daith again?! I think he saw my question and immediately got up to fetch a mirror and a spare ring to show me exactly how it would look. He set the ring in my ear and held the mirror so I could see – even alone it looked VERY hot. Then he used the end of the caliper to show me how it would look with the industrial barbell through my helix – I saw the vision – it was perfect, they both looked like they belonged, and they worked with each other wonderfully. Of course there was a problem though – the daith ring would make it impossible to wear my discman earbuds. So that day we decided to go ahead with the industrial, and I'd come back when I was ready for the daith, presumably when I got new headphones for my music.

To be honest, that day I walked out not entirely sure I'd go through with the daith. The industrial was lovely, and it was high maintenance enough. That feeling lasted exactly a week. A few days after I got my industrial I was home one morning when someone tried to break into my house, needless to say the experience left me somewhat shaken. Shortly thereafter I decided the daith ring would become a symbol for getting over the trauma. I find my piercings all end up defined by the way they affect my life, but this was the first time I attached a meaning to one before I got it.

I gave the industrial almost two weeks to settle in before I was back in Tom's studio. We chatted a bit while he set his things up, and soon enough I was sitting once again on the table, swinging my legs. The marking of my ear tickled a lot, which surprised me, and didn't help the process go any faster! I did my best to sit still without squirming while Tom made sure everything was lined up and perfect. It was time!

I really need to "\Ãw€ë develop a personal procedure for my piercings, more often then not I just sit there, both embracing and feeling the needle make its way through my body. This is one where zoning out probably would have helped! I'm not going to lie, this one hurts! But my philosophy is that the pain is temporary, and it'll be over soon, so it's nothing to worry about. I think the worst part about this piercing is that it takes time to maneuver through the cartilage so that it's done at the right angle, and it's difficult for the piercer because the area is so small.

The follow-through with the ring wasn't fun at all. Tom let the needle rest in my ear for a minute while he decided that the ring should be opened the other way for the easiest insertion, and I set about collecting myself. The actual insertion of the ring wasn't that bad, painful, yes, but mostly because so much was going on in such a small area. Putting the bead on was a breeze! Eventually, as my fingers slowly began to unclench themselves he was cleaning up the blood with a q-tip and proclaimed it to be "sitting perfectly". We got out the mirrors and again I saw proof of Tom's expertise, perfectly placed, lying flat, even the bead was in the perfect spot. I paid Tom, and we chatted for awhile about unrelated things and eventually I was on my way. I did ask if there was anything special I should do for it in terms of aftercare, but Tom's response was just to continue what I had been doing for my industrial and they should both continue to heal just fine.

That afternoon I left Tom's studio with an endorphine rush that just kept getting better and better. I literally walked around grinning for the rest of the day – it was unlike anything I've ever experienced. I soaked my ear that evening and went to bed.

A synopsis of healing:

Day 2.
-I could feel my ear swelling a little, and I was hyper-aware of the ring near my ear canal.
-Soaking means that water inevitably gets into my ear, this is annoying, but I haven't found a solution yet.

Day 3.
-I woke up this morning and my ear was more swollen then I'd ever seen it, concentrated mainly around the top helix hole from my industrial. I think I rolled over a bit when I slept, but I'm not entirely convinced that the new hole didn't have something to do with it as well.
-Discovered some dried blood in my ear around the entry point. But I haven't had a problem with pain or anything
Day 5
-I have an itchy in my ear, it's driving me crazy!
-My helix is still swollen – but the daith ring isn't bloody or sore so I think it's an unrelated issue. Luckily the swelling is going down little by little.

3 weeks later.....
The damn thing's a little irritated right now – I think it's because I've been stressed lately and not being as good to my body as I should be. The ring also seems to be settling a little bit, and now tends to end up rotating itself during cleaning. I was soaking the other day, and the ring rotated itself, and I caught a glimpse of a HUGE chunk of lymph stuck to it, softened by the soaking, but still stuck...SO for the past couple of days I've had the mirror out while cleaning, along with a few q-tips. I've been cleaning the ring as best I can without rotating the ring or anything that would just make the situation worse. Once again, I'm on twice a day salt soaks – Hopefully it'll clear up soon.

At almost a month old –
So...I think I was PMS-ing this week or something because ALL my piercings freaked out for a couple of days – the daith was the worst. Mostly I think this was because it rarely gives me any trouble, and for a day it was swollen, and VERY sore, for a few hours I even described it as burning. I have no idea what happened exactly, but today when I woke up the swelling was GONE and it was fine so I'm going to chalk it up to hormones or something because all of my other piercings were acting up a little.

It's an easy piercing because it's unlikely to get knocked, but you have to remember that it IS a cartilage piercing, so the healing experience can be long and interesting. Here's what I do for aftercare:
-Warm water sea salt soaks (1/4 tsp of salt/cup of warm water, or 1/2 tsp of salt when the ear is ridiculously swollen) – I prefer cup-soaking when I have time, mostly because I like knowing that the stuff I'm washing off is being washed OUT of my ear.
-I carry a small spray bottle of the same sea salt solution for times that I'm unable to soak, for example if it gets knocked at work.
-I wash my hair upside down and make sure that the shampoo and conditioner don't run into the piercings
-I also wash my face and around my ear area with spectro-jel cleanser ONLY, to help keep other irritants out of my ear and the area clean.
-The rest is basically just lifestyle stuff, like making sure my cat doesn't sleep on my pillow, and doing my best to keep my body healthy.

If anyone is thinking of a daith – I hope my experience helped. If you're in the Toronto area, or willing to travel, I highly recommend contacting Tom . The first time I spoke with him I was very impressed with both the amount of experience and knowledge he has, as well as his ability to pass on this knowledge through conversation. In addition to this my placement has always been perfect and I walk away confident in his experience. Not to mention that the daith was originally Tom's idea – who knows what I would have ended up with without that suggestion!