At A Glance
Author	cami
Contact	varsity21_michigan@hotmail.com
When	It just happened
Artist	claudio
Studio	Tribal Tattoo (www.tribaltattoo.it)
Location	italy (torino, moncalieri)

Ok.

This story doesn't have a very imaginative title but the only other one I could've put was "Fuck, that was painful"...so here goes.

I got out of school and I had the time and money to go get my conch pierced (something which I've wanted to do in a long long time).

My dad took me to the studio and waited outside the piercing room. I went there without calling or anything so thank god Claudio was free (well, he had like 10 minutes) so he said "Yes, sure, make yourself comfortable".

Oh shit. Now I really had to go through with this.

I sat down and he asked me what I wanted done and I told him a 4mm conch. He had only done a few of them before and not bigger than the standard 14ga. I showed him the placement and he agreed.

He looked at me funny and said "You do know that you're going to feel some pretty strong sensations right?". Very comforting. I tied my hair back.

He told me they didn't use big needles due to the loss of a lot of blood. Therefore he would be piercing my ear with a 14ga needle and tapering it to 4mm (6ga). At that point I was getting nervous but I could feel the adrenaline kicking in. I was shaking and trembling but tried to relax myself while squirming on the dentist's chair.

Claudio autoclaved the jewelry and took a needle and a taper out of sterile packages and put them on the table he had previously cleaned and covered with a sheet of medical paper or something.

With the needle in his hand he examined my ear, positioned the needle....and pierce. I felt a small pricking pain, the needle going through, and heat.

"Well that wasn't so bad was it" (Claudio)

"Hmm."

At that point (as he was getting the taper and lubing it up) I felt really, really nervous...it looked fucking huge. And the conch piercing didn't hurt so much but damn I really thought about backing out of it.

Thankfully Claudio's a great guy (I know him pretty well) and he told me not to worry, to take all the time I needed, to breathe in and out, and not to worry.

"What if I can't make it?"

"There's no reason why you shouldn't make it. All you need is to want it. Keep thinking, I want it, I want it, I want it..."

Those were wise words, they made me more focused and more determined. The other tattoo artist Renato (who was working nearby) and the guy he was tattooing both looked at me now and were encouraging me. Hahah, how sweet. I told him to go for it but to make it as quick as possible.

Claudio positioned the taper behind the needle. He then pushed. Fucking hell. He pushed and pushed and it felt like my ear was tearing and a tremendous amount of heat rushed to my ear and all around, and it was throbbing. The more he pushed the more pain there was...you know when something gets worse and worse you just not feel it as much in the end?? Well, that was it. By the time he was finished I felt like my ear was, well, in pain, boiling and throbbing like crazy...but somehow I couldn't really connect with the pain. Maybe it was the adrenaline. He asked me if I was ready for the jewelry. I told him I needed a break and he told me not to worry and that he was proud of me. Taking a break= mistake. The more seconds that passed the more pain I felt.

After a while I said ok so he took the jewelry and I guess he hadn't slid the taper all the way through because he pushed more and I felt some excruciating pain and then he got the jewelry in. Oh my God. Definetely the most painful part of the procedure.When he rotated the ring to get it in the right position to put the ball in....I felt like fainting. Then he rotated it some more and tugged in in various directions while putting the ball on. I was squirming a lot by then. I guess the adrenaline rush had passed.

I felt like I could hear less from my right ear. I felt like my throat glands on my right side were swollen and painful. The whole right side of my face and head felt like they were on fire and throbbing.

Claudio was talking to me, getting me to breathe and telling me I was brave and that he was really proud of me. He gave me an aftercare leaflet and talked me through it. Then he told me that ice helps and he gave me some (the liquid ice), and asked me if I wanted some sugar. I said yes and he gave me a little packet which I ate.

I paid 70 euros and left, after asking him some questions (healing time, etc etc).

All the way in the car it felt like the right side of my head was on fire, like something was gnawing and pulling at my very painful ear, and alternatively like the cartilage was putting enormous pressure on the raw hole. Yeah, ouch.

I got home and it had somewhat subsided but it still hurts like hell now (4 hours later). I can't imagine what it will be like tomorrow morning.

Anyway this was my experience I'm sorry I can't write about aftercare or the progress or something because I only got it done today but I hope my story was helpful in some way.

Cami