Today, (November 7th, 2004) I got my anti-tragus pierced by Erin at Adrenaline. Rather than attempting to make this interesting, complete with flowery phrases and profound revelations, I'm going to do what I can to keep it factual and concise.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Erin Studio Adrenaline Location Vancouver
I've wanted to get my anti-tragus pierced for just under a year now. After trying to convince my parents for 9 months or so, they finally relented. I would be allowed upon turning sixteen. Well, that day has come and gone, and thus my story begins.
After going to my Gramma's house and loading up on sugar (to give myself a higher blood sugar level – of course, it was strictly to benefit the piercing) my Dad and I went to Adrenaline in downtown Vancouver.
I walked into the store to be greeted by a young lady who promptly handed me a clipboard (after I informed her I was here to be pierced.) Frankly, I was quite concerned this girl would be the piercer, because one of the first questions she asked me was, "Do you want that with a CBR?" For those of you that don't know, CBR's can be detrimental to the healing process, it's much easier for them to get bashed around since they're "sticking out".
Needless to say, a 16ga SSS barbell was used. I met my piercer, Erin. She washed her hands and changed her gloves multiple times, and before piercing me, we had a lengthy discussion about placement.
It turned out perfectly.
After she had marked my ear and I was lying down she said, "Okay, now take a deep breath in for me and let it out." Getting pierced didn't hurt nearly as much as I had expected. I actually asked her "Was that the clamp or the...?" "That was the needle, I just have to put the barbell in." My dad was in the corner taking pictures and cracking jokes the whole time.
So all in all, it didn't really hurt. I felt the "pressure" I've heard described so many times before, the "pressure" I never really understood until now. And after the needle was in my ear it felt warm or almost hot.
Erin was a great piercer; she made me feel relaxed and informed.
The only thing I would've done differently, is ask if the barbell was internally threaded. I still don't know, and that bothers me slightly, but I guess I'll find out eventually.
Afterwards we went shopping and I bought some 4ga black glass plugs and some purple thigh high fishnets.
It was fun. Yes, I would do it again. No, the pain wasn't that bad at all – I've experienced much worse. Despite reading, "To many people's surprise, it is also one of the most painful piercings!" in the Bmezine encyclopedia, what I felt would not be described as pain. Discomfort maybe, but not pain. All in all this was a great experience, but my anti-tragus is still healing so we'll so how it goes.
Day 1
I didn't do a salt soak tonight – I figured it'd be best to just leave my piercing completely alone so my body could deal with the initial shock of needle-through-cartilage-ness.
Day 2
I woke up at 5:30 today, my ear is slightly throbbing, no big deal.
Update – it feels better. I'm going to do a salt soak (1 cup water to ¼ teaspoon non-iodized sea salt) then hop in the shower.
Back from school now. Surprisingly no one reached out to touch my anti-tragus with their grubby little fingers. Ultimately, I was the one that ended up doing that – purely by accident.
Before bed I soaked my ear in hot water with a pinch of sea salt dissolved into it. Very refreshing.
Day 3
I woke up (at who know what time) to find myself sleeping on my "ear" side. I experience slight discomfort, but promptly switched to my other side and fell asleep again. I woke up on the proper side.
I did not do a salt soak before school as a result of time constraints and paranoia. My piercer recommended I do the soaks once daily as opposed to twice – and I'm worried that I'll do them too often.
I'm about to do a soak right now, before I have a shower.
Day 4
Did a salt soak before school this morning.
I've gotten quite a few compliments and positive comments, including:
"Did it hurt?" (Asked several times, often accompanied with a compliment.)
"It looks cool!"
"It looks really good!"
"It scares me..."
"It looks painful..."
Today has been pain-free and the only mishap was when I accidentally touched the piercing. I didn't bang it (thank goodness!) but it was momentarily sore after I touched it. It's fine now.
Month 2
I have a bump on the exit of the piercing hole. I tried using diluted tea tree oil to make it go away, but that seemed to only irritate it. The bump is slightly discolored.
Month 7
I still have that darn bump – but now I have TWO. Oh my. I'm really, really hoping that they'll go away after it's done healing. I've also had slight migration, as well as a jewelry change. (Changed the barbell to a retainer. It was unavoidable.)
Month 8
The bump on the inside is gone, the bump on the outside remains. I have a CBR instead of a retainer.
My anti-tragus is not healed yet, but it's doing better with the ring. It still gets crusties sometimes, it's less tender, and I still do sea-salt soaks sometimes.
I wanted to write this experience in order to give people a bit of an idea of how long it takes to heal cartilage piercings. (Sometimes.) Most experiences are written soon after a mod has been acquired.
Advice: Bigger gauge may be wise. (I found 16ga a little thin.) Barbells are not necessarily the best for an anti-tragus, because in my experience the ball kept getting caught on things. The CBR catches much less, and I think that really helps in the healing. Also, eat and sleep healthfully! This will help your body heal. Non-iodized sea-salt soaks are a great help, but do them longer than 3 min. 5 min. is a bit better. Don't forget to rinse. My excessive jewelry changes hurt more than the actual piercing itself. So don't change your jewelry unless you have to.
I love this piercing and would recommend it if you don't mind a bit of work!