As far as I know I've always had an interest in piercing's, the only reason I didn't indulge in the modification of every part of my body sooner was the fact that mother dear isn't that keen on the whole punching-holes-through-oneself-and-sticking-pieces-of
At A Glance Author twisted_sound Contact twisted_sound@bme.anon When Six months ago Studio Tattoo Marks Location Ashford, Middlesex -metal-in-you...um... theory. Furthermore, when I had pestered her for about a year she laid down the guidelines that I could absolutely fill my ears with piercing's, but no where else or I wouldn't have a home!
So there began my quest... after having 3 lobe piercings and a helix and inner helix in each ear I was looking for something a little more interesting. Although I finally decided on the anti-tragus for my right ear my major plan is to get a snug and inner conch added to this ear and a vertical tragus and rook in the left. So without much significant deliberation a date was set and after college I travelled to the studio, with a subdued mother- the only moral support-er I could find! I chose to go to TattooMarks basically because it was the nearest place that did anything but the standard piercings, and I had gone there for advice when some scar tissue and a bump had developed on my right helix.
I'd phoned the piercer earlier that day and as soon as I got there I got seated with some forms to fill in about consent etc then it was to the small studio directly opposite. When the piercer asked me what I wanted done I pointed at my anti tragus and at first there was a little confusion because she though I wanted my inner conch done, but without a lot of hesitation she realised her mistake and her eyes gleamed as she exclaimed what a perfect rim I had to my anti-tragus. While she put on gloves and got the tools ready she carefully explained the procedure and how it would feel a little uncomfortable when she put the clamps on my ear and that it might be a little fiddly when inserting the jewellery but other than that, we were ready. She marked up my ear and showed me the pen marks in the mirror, it was quite close to my tragus, so thinking I might want that pierced at some point I asked for it to be moved up. After this had been done the clamp was put on, which, to be honest didn't feel too uncomfortable, then on 3 she pushed the needle through my ear slowly, she kept reminding me to keep my head turned to the side and to remember to breathe. Once the needle was through she quickly and easily but a 16g barbell through and screwed on the ends. I'd say that it didn't really hurt that much at all, about a 5/10 in terms of pain. I looked at my new anti-tragus piercing in the mirror and, I know this is a cliché, but immediately loved it; apart from a few drops of blood it looked amazing! Afterwards she went through aftercare for which she gave me a leaflet and explained that I should come back to get it checked out in about a week, also id probably get it changed for a smaller barbell then if healing was going well because the one at present was long to cope with swelling; all this would be for free. So I paid the lady (£20) and went off to eat.
I was feeling pretty good for about half an hour, I was doing fine and me and mum were sat on the bus stop when things started to go dark all around me and my head started to droop, before I knew it I was on the floor being slapped repeatedly, which I think my mum thoroughly enjoyed, and wondering why I was being woken from a good sleep. I've never fainted before and it wasn't a pleasant experience, but I've heard it can happen with piercings of this sort. On the bus I was in a cold sweat, and walking home I felt weak and shaky but after a couple of painkillers I felt ready to attempt to clean my new piercing for the first time. This involved washing hands with antibacterial soap, spraying my ear with savlon, a wound wash, and using a cotton bud to wash all areas of the barbell without moving it too much, then washing excess solution off.
Week 1: The first few days the piercing was swollen and sore and bled a little bit when I cleaned it but two savlon rinses and 1 salt soak a day made the bruising and swelling go down in time for going back to the studio. It didn't really hurt at all by the time I went back and the barbell was so long due to my ear being normal sized that I could easily push it back and forth to clean the piercing properly. As I was cleaning my ear the morning I was set to return however the bottom ball fell into the sink and, you've guessed it, straight down the plug hole! Thankfully the length meant I was able to push the top ball down so the piercing couldn't close up. The piercer was happy to replace the ball and the barbell at the same time and said how well it was healing, which I was happy about! She did this barbell up with a lot more care!
1 month later: The healing was going fine, I was still doing the savlon and salt soak routine everyday when I went to a gig and got my ear knocked. Waking up in a hung over state I realised my anti-tragus had bled during the night and was yet again swollen. Using a 10 minute salt soak I made the swelling go down considerably but to my horror within the next week a bump developed on the ridge of my anti-tragus, next to the top hole.
Although over the next month this bump went up and down, being painful at times, especially when I'd smile; discharging considerably at others, it refused to go away completely. No matter what I'd do; regular salt soaks, good old savlon, non cosmetic vitamin e, tea tree oil, but nothing seemed to work.
However, after 4 months of trying desperately to heal the piercing it began to settle down when I used the LITHA method. Soon after I got the barbell changed to a 16ga CBR, which had previously helped my helix to finally heal, and I haven't really had many problems since. When I got a new conch piercing in my left ear and had to sleep on my right anti-tragus-adorned-ear for a good 3 weeks so as not to disturb my fresh piercing my anti-tragus got slightly swollen again, but an occasional salt soak sorted that out.