This can be linked back to my infatuation with tragus piercing. I once saw a woman with this unusual piercing on "The Third Wheel" and ever since I was deeply interested in it. Later I learned the name of the piercing, the tragus. It was beautiful. It was unique, just, had this sort of sophisticated thing about it that I loved. I wanted to have mine done.
At A Glance Author Bianca Contact i_killed_batman_@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Bryan did the piercing, unknown who fixed it Studio Origionally done at Lucky Devil, fixed at Planet Silver Location Barrie, then Woodbridge, both in Ontario, Canada That didn't happen for quite some time. Years went by and my urge to get it became more, but my fear of pain was what held me back.
I finally decided I needed to get it done one sunny day in August. My boyfriend, Stephen, and I were going to be heading to a concert out in Barrie so what more perfect time to get them done than in Barrie where his ex got all her piercings done! [BAD SIGN #1: Now looking back, I realize I shouldn't have agreed to someplace recommended by his ex-girlfriend].
We get there at about 4 on a perfect day. We were both going to get piercings we both dreamed of having [me, my tragus; him, his eyebrow]. We go into Lucky Devil and go through the whole routine of paying and such. BAD SIGN #2: It was get one piercing for $60, and a second on you for $10, or one on a friend for $30. I should have known there was going to be something wrong with these guys.
Stephen goes first. Bryan, the man who was piercing us, insisted on using rings to do it. Now, I've heard that rings were bad when doing a piercing, for it to heal correct and such. But he told me otherwise and I believed him because he was the one after all with the needle. Stephen cringes a little, gets a tad woozy, but all-in-all, he survives. I was proud of him. But now was my turn.
I was freaking out. He had my lie down because he wanted to go with gravity to pierce it. I don't know why, but that's the way he did things. It didn't hurt as bad as some people made it out to be, it was a sharp pain at first, one that made my eyes water and me crush Stephen's hand. Later when he was feeding in the jewellery, it was mostly uncomfortable, nothing else. It was done before I noticed and we both left with lollypops.
We went to a Green Day concert afterwards, didn't bump them into anyone, managed to not bump them into each other that much either. We were both terribly satisfied.
Now, about 2 weeks later, we both go back to get our rings changed to barbells because we just thought they looked nicer. Stephen was going to be off to University in one week, so we knew it was now or 2 months from now we do it. We decided to take a shot in the dark and go now with barely healed piercings. SO WRONG! The jewellery was changed with no problem whatsoever. Everything went smoothly, we were both much more comfortable, and things were perfect. Except I couldn't clean it now.
The barbell provided me with such minimal movement that I could barely clean it. That soon prompted me to become lazy and dread cleaning the tragus. Which leads us to my not cleaning it. Yes, I did the worse thing anyone could do, I just stopped cleaning it whatsoever.
Soon after this a small bumped form. I noticed this bump around the first day of school. I ignored it, it hurt, it bled, but I figured it was infected and would just heal on its own. I was being stupid, I have no idea what was going through my mind. Fast forward two weeks from that, when the bleeding goes down and I actually believe it might get better. It had stopped hurting and was actually looking better. I was feeling good about it.
A day later [TODAY] I wake up with the front of the barbell completely sunk into my ear. My tragus had eaten my barbell! I was freaking out. On top of this I was sick and had no one to really turn to. I emailed my boyfriend begging for directions to Lucky Devil in Barrie, with hopes of going to it on the weekend. I was furious with myself and my tragus. I was in pain, I was worried, and I didn't know what to think. All I was thinking was "Oh dear lord, what have I done?! I am going to go through the most excruciating pain of my life soon!".
I didn't cry, I stayed completely calm because I knew that if I stayed calm I'd be alright.
I get to school and show my best friend, Angela. She cringes and insists on her mother, who's like a second mom to me, to take me to Planet Silver right after school. I went along with this since I knew I needed to get this taken care of soon and it had to be today. It wasn't as if my own mother would have taken me to get it fixed, she would have said "I told you so" and left me in agony.
After school Angela's mom comes to get us and we all drive down to Planet Silver. The nice woman at the counter said she could probably fix it up. It cost me a nice $15 from the wallet.
We go to the back room of the place and she begins to take it out. I was whining and crying like a baby! It hurt so bad, I don't remember the last time I cried like that, the pain was unbearable, I was in excruciating pain and wanted it all to stop and go away. I was in complete hell. But then it was over. She pulled the complete barbell out from the back [small beads on the barbell] and cleaned it up. She gave me specific directions on how to clean it, and gave me a nice lecture on proper piercing aftercare.
I thanked this woman who I am ashamed to say I did not get her name. I left and headed off to work soon after I was dropped off at my house. I've been terrified to touch it, to even look at it the wrong way. I just feel so empty now. It was my favourite piercing of all-time, and now it's gone. It's nothing more than a large red bump on my tragus.
I feel like a complete idiot for not caring for it properly. I got what I deserved. I feel much better, just because I'm letting it heal, but I can't lie and say I'm not disappointed about the loss of money on this piercing. This woman who came to my rescue also took a look at my navel piercing [by my request] and deemed it pierced wrong and said I needed to take it out or else the infection was going to tear through the skin and lead to a huge infection.
So one terrible day, 2 loss piercings later, and I'm home, yet to clean my infections. I'm going to clean them right now.
Always clean your piercings. ALWAYS. Never want to take a chance and risk losing something you loved so dearly.
xo