I had my rook pierced over a year ago now, but due to an over-zealous hairdressers assistant rubbing my ears with a towel while I was having my hair cut, it got infected and needed to be taken out as the infection caused it to migrate. I was really gutted cos I loved the attention it brought me- all my friends really loved it and some of them even copied it themselves (wannabes hehe). Anyway, I was searching for something similar for that ear and kind of had my heart set on a snug after trawling through page upon page on BME, but when I went to the local Blue Banana (I don't use any of the other piercing studios in Cardiff) they told me as that area of my ear was very shallow, it would probably grow out within months of having it done. I kind of forgot about having a new piercing after that- I'm in my second year at Uni so the exams that I had to sit obviously took precedence (plus the fact that my loan was almost spent!).
At A Glance Author lola Contact lola@bme.anon When A month ago Artist not sure of his name unfortunately Studio Blue Banana Location Cardiff I quit my job in readiness to go back for my final year at Uni a month ago, and the large pay-packet I'd earnt over the summer was burning a hole in my pocket so I thought I'd have another look around at what I could have shoved through my ear. I thought about having another rook piercing, but the way in which the previous jewellery had migrated meant that a kind of notch had been made in that part of my ear cartilage so any further jewellery would probably migrate out quickly. Finally I decided on an anti-tragus, but I wanted to get it done with a bar because I thought it would be easier to sleep on and heal up.
I dragged my boyfriend (again) along to Blue Banana and they agreed that it would be better with a bar, but it would cost more. After the obligatory signing of forms and handing over of cash, I went to wait in the little seating area near the studio door. Some kid was waiting there with his mother to get his helix pierced so I had an even longer wait to psyche myself up-feeling oddly nervous this time around (even through I never usually get the jitters).
Finally the guy who had served me on the counter went in and autoclaved my jewellery and set up all the equipment. I think I was slightly more nervous because I'd never seen him in the studio before, just on the counter; whereas all the other staff I had either been pierced by or watched one of my friends get done by them. I really didn't need to worry though as he was very professional but still friendly-he explained the procedure to me in full, and chatted to me while he was getting ready to insert the needle to get me to relax. He even helpfully pointed out that my anti-tragus stuck out freakishly- like my tragus it's quite prominent-which really helped calm me down cos it made me laugh. Like the rook I was expecting major pain, but actually when the needle went in it was more of a hot burning sensation, followed by slight irritation when he fed the bar in. To be honest the most discomfort I felt was when he was trying to screw the ball onto the end of the bar- kind of fiddly to do when you're wearing rubber gloves. When he passed me the mirror to check it out I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't bleeding (usually it gets really messy) and wasn't red or sore. The guy checked that I knew how to keep it clean and told me to come back in two weeks to have a smaller bar fitted.
Everything was fine for about three days-I even got drunk at a house party that same night and there were no problems from accidentally bashing it at all. I salt soaked it twice a day and bathed it once a day with the tea-tree oil they helpfully give you free with your piercing. However, on the fourth day after I'd had it done, I woke up to find all manner of crusty nastiness had infested my ear. I still wasn't too worried- I get infections really easily and they tend to go down within a day or so with a good cleaning regime of 4/5 times a day. However, within about 24 hours I was in agony-my anti-tragus area had swollen so much that the jewellery was too short to accommodate it and it was pinching against the balls on either end of the bar.
Usually the Cardiff Blue Banana isn't open on a Sunday, but from about the week before I had the piercing they'd started opening up for a few hours so I was in luck (otherwise I had another 24 hours of agony to endure). When I got there I explained to the guy what had happened and he changed the bar to the longest they had in stock (which is the same size as the one I have in my navel). He also recommended that I use ice to get the swelling to go down, as well as over-the-counter ibuprofen. Coupled with a cleaning regime of washing with salt water 4 times a day, followed by Dettol spray antiseptic (they've brought out a new one that has skin piercing on its list of applications on the back) it returned to normal within days, just in time for my 21st birthday; I suppose it would have been pretty awful to have been taking strong doses of painkillers on such a special occasion. I have however decided that that's it for the piercings; at least for the time being...but the tattoo side of the site is starting to look rather alluring...