My friend's birthday was about three months ago, and she decided to get her ears pierced (for whatever reason her mother had refused to let her do it before she was 18 because she considered it a sign of prostitution, but getting her rook pierced was okay?) I had never had anything pierced in my life, but always wanted to get something done. After a little bit of financial debate, I decided to get my lobes and my tragus pierced.
At A Glance Author Rose Contact mrose9308@yahoo.com When Three months ago Artist Billy Studio Blue Flame Location Raleigh, NC Blue Flame is the sorta "ritzy" tattoo and piercing salon in town, especially with the college students near which its located. The environment was very inviting and sterile, which was a huge plus. After Laura had her navel pierced and April got her lobes done, it was my turn.
Billy was a hilarious guy, very friendly and cocky in that asshole-wit sort of way. We talked through what was going to happen, and then he went through with it.
It didn't hurt at all.
I was always really paranoid about germs and crap like that, so I followed his directions exactly. My lobes healed up perfectly, but for whatever reason my tragus was being a son-of-a-bitch. It became red and swollen, three times the size of my other ear's. He had used a small captive bead ring, which I never really considered to be a problem.
Weeks went by and I continued to deal with the piercing being painful as all hell. Billy told me to only use saline solution, so that's what I continued to do. Eventually I was getting desperate. I didn't want to give up my $45 piercing that I had been waiting for years to get. I blamed the piercer, I blamed myself, I blamed everyone. I had two raised red bumps on either side of the piercing and, even after using a scalpel (my mom is a dermatologist) to lob them off, they came back in a matter of days.
I gave up, and I took the piercing out.
It was a matter of minutes before I tried to shove it back in there (t o no avail). Worried and wanting my tragus piercing back, I bought an 18g surgical steel barbell and slowly (painfully) shoved it through the piercing. I don't know if I managed to pop an abscess or what, but there was serious drainage that occurred. It hurt like hell for the first two days, but I used saline solution, antibiotic wash (fluid, not soap), and tea tree oil. Eventually the swelling went down, the two red bumps have withered away, and it barely hurts at all. I'm not sure what part of this made the dramatic change that it did, but I'm very, very grateful. Whether it was the switch of piercing or the actual act of placing it into the piercing, I'll never know.
Honestly, I wish that I had talked to a professional about it first. Maybe then I would have some idea of what happened and what I can do next time (there will be a next time) if it happens again.
Long story short: If all else fails, maybe changing the style of piercing can fix your problem.
It's been about two weeks since I've changed the piercing and, as it is, I have never had a problem with it since. The one bead fell off the end, so I'm having a little bit of an issue keeping it in... other than that it doesn't really seem that anything is going to go wrong. I highly suggest talking to someone about complications before taking a step so "drastic", but I felt that I really had nothing to lose. Worst case scenario: I would have to take the piercing out and lose the money that I paid for it.
Since then, I've talked to several people about the salons in Raleigh. While Blue Flame may be the most popular, they are not a part of APP, which can make a huge difference. I've heard that Warlock's is the place to get pierced in Raleigh, while Blue flame is far superior as far as tattooing is concerned.
I'm now considering getting several other piercings, as well as a tattoo, seeing as my 18th birthday is coming up in less than two weeks. Having such a weird experience with my first one is going to make a huge impact on how I take care of whatever I get done next (I'm considering my tongue). If you're in the Raleigh area and have problems with your piercing, definitely contact the original piercer and, if that doesn't seem to be helpful, Autumn at Warlock's specializes in puncture wound complications.
I consider the tragus a baby-step into the world of body-mod, which I'm more than happy to have taken. As much as my piercing may have hurt me for months, I have absolutely no regrets, except for maybe not shelling out the extra ten bucks to get a barbell as the initial jewelry.