It all began on the 30th June 05. It was the last week of my holidays and what I thought would be a perfect time to get my inner conch pierced. I had been seriously interested in getting this piercing for about a month. By 'seriously interested' I mean research, research, research and thinking about it 24/7.
At A Glance Author Leila Contact Leila@bme.anon When Three months ago Location Brisbane, Australia
I can't exactly remember the mornings events but I know that I dropped by the studio about 10:30am hoping that they would have a free appointment within the next 1/2 hr. Negative. Because of the holidays they were booked solid until 3pm. I decided to take the 3 o'clock; I couldn't wait another day!
3pm rolled around and I was calm as I entered the studio. After a friendly hello from one of the piercers I walked through to the waiting room. There were two girls of about 15 with their father- getting their belly buttons done and two other chicks getting their tongues downsized, they constantly clicked the bars on their teeth thinking that they were totally it! As soon as I sat down my nerves kicked in and I couldn't wait to get it done! After a short wait I was called in. We had a chat about aftercare and the placement (I wanted it fairly centered in my left ear), and he prepared- showing me the unopened, sterilized packages of the needle and bar. The piercing itself went very smooth, although there was a little blood. The pain was nothing like I expected it to be- much better in fact! Far less painful than my nipple. I too heard the little 'pop' noise that people often talk about when they get cartilage pierced. As soon as I looked in the mirror I was in love! (with my inner conch that is and Not myself!)I paid and walked out of there feeling excellent! The rest of the day went smoothly.
I was told to use mild antibacterial soap to clean it twice a day and dry it on a cool setting with a hairdryer. I had previously used this method on my nipple and it worked perfectly, so I trusted it would work again. (I have since read a quote saying "if you wouldn't put it in your eye, don't put it on your piercing ". I highly doubt that I'd use the antibacterial soap again- no matter how 'mild' it may be.)
The first two months went beautifully, no bumps or issues whatsoever. I didn't sleep on it at all- I went to sleep on my right side and woke up on my right side. Then one day I noticed a small lump. I knew not to panic because of my previous research. I still decided to visit the studio just to be sure.
I had never before met the girl behind the counter, she was about my age. At first she seemed quite nice but when I told her of my problem she down talked me and I felt like a stupid teenybopper asking about 'umm like my like belly button'. I walked out and went straight home to BME.
Between month 2 and 3 I also started to develop very bad habits. I began to constantly touch it, feeling if the lump was still there. I did it every morning hoping that it would have magically disappeared overnight! No such luck there. My cleaning also went down hill. The soap was drying out the skin on my ear. So much so that the little lump was constantly flaking. I decided to clean it once a day in hope that the flaking would stop.
Month 3 rolled around and panic set in. One night at work I looked in a mirror and noticed that the lump had grown quickly, it was the size of the ball on the bar! Although still annoyed from my previous visit I decided to go straight to my piercer. Luckily the chick wasn't there. He said it was likely to be an infection and to use the hottest water I could stand on a clean cotton ball twice a day. He suggested if I wanted he could alternatively REMOVE it! Not Likely. I decided to stick it out for another week.
Things went well during that week. It cleared up to just the tiny lump I discovered in month 2.
Then it happened again.
I started working every night and become lazy with my cleaning, just washing it in the shower because I was too tired to do anymore.
That was two weeks ago. The lump is nearly back to the tiny original size again and this time I am not going to discontinue cleaning no matter how tired I am!
Once it is fully healed I might stretch it up to about 4mm but I'll just have to wait and see!