We were heading down the coast for a holiday at Easter time and I had to decided a fair while before it that I would get 2 ear piercings that I wanted while we were down there. Stupid move, getting 2 at the same time I found out later!
At A Glance Author Carls Contact lil_buggie@hotmail.com IAM Carls When Six months ago Artist Trace Studio Skin Yz Tattoo 'n' Piercing Location Coolangatta, Australia We had been there for a couple of days and were out one day having look around and I had come to the conclusion that I wouldn't be getting my piercings this holiday as I hadn't seen any studios so far so I just went and asked a hairdressers if they would do the half way cartilage piercing that I wanted. They said they only did lobes but there was a piercing studio just across the road, owned by a lady who was supposed to be really good. It wasn't very well advertised so I had missed it, but we headed straight over there.
The lady was really nice and asked what I wanted done, how old I was, whether I wanted barbells or rings and all of that crap. Because I was only 15 at the time Mum had to sign the papers. She told me normally she charges $50 for cartilage piercings but since I was getting 2 she would charge me $45.
I only had to wait a few minutes before she took me in. It wasn't like the studio I usually go to here where I live. The one at home has an actual room. This one just had a little curtained off section in the corner and the rest of the room was for tattoos. The counter and everything was all in the same room.
She told me to sit up on the bench while she closed the curtain and started getting all her things ready and asked which one I wanted her to do first. I said the half way cartilage because I thought it would be less painful and I am a sook!
After she had done the half way cartilage she asked if I still wanted her to do my tragus. I said "Hell, yeah!" She showed me all the little brown sterile arrows on the packages before opening them. I had sweat all over my palms from nervousness and the first piercing was still burning.
Once Trace had everything ready she picked up the needle and told me to concentrate on my breathing, not the pain. She put a piece of plastic tubing in my ear to stop the needle from going through the back of my ear once it had gone through my tragus. Then came the pain. She was really good at what she did. She kept telling me to relax and take deep breaths and letting me know everything she doing as she pushed the needle through. It did hurt but only as much as the first one had. I had expected it to hurt more. I sure wasn't complaining about it though!
Then came the problem part. Trace couldn't get the needle out. She had to wiggle it really hard and that hurt like hell but she finally got it out and put the little barbell in. When she was trying to screw the ball on she dropped it and couldn't find it again so she opened a new sterile barbell package, took a ball off of it and tried again, but that one didn't fit properly. She tried another one, which didn't fit properly either before finally finding one that did.
She ran through aftercare instructions with me: Let hot water from shower run on it then foam up "Palmolive Anti-Bacterial Soap" in the palm of your hand and cup it over the piercing then rinse it off and repeat with the other side. Then she gave me a lollipop, I thanked her, paid for the piercings and left with both my ears burning, but feeling very pleased with my latest accomplishment.
If I did it again I would probably only get one at a time and then wait for them heal before getting the other. My tragus has been a total bitch and I had to change the bar to a ring the other day for work (which I got Liam, my local piercer to do) and it bled everywhere. The half way cartilage was healed but not the tragus. It is about 8 months old now and should have been healed at 4 months, so I am questioning whether it was either the fact that she couldn't get the needle out of my ear or the fact that I got 2 done at the same time that has caused this. Either way I do not regret for a second getting them though. I never regret getting any of my piercings, even if I do have trouble with them. You win some, you lose some. That is just how it goes.