It has been approximately 27 hours since I got my conch pierced. In those 27 hours I have seen both my parents' reactions, slept a night with it, bumped it while clothes shopping, and have grown hopelessly attached to the large shiny hoop looped around my right ear.
At A Glance Author miss_taken77 Contact miss_taken77@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Jeff Studio Dragon Slayer Location Muncie, Indiana It started a few weeks back. I had started to get the inevitable "piercing itch." I had gotten my first "real" piercing – my left tragus – (done with a needle at a professional studio) in March, and since my fussy tragus seemed about done with its healing, I thought about all the lovely ear piercings I had seen during my previous research. Since I live in a rather conservative household, ear piercings are it for now, but there's so many to choose from I think I'll live. Anyhoo, I settled on the simple conch. I much preferred the look of the CBR to the barbell, though I appreciated the fact that if I ever wanted to go more subtle, I could just slip a barbell in. Instead of going through the explanation of how my parents came to say yes, I'll just sum it up. My dad, who hates piercings but has the final say, simply said, "It's dumb, but what's the big deal? Go ahead and get it done."
Fast forward to Thursday night, aka Thanksgiving. My mom and I decided that since "my" studio was up in Muncie (about forty minutes away) we would go shopping at their mall (our's is pathetic) then head over to Dragon Slayer. It was my suggestion to go to the mall first, in hopes of avoiding bumping my freshly pierced ear on shirts (I am in desperate need of long sleeved shirts, but anyway, back to the story).
Friday morning rolls around and I am immensely enjoying my Chinese food on the way up to the mall. I made my mom stop at my favorite Chinese buffet, explaining that I needed a "buffet to go" so I had a full stomach and wouldn't get light headed when I got my ear done. We get to the mall, fight our way through mile long lines and call each other on our cell phones when we get separated amidst the gaggle of shoppers. After mild shopping success, we head out to the car. It hits me then that I'm about to get pierced.
Five minutes of crazy day-after-Thanksgiving traffic later, we're at the unmistakable white building that is Dragon Slayer. We went inside and went up to the front desk where we were instructed to hand over two forms of picture id each and fill out the standard white form. After signing away any rights I had to complain if something went wrong (which I gladly did – hey, it's not their fault if someone slacks off cleaning and their piercing gets infected!), I paid my $30 and waited. There was a guy who got there before us getting his lobes and eyebrow done while his (what I assume to be) girlfriend waited outside the room. The three of us (me, my mom, and the girlfriend) all paced the building. I tried to keep myself occupied by looking at the jewelry, but I was too jittery.
I hear, "Conch!" yelled and know it's my turn. I head back to the same piercing room that I was in for my tragus and climb up on the doctor's bench/table/seat/whatever. I have a different piercer this time, but that's fine by me. He puts on some fresh gloves and turns to me with a package containing a shiny new CBR and informs me of his suggestion for a 10 ga (this is after he asks me if I want a hoop or barbell). After I cautiously eye it I say, "How 'bout a 12?" After a brief discussion of my options and what he has already sterilized, he finds a misplaced twelve gauge in the 10 ga drawer and compares it to a fresh 12 ga needle to be sure. Sure enough, much to my relief, I can get my 12 ga CBR.
He has me stand up and take a look in the mirror as he holds the CBR into place on my ear so I can check the placement, and after I say it looks good to me he dots my ear, front and back, then has me check one last time. As he changes gloves he tells me to lay back and turn my head to the side. He sanitizes my ear with the familiar chilly liquid and then grabs the needle. Now, I am not a squeamish girl when it comes to needles, but I did see that 12 ga needle and it looked BIG. Keep in mind the largest gauge thing I have is 16.
Very unlike what happened when I got my tragus pierced (read that story here: http://www.bmezine.com/pierce/01-ear/A50318/earperfe.html), I am instructed to take a deep breath in, hold it, and exhale. In those few seconds I feel the needle tear through my skin and come out the cartilage, then I feel the rush of heat as my body realizes what's just happened. The pain was not bad, especially when you consider the thickness of cartilage it went through. It stung more than anything when it first went in, but it wasn't anything like I had anticipated. I would definitely say it hurt less than my tragus (which didn't hurt too badly either), and I experienced no pop or crunch like a lot of people report (apparently neither did my piercer when he got his done).
My ear remained warm as he fed the CBR through the fresh hole. He dropped the ball behind my back, but found it within in seconds and made sure he cleaned it off before he popped it into place. He took a moment to make sure I knew how to take care of it then said, "It's all done. Why don't you get up and take a look?" It was great, and I made sure I said so. I also made sure I could come back in a couple of months to get my jewelry changed if I wanted (I cannot do CBRs myself – I learned that the hard way with my tragus. Long story involving an MRI.)
The cold air felt good as we went out to the car, but later that night when I went outside to check our Christmas lights it stung like no other. It's going to take some time getting cleaning it down to a science, but I think I'll get the hang of it. As for sleeping with it, last night I slept with my hair pulled back and entirely on my left side and my back (in case you didn't figure it out it's on my right side) but I did bump it a couple of times. I just got the slightest dull pain that lasted a second. However, twice this morning when we went to our mall (I know, shopping two days in a row...) I bumped it while lifting sweaters on and off my head, and that was very unpleasant. I'm pretty sure that the saleswoman was wondering why there was someone squealing in the dressing room. Oh, and since I forgot to mention, yesterday after I got it done it was quite sore, but I took two Tylenol, and it wasn't bad. The only thing is my ear was completely beet red until I went to bed last night.
I know it's early to say, but I think it's going to heal up just fine. It's not swollen today, and although it was a little touchy when I dried it off from its sea salt soak this morning, it's not sore either. It's a little red near the hole, but it's not my entire ear like it was last night.
That's pretty much all I have to say. Hopefully I'll be back in a couple of months telling you the tale of a lovely industrial or rook or some other beautiful holes...