It feels really weird typing this out and I'm kind of exhausted, but I'll do my best to keep you entertained and my grammar fresh.
At A Glance Author Lydia Contact Lydia@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Mark Blanchard Studio Pino Brothers Ink Location Cambridge, Mass I got my left conch pierced on the 30 October (it's 3 Dec) after a few weeks of debating whether or not to get it. My mom wasn't too keen on it at first, but then she "warmed up" to it, to say the least. From the sixth grade to the eleventh I asked my mom routinely if I could get my lip pierced and last Christmas she let me get it done; apparently she and my dad, who was in Iraq at the time, discussed it and finally decided that if they didn't let me, I'd let my friend pierce it (she pierced my tragus in her bathroom...it fell out two days after I got my labret). Anyway, I think my mom was a little more comfortable to the idea of piercings after I got the labret and the healing went smoothly, didn't get ripped out/infected et cetera.
Besides, I was almost eighteen. Then I was just going to do it anyway.
Now, to backtrack a little: I had knee surgery over the summer and my labret closed up because the nurse was convinced it would fall out, choke, and kill me during the procedure, so she made me take it out. When I got home I looked in the bathroom mirror and saw that it was still open; so I took a nap. It was the anesthesia. Needless to say, it closed up, and when I went back to the place where I had gotten it done (Chameleon Body Arts, Harvard Square--Erin's a sweetheart), I was told by the piercer that I needed to wait six months before repiercing it because of what anesthesia does to your body. Buzzkill, yes. So I waited a little while before I got really antsy about my lack of any piercings since lobes just don't cut it. I contacted Pino Bros. Ink on Cambridge Street and was told that I did not in fact need to wait six months. I was a little concerned that maybe Erin was right (she's amazing and was one of the first licensed piercers in Cambridge, for those who didn't know) and I shouldn't get a piercing, et cetera et cetera. I was just too excited though.
So I get my paycheck, leave it in the bank a little bit, deciding on what exactly to get. I would have gotten my labret back in a second if it weren't for the fact that, after seeing my passport when I applied, my employer specifically said that visible piercings sans ears were not allowed; buzzkill 2. I poked around on BME and finally decided that I wanted my conch pierced. My whole theory is that if you see a piercing and you want it, but you feel kind of nervous about it, then you shouldn't get it--I had no nerves about the conch.
My friend lives down the street from Pino Bros so I was planning on getting it pierced while I was visiting; we went in and a really friendly guy who's name we never learned got Mark, the piercer. He was really tall, redhead, kind of goofy but kind of endearing. Like a cousin. He was nice, though, got the papers for me and then went to get everything ready. We were told it would be about 20 minutes, but it felt more like half an hour; in that span of time, I started thinking maybe I should have my mom with me (we're close), maybe I should wait. But, after I tuned out "Boondock Saints," it was alright and that was when Mark came back out.
The space where the "magic was going to happen" was really small, and when he stood at the counter, his ass was really close to my face (he's tall, I'm short and I was sitting down). Mark made the dot, told me to look in the mirror behind me, I said it was good, and he went through the breathing. One: breathe out, two: breathe in, hold, three: let out and the needle will be through. I got kind of nervous and when he told me he was putting the needle to my ear, the tip was kind of surprising. I did the breathing and felt him pull on my ear, press the needle and BAM it was through. I kind of smiled and said it was oddly refreshing, which made Mark chuckle and say, "What's that?"
"It's oddly refreshing. It wakes you up. It's really surprising."
After reading some other stories here I assumed I'd hear a crunch as it went through, but I heard more of a quiet pop and it was almost like putting a knife through soft butter, really easy. It's hard to explain.
As well, I thought it was going to hurt. Now, I'm a big wuss when it comes to pain--I hate getting blood drawn, I hate shots, and I have a phobia of IVs--but it really didn't hurt, you couldn't really feel anything. The only time it DID hurt, though, was when he pulled the needle out and put the barbell in, and even then it was very brief. When I went to pay he gave me this stuff called "XPression Piercing Aftercare" that I was supposed to spray on twice a day in the morning and at night. I paid and I felt really bad because I had exactly one dollar over the amount and I needed it for bus fare, so I didn't tip (I know, I know...). After this my friend I walked to the Square and I kept asking her if it was bleeding because it seriously felt like something was running down my ear and she had to keep saying, "No, it's not bleeding, Lydia." Bless her heart. I was worried, though, because, once more thanks to BME contributors, I thought it would bleed. But it didn't.
So far it's healed really well; I've never had an cartilage piercing before other than the tragus (but the needle didn't actually go into the cartilage: that's why it fell out), so it was kind of hard to get used to. I tend to tuck my hair behind my ears all the time, and I kept hitting it all the freaking time, which really hurt at first, and even a week afterward it was really sore and so much so I was worried I'd have to take it out. One problem, though, was with the XPression stuff. I was a little curious about it because it's for both internal and external piercings, smells like peppermint, and I've never heard of it. It was going really well for a week, but then a little red patch showed up on the outside of my ear on the outer cartilage. Since it's Massachusetts and the weather was really windy and starting to get dry, I assumed it was just my skin getting dry. Oh no no. Like two days later I felt the back of my ear and it was hard; I thought that it was crust (gross) or something, but when it didn't come off and started to itch, I immediately assumed it was an infection. I told my mom and we deduced that it was because of the XPression crap so I switched back to the Blairex saline wound wash that I sprayed on my lip when it was pierced and it went away after about a week of peeling and being nasty, and now all is well.
I'm coming up on the six week mark (next Sunday) when my conch is "healed" and I can get the barbell changed. My plan is to have Mark change the barbell (advice I got when I changed the labret for the first time) and tip him then and apologize for being crass. My mother and I decided not to tell my dad since he had only been home a little over a week and we didn't want to give him a heart attack or anything; he hasn't said anything, though. He's not completely clueless, and I've sat with the left side of my head toward him and have pulled my hair back enough times for him to notice. We're pretty sure that he knows, though, because a family friend said something regarding it a few days ago, as did my sister. But all is well. If he had a problem, he'd say something.
I've gotten nothing but compliments on it. All of my friends except for the one who pierced my tragus in her bathroom with a sewing needle (much love) made a really painful expression and said "OW" in varying forms when I showed them.
So yeah...there you have it. Hope you didn't fall asleep.