Well, Hi everyone. I'm back. This makes number 20 piercing for me, as you can see in my title, and it is very very true what they say when they say piercing is addictive. I started my body mods years ago with simple navel and nose piercing (not including the numerous holes in my lobes - 4). In the past 3 months, I have acquired two nipple piercings, done my rook, my daith, and now The Conch.
At A Glance Author kezza Contact kezza@bme.anon When N/A Artist Paul Errington Studio Flesh Impressions Location Broadbeach, Gold Coast, Australia It was a week before christmas, and I was itching for a new piercing before the new year, plus I figured my regular piercer would be having some time off over christmas and new year, so I thought I would scratch this itch before it was too late.
I had actually taken a day off work the day when I headed down the Gold Coast to my usual piercing studio. Needed to finish off my christmas shopping without the kids tagging along, and I thought, this is a perfect opportunity to get my new piercing, but after this one I should settle done - yeah right!
I had a meeting in the morning (bummer), so when that was over I took the long drive down to Flesh Impressions at Broadbeach, Gold Coast to get my conch pierced. I was actually tossing up whether to go for the conch, or get a forward Helix (which is the next one I want) but Paul suggested I definately go for the conch to even up the piercings in both ears (that would make it 7 in each). The decision was made.
I didn't have to make an appointment with Paul, although, I did ring the week before to let him know I was coming down (I always like to do that). I walked in and was greeted at the door by Paul. I filled out the paperwork like I usually do while Paul got everything ready and said to come in whenever I was ready.
>From the really helpful suggestions from Lori St Leone here in Bmezine Q and A's, I decided to go for the barbell (I actually did like the look of the barbell the best anyway). Lori suggested she always pierces conches with the barbell as the ring needs to be a large diameter to accomodate swelling and the like, and tends to get bumped and knocked about alot which hinders the healing process. Thanks Lori, don't want a nasty looking conch.
Anyways, all that aside, I was lying on the couch chair thingy again about to have another big ass needle shoved through my ear. I was convinced this piercing would be really painful, all that cartlidge to go through, but I was pleasantly surprised. Paul shoved the needle through in one quick motion (forgot to tell you all, he did clean my ear several times first) sorry hehe, which made it so much easier to bare. If you get a piercer that prods and pulls and has a hard time pushing the needle through, it tends to hurt alot more.
There was a definate CRUNCH sound as the needle went through my cartlidge and came out the other side. He then grabbed the barbell and threaded that through, along with screwing the ball on. The whole process took about 1 minute, honestly. Didn't get a chance to worry about the throbbing in my ear or anything. It was great.
Now, Paul used a slightly longer barbell than you would need for a healed piercing in there to accomodate for swelling, but honestly, it wasn't that long really, so its all good. Once it is all healed up, I'm thinking a nice looking labret stud would look good in there, but was told to wait at least 6 weeks to 2 months before I do that, which is fair. Don't want to irritate it.
As for aftercare, I have been doing the same thing as I've been doing with my rook and daith piercing. I wash it in the shower, then spray some ear care solution Paul gives to me and give it a quick clean with a cotton tip to remove any gunk or dried blood if need be. I can't sleep on it yet, its only been a couple days, but I don't plan to yet, as I slept on my rook piercing a little too early and it got slightly irritated, but a few sea salt soaks and it works well.
So, if you are thinking about this piercing, I would say definately go for it. Everyone has different pain tolerances, but for me, this was not a painful piercing. My daith was a little bit worse because of the fiddling involved, and this one is a straight forward piercing (as piercings go anyway).
You won't be dissappointed. My next one is the Forward Helix, then I would love an Industrial, but not sure if work is going to agree with that one.
Happy piercing everyone!