'Ello! My Name is Danny! First of all, my anti-tragus was and is my fourth and most recent piercing. My friend Andres owns a body piercing and tattoo shop in San Jose called Monster. One day as I wandered aimlessly around the downtown area, I decided that it would be fun to get something new pierced. After having had my nipple done, I figured anything I would get wouldn't even compare. I walked in and told Andres that I wanted something in my ear, something cool-looking. After looking through various pictures, magazines and websites, (such as BME, WOOHOO) I decided I wanted an anti-tragus. After he cleansed the jewelry, (a 16 gauge stainless steel barbell) he took me into his painfully sterile piercing booth. He pulled out his handy purple marker and asked me exactly where I wanted the piercing. I indicated exactly how I wanted it and he marked. Though I had been in there before, I was jittery and shaky and couldn't help but think of the last time I was in there (I got my nipple pierced). Well, he opened the disposable needle package; took the needle, and dexterously pushed it through with a hearty CRUNCH. It HURT like nothing else. That was the easy part. Once it was in, I took a quick look at it in the mirror and took a second to recollect myself. Next was the jewelry. He instructed me to inhale profoundly ah he had done so before. He pushed the needle out with the lubricated piece of steel, and this hurt even more than the actual piercing. I screamed and cursed and probably scared off some customers. I took a look at it and loved it. He gave me the instructions to care for it and told me it could take up to six months to heal, depending on my body. I walked into his shop a bored rambler and walked out a happy customer. That night was ghastly, seeing as I always sleep on my left ear.
At A Glance Author Danny H~ Contact Danny H~@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Andres Studio Monster Location San Jose, Costa Rica! Fast forward about 2.53 months. After having a barbell in for quite a while I decided I wanted a ring in it. So I went to my bathroom, grabbed my somewhat sterilized ring and tried to put it through. The only problem was that the curvature of the piercing was different. After struggling for about 15 minutes my ear became extremely irritated and sore, so I desisted and out my old ring back in. For the next few weeks my ear was very red and eventually became a little infected. I dealt with this infection with rubbing alcohol (I know this is not recommended) and anti-bacterial cream. Luckily, nothing too bad happened and it vanished within a couple of weeks. Just as the hole was healed, I decided to give the ring another shot. This was probably not the most intelligent thing to do, but then again I am not exactly the most intelligent of people. After waging a fifteen minute epic battle, I prevailed. It was ok for about 5 minutes and then I felt my ear pulsating. Over the next few days it bled, pussed and pained me. I looked at my ear and saw that the ring was accommodating the hole to its curvature and that I would have to wait a while until it was fully healed.
Fast forward about 1.67 months. My ear was still red and crusty, but the rhythmic throbbing was no longer there. It was all starting to look up until one day I woke up and realized that the ball from my captive was in my sheets. I felt my ear and the ring was gone. After scuttling around my room I found it beside my bed. After washing the ring and inspecting my ear I noticed that the hole was barely visible; the skin had started closing up over it. I was able to push the ring back in but it hurt really badly again. I seem to be prone to banging my ear on everything, and this did not help. I decided I would start soaking with Epsom/sea salt again. I've been doing this for about a week now, and it seems to be getting better. I noticed a slight lump around the pierced area, but it seems to be subsiding (for a while I thought it was a keliod...I hope not). I have a bad habit of touching the piercing and sliding it around, but I have to stop, because after a few minutes it always gets irritated. I'm trying to keep it clean and soak it for a few minutes three times a day. My anti tragus seems to be healing relatively well *knock on wood* and hopefully it will heal soon! If all goes as planned, I will start the process of gauging my ears!
Well, thanks for reading! Adios!