Yesterday I got what was probably my most painful professionally done piercing of them all - my tragus. (Compared to my tongue and navel).
At A Glance Author Tara Contact pipster722@gmail.com When It just happened Artist Anna Studio Body Piercing by Holly Location Summerville, SC A few years ago, about 3 or 4, I proposed the idea to my mom about getting it done. She said no quicker than I thought humanly possible. She had always told me she didn't mind ear piercings though, so I didn't understand. I put the idea off until just before I moved out, but again she told me no, and that I still lived in their house. I left in July, and in October I got my tongue pierced, after 4.5 years of waiting, and then for the last week or two had been re-contemplating the tragus.
I drove to a closer piercing studio, Body Piercing by Holly in Summerville, to check them out and to ask some questions. Most of my questions (price, hours, etc) were answered just by walking around and looking at stuff posted on the wall while the piercer, Anna, was doing a tongue ring for an older lady. She came out and asked what I needed, and I asked if they pierced with a ring or a bar. She explained that they use a ring because it's easier to put in and they don't have to irritate it any more after the piercing by trying to put a ball on it and bending the tragus forward to see. She showed me her 13 ear piercings, and how the 18 ga 1/4" ring they used looked. I told her I would be back later with my boyfriend Rob to get it done.
I came back home and waited until Rob showed up. He came home 2 hours later than normal, but the studio was open until 8, so around 6:30 we left to do it. I brought my $35 with me, and away we went. We had to wait for awhile while she did a piercing on a girl who was there with a ton of friends, and looked at two other piercings on clients to make sure everything was healing good. We spent our time looking at the large selection of jewelry on display, and Rob liked a maltese cross tongue barbell, so we kept it in mind to ask her after the piercing.
I filled out the release form and she copied my license, then brought us into the piercing room. I was telling myself how bad it was going to hurt, due to it being cartilage. I had pierced the top of my ear twice on my own when I was 14/15 and it was extremely painful, I could only imagine this being worse. She cleaned up my ear and we talked for awhile about piercing origins and how some of them have weird names (Rob quizzed me on a list of piercings earlier because he wasn't sure what they all were, and I spend WAY too much time on BME). She then marked where she was going to pierce it, and let me feel what the receiving tube would be like. Then she asked if I wanted to grab Rob's hand to squeeze in case it hurt. I held onto it, not knowing if I had to squeeze or not but thankful it was there just in case. She told me to take a breath, and while I did I felt the needle going through. It felt like it was going through slowly for such a small piece of flesh & cartilage, but it really wasn't that bad. I'd do it again. I didn't squeeze Rob's hand, but kept holding on to it anyway. The piercing really felt like someone was squeezing my tragus with their nail. She put the ring in and I felt some pressure while she tried to get the tiny ball on it.
We talked for awhile more afterwards, and while she cleaned up the bit of blood and put some bactine on the piercing. She gave me an aftercare sheet, along with explaining it to me as well. While she helped another person look at UV tongue rings, Rob and I went back to decide between the maltese cross tongue barbell or the curved barbell one (for my navel). We decided on the tongue one, but it only came in 14g, my tongue is 12g. Anna was very helpful with it and wanted to make sure I got exactly what I wanted, so she took a 12g post and put the beads on that for me. I definitely will be a regular customer there, and will be back soon for some more! Rob is already asking me what is next, so I took a piercing price list from there and marked off ones that are awaiting in the future.
If you live in the Summerville/North Charleston area, I would highly recommend you to Body Piercing by Holly. It's very clean, they are VERY helpful and will make you feel comfortable as possible. They have a huge selection of stuff to pick from when your piercing is healed, and guarantee it for life. I'm quite happy with my tragus, and will have to debate what I'll be going back for next!