The first time I had laid eyes on this type of piercing, I immediately fell in love. I had 'virgin ears' other than having my lobes pierced, as almost every female has, but I knew I had to get this piercing ....
At A Glance Author Michelle Contact michelle_broecker@yahoo.com When It just happened Artist Jeremy Brown Studio Jade Dragon Tattoo Location Chicago Hi. My name's Michelle, and I got my triple helix/conch spiral/corkscrew piercing done.
I had been sitting on this piercing for a while now. When I do things to myself, I tend to research a little too intensely, almost to the point of being obsessive. This was no exception. So I decided that yesterday, Friday January 13th, I was going to Jade Dragon to get it done finally. I had gone in a couple weeks earlier for a consultation, but they basically told me to order the jewelry online because they didn't supply it, then come back when I wanted it done. So that's how it happened.
I went in Friday night at around 10:30 with my Dad, his friend, and his friend's wife. Good family friends. After signing the paperwork, my piercer - Jeremy, took me to his back room with my Dad's friend's wife to get situated.
The room was small, I won't lie, but it made it seem all the more personal. I didn't have to sit in such a large area, so it was a little more comfortable. Any way, he was very sterile with everything. Despite the jewelry being in a bag and never taken out, he disinfected it any way, and started to disinfect my ear.
Then came the needle.
Oooooh BOY did I get nervous. This was my first piercing ever, and I was going for THREE holes? Starting from my conch and going up to my cartilage? I didn't quite know what to expect, but as the needle went in ..
CRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCH.
Holy COW I didn't know my conch had so many layers in it! I could've sworn it was an inch thick with all the crunching I felt. I'll admit, it did hurt a bit, but once the warm sensation flooded in to my ear, it felt better ... Well, until he fed the jewelry through.
We ran in to some problems with it fitting. Turns out my jewelry wasn't a 16 gauge after all, but a 14 gauge. So Jeremy went to go get some more disposable needles, just this time they were a 14 gauge.
So again, he repierced my bottom hole with the 14 gauged needle. UGH it was like having the piercing done all over again. :[ So technically, it felt like my second hole, but we were only on the first.
Then, he started to thread the jewelry in - THIS is where it hurt the most. Because the spiral is curved and ran through my raw cartilage/flesh, it HURT. A LOT. Not just a burning hurt, but a stinging hurt.
One down, two to go!
CRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCH went the second piercing.
YEOW, now it started to hurt! The blood had already rushed to my ear, and blood was just pooling from the holes in my ear. Again, he threaded the rest of the jewelry through, which again stung SO incredibly much ... MUCH more than the first hole, mainly because it was not only tugging on the new hole, but the previous one as well.
Yes. It was very painful.
Taking a quick, deep breath, we dived in to the third and final one.
Now this one hurt the most. I won't lie to you, I actually started to grip the arm of the chair. Through the other ones, I just kept my eyes shut and my jaw clenched, but I actually had to hold on to the arm this time. My legs were shaking slightly, but I'm not sure if it was from the adrenaline or pain.
Again, he started threading the rest of the jewelry through, which topped the rest of the pain. THIS was the worst part. While he was spinning it, despite being as gentle and quick as he could (bless his soul), it hurt like nothing I had experienced before. It was absolutely agonizing, enough to make me give out a small, contained groan. And the funny thing is, I had a high pain tolerance! :O Who'd a thunk!
Afterwards, they cleaned up my piercing, and took a bunch of pictures for their portfolio. DAMN was it perfect! He did SUCH a fantastic job, especially being under all this stress .... MAJOR props to him. And he was nice to boot! Very comfortable to be with.
My experience through this whole thing was both enlightening and informative. I got to finally get my spiral piercing, and also know how much pain I really CAN tolerate. Nothing seems impossible or unbearable anymore.
However, when they say cartilage piercings are the worst to get - THEY'RE RIGHT. ESPECIALLY getting three at a time. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone because the third (technically fourth) hole was pushing it in regards to pain, but it wasn't impossible (obviously).
I actually had no problems when I got home and slept. No pain, just a little discomfort from having something in my ear, though I think my adrenaline kind of numbed out the pain. Fortunately, this morning when I woke up, I couldn't even feel it. It was like it wasn't even there.
I cleaned it 4 times today, and spun it thrice, each time getting easier and easier. On the last time, just an hour ago, I was able to spin the jewelry all the way around and back with minimal pain. The only time it hurt was when I got a small stinging sensation afterwards, but not during. I'm VERY glad I'm not in pain, though I'll have to admit -I thought I'd be miserable for a WEEK or so from how it felt when I was getting it done! I guess I was wrong, eh?
Here's my advice for all you cool cats who want to get this done: 1. Take some tylenol before you go in. It'll help a lot with some of the pain. I know you've probably heard it numerous times before, but I'm serious - It DOES help! 2. BREATH. There is nothing worse than not breathing through this, because it hurts so much, you need to force yourself to relax. And 3. - JUST DO IT! (No relation to Nike).
This is absolutely the coolest piercing I have seen in my LIFE. I'm very proud of myself to have gotten it, and to have such an awesome piercer to have done it so perfectly. I highly recommend it to anyone just for how beautiful it truly looks. It's flattering on anyone's ear, and the outcome just looks absolutely stunning.
On a scale from 1-10, the pain was a 10. No doubt. On the same scale, the beauty of it ranks a 15.
Thank you Jeremy for this awesome piercing! I've only had it for about a day, and it's already become a part of me.