Yesterday I decided I needed a new piercing. Since I already have an industrial, tragus, and snug, I opted for a daith, since I quite like having asymmetrical ears. However, once I got up to the parlor, it turned out that my piercer didn't have the right supplies for a daith, so I decided an anti-tragus would be the next in line.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Aaron Studio Seven Deuce Location Washington On the way to the tattoo shop, I had been preparing myself for a daith, which is an entirely different feeling of nausea. Once I knew that I wasn't getting my daith, I hardly had time to prepare for the nausea that overcame me next. I had heard terrible things about anti-tragus, so I was basically freaking out.
Now, Aaron would never pierce anything wrong, he's done most of my other piercings, and they're the ones that have turned out the best. I was feeling sick, so he told me to sit down in the chair while he was setting up. Keep in mind that I've withstood an industrial, a snug and a tragus all without flinching, but even as he marked my ear with ink I was tensing up.
He basically told me that because of the shape of my cartilage, he would have to pierce it a little differently, and it seemed like it would be A LOT more painful due to the seemingly massive amount of cartilage he was about to puncture. Once he had the spot marked, it was time to actually do the damage, and by this point I was freaking out bad. I was clenching the sides of the piercing chair in an attempts to brace myself for the pain to come (this was in remembrance of the pain the snug brought, which trust me, is worse than an anti tragus). I figured that since the two piercings were so much alike, the anti tragus would hurt just as much.
However, in a matter of a second the worst part was over, the needle was through and he was preparing to put in the jewelry. The entire time that he was fiddling about with the needle and the jewelry and getting everything put together to put the jewelry in my ear, I was basically telling him how much I hated him for how badly it had hurt. The funny part was, I don't remember it actually hurting that bad. It just burns a little bit. Of course the pressure of the needle and the cork on your ear is a little bit more irritating that just a small barbell. You really shouldn't tell your piercer you hate them, especially when you're paying them to put you through extreme pain... and you've put the safety of your body in their hands. Thankfully, my piercer saw my sarcasm and just told me that I was funny.
By this time, I had psyched myself out so much that I was literally about to pass out. The time between the piercing and putting in the jewelry seemed to take any eternity, and the most tedious part was yet to come. Aaron still had to screw on the ball. Now, I have pretty tiny ears, and he has pretty big hands, so this was quite the struggle. He tried grabbing the jewelry with a pair of jewelry pliers to get a better grip on it, but I freaked out at the coldness of it, and he took it as it was uncomfortable, and not wanting to hurt me any further, ceased using said pliers. It didn't really bug me that much, it was just incredibly cold. Thankfully, the shock from sticking a needle through my ear had numbed it at that point, so I couldn't really feel his fingers wrestling around inside my ear.
After I had calmed myself down, I realized that there was little to no pain connected with my new piercing and, when all was said and done, it turns out that my behavior was all for not. There is no reason to freak out when getting an anti-tragus. I'd say that besides a tragus itself, it's the least painful piercing I've gotten to date. It's a lot easier to handle also, if you do not tense up. Try to remain relaxed and the procedure will go a lot more smoothly.
Usually my piercing will not hurt until the day after, this one still does not hurt. I can even sleep on that side. All in all, anti tragus are not as bad as people make them out to be, they're actually quite pleasant! I recommend an anti-tragus as a first time piercing. If you're looking to get a lot of ear piercings, start out with this one. It won't completely turn you off to other piercings because it hurts to badly, but it will also not leave you believe that every other piercing is going to be completely painless, such as a tragus might do. They're very cute (or manly if you're a man!), comfortable, and well worth the mild discomfort at the beginning of the piercing! :-)