People who are interested in piercings always try to get something a little bit better than the last, right? Well I'm no different. In my time on the planet I've had 7 lobe piercings, amongst other things, and have since retired 4 and stretched two others out of comprehension. I took them out because I got bored. They had lost their aesthetic appeal and didn't actually mean anything so they were removed – leaving nasty scars, might I add.
At A Glance Author Caroline Contact Caroline@bme.anon IAM Momentary_Seizure When A week ago Artist Pete Studio Kazbah Location Leicester, UK The last gunned lobe piercing I removed left an ugly pink scar that probably would only fade slightly after some serious oil massages so I thought... "Why not just cover it up?" I'd wanted something a little more interesting on my left ear for a long time now – with just a stretched lobe and three helix rings it wasn't exactly exciting – so I pondered over a little hole in my anti-tragus. I spoke to a couple of friends about it, both online and in the wide world and it seemed to me that it was going to be painful. Piercings hurt me. I don't know what it is about me but I always end up flinching or muttering a swear word or two under my breath while my friends can sit there, perfectly complacent and not utter a word. The idea of getting my anti tragus pierced excited me so I ran it past a few friends on IAM.
Before I knew it, I had a wonderful Scottish lady in the form of IAM: Vixstar offering to send me a cheque for the £15 needed to get pierced, as a belated birthday present – despite me telling her that driving all the way from Scotland the weekend after my birthday was quite enough. I decided that there was no time like the present and decided to get pierced at the weekend.
I'd met with one of my friends and I decided to drag him and his friend along to Kazbah in the city centre. No stranger to the needle himself, he was happy enough to look around the studio whilst I handed over the £15 and got the small sticker and made my way up the stairs. Alone. It may not seem like a big deal but for my lip, medusa, tongue web, 4 helix, rook and conch, I had been with someone. Every time a needle had been forced through my skin to be replaced by a piece of metal, I'd been accompanied. This was a big step.
I sat down on the bench and spoke to Pete with increasing ease every time I encountered him with a needle in his gloved hands. He'd asked me what I wanted pierced and he told me how he loved the name and the look of that piercing but didn't trust anyone in Leicester to pierce it for him. We then got distracted on the topic of self piercing and he told me how he'd pierced various things on himself, some he kept, some he didn't and tried to show me scars from his attempts at a bridge and various cartilage. Simultaneously we both remembered why we were there and he got out his trusty purple marker and explained there were two places he could pierce it. He dotted the first mark just above the lobe scar and then marked two other places, one closer to my lobe and another closer to my conch area. I decided for the one nearer the conch so you could see the inside ball easier and he agreed it would probably look better there.
Pete then got out the 1.2mmx10mm barbell and a 1.2mm needle and asked me to slip the plug out of my lobe so he could get a better hold of my ear. I closed my eyes and held my head as still as I could as he forced the needle through the tender cartilage of my ear.
"You alright?"
"Ahhh..."It hurt. I expected nothing less. I was actually quite surprised – I thought it was going to be much worse. I didn't even feel the jewellery being put in, just a slight pull when the ball was being put on the jewellery but that was about all. He handed me the mirror and I looked at my pink ear with glee. Then I realised smiling hurt. I subtly smiled at the reflection of my ear in the mirror. I also noticed that he had missed the entry point on my ear. He had pierced it even deeper than he had marked but I was perfectly happy with it because the scar underneath the ball was barely visible. The bar was absolutely huge and sticking out a lot but I realised that my ear would probably swell and I wouldn't be wearing headphones when it was that sore anyway.
I thanked Pete profusely and went downstairs to show off my new metal. Just an hour later sitting in the pub, I went into the toilets and I couldn't see the end of the bar, just a swollen ear. It didn't worry me at all because it did do through a lot of trauma. It was sensitive to the touch and I told myself I'd have to be careful with this one.
Just 10 days later, sitting here and writing this, it's the best cartilage piercing I have ever had. I've been trying to not play with it very much and been using my mothers Savlon spray to keep it clean and it's doing so well. I can move the bar with great ease, it doesn't hurt and the swelling has dramatically reduced. I couldn't be happier with it. I want to thank Vicky for giving me the money to do this – it has been a great experience. I don't heal piercings very well and to have a piercing paid for by one of my best friends, done by a great piercer and for me to go through it alone and it feel so wonderful after such a short space of time has made me a very happy girl. It's shown me that if I put my mind to it, I can brave doing this by myself and that using the LITHA method actually does work, along with the daily clean with antiseptic spray. I just hope it continues to heal well so I can get the bar changed to a shorter and shiner barbell and it feel perfectly natural in my ear.
All in all, this has been a great experience and I'd recommend the anti-tragus to anyone – the way it sits in your ear means it doesn't get bashed about in your sleep and it's nicely tucked in from wearing hats and barely alters the wearing of earphones. I'd also recommend Pete for constantly making me feel comfortable and always doing a good job.