My first conch (the right one) was pierced at 1.6mm several months ago, and I instantly regretted not having had it done at 2.4mm, because the jewellery was barely visible . . . or so it seemed to me, being a not-terribly-subtle type. – it just looked like a wimpy little pin and I like things big and shiny. Anyway, so I stretched it myself, which hurt dreadfully and made me feel quite dizzy, though I really did like how it looked when it was finally in - I had selected a 14mm horseshoe ring, and I haven't taken it out since because I like it that much. Like my sterling silver nose bones and the ear claws I wear in my lobes, it just feels like it fits, and is now a part of me.
At A Glance Author Sophie Contact celticcurls_4@hotmail.com When It just happened Studio Tattoo Crazy Location Cambridge It was with such idealistic feelings of instantaneous aesthetic satisfaction that I decided that my left conch would be pierced at 2.4mm, with a ring, and hence would be immediately exactly what I wanted without any stretching - which I think looks very good, but I hate actually doing it; it makes me feel a bit queasy. And I hate having someone else do it even more, because then I have no control over how fast it goes in.
For some reason, having paid my money and entered the room, I was filled with a sense of foreboding, which was unusual and did not bode at all well, for I am usually very placid. (Before I got my nipples pierced I was fine, and apparently that is something to be scared about . . . or so my friend thought. He was more nervous than I was, being honest). It was a muggy, sticky day, and there was that electrical tang in the air that precedes a thunderstorm. There was to be a trainee present in the room (with my permission of course – though it's something I don't mind at all), and she was very pleasant , and admired my lip piercing, and I hers. The lady piercing me got out her needles and so forth, and spent a long time marking where the hole was to be with her pen, which I appreciated greatly, because it is rather annoying when the placement is wrong. The actual entry and exit of the needle was not all that painful - it never is - it's usually the insertion of the jewellery that is the worst part, and this incident was no exception. Me being me, I had asked for a ring as opposed to a barbell, and as they had no horseshoe rings, it had to be a BCR. What both I and the piercer had neglected to think of was the fact that the gap in a BCR without the ball is relatively small, and thus quite hard to get over the rim of the conch and into the hole without it being terribly painful. And terribly painful it was - so much so that she had to stop, open the ring further with the pliers, and then insert it, which wasn't too bad. She had to fold my ear a little bit, which wasn't pleasant. Nevertheless, it was in, but all of this meant that there was the small matter of closing the ring again in order to put the ball in, which proved impossible what with it being a rather thick ring. After a long time and a drink of water, the pressure applied to the ring proved too much, and it slipped from the pliers, which hurt, and the pliers took a chunk out of my ear lobe, which also . . . rather hurt. By this time I was a little dizzy, but everyone was being terribly nice and the water was helping. (And it always helps when people say you're 'being very brave' – we should grow out of finding that flattering beyond the age of six, but I never did). In the end we resorted to putting a bigger ball in than would have been used otherwise, and I felt quite well, if a tad shaken and dizzy as I walked out of the shop, and I'm sure I was quite white. I did feel better, though, as I caught glimpses of it in windows and things – because, as I have said, the conch is one of my favourite piercings and I find it very nice too look at.
All in all, I am very pleased I got it done - but my advice is to ask for a barbell instead of a ring and perhaps change it for a horseshoe ring yourself, if that's what you want.
In writing this, I do not at all mean to suggest that these fumblings are usual where I go to get pierced – Tattoo Crazy is really fantastic and all the other piercings I have had there* have been executed perfectly and without any subsequent problems. It just so happened here that I asked for awkward jewellery, which was my own fault.
*These being my tragus, vertical labret, both nostrils and various ear cartilage piercings.