Last Friday, my friend and I were walking around the city, waiting for a friend. We saw a whole bunch of piercing places, and my friend jokingly asked me if I wanted to get something pierced. I had a tragus piercing from the year before and had a rook a few years back that unfortunately migrated, so I was used to the pain and procedure of piercing. I decided to go ahead and get the piercing. I had always wanted the anti-tragus done, and just never got around to it.
At A Glance Author Heidi Contact Heidi@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Jose Studio The Kingdom Location NYC I didn't want to go to any sketchy piercing place, so my friend called a friend who had recently had a piercing done, and he recommended the Kingdom. The inside looked pretty clean and sterile. I only saw a tattoo studio, but I was told that the piercing studio was downstairs. I asked to see the piercing studio and it looked and smelled antiseptic.
I went to the counter and asked them if my anti-tragus was pierce-able. My anti-tragus always seemed a little thick to me, so I wanted to make sure that it could actually be done. They told me yes, so I bought the jewelry and went downstairs to the piercing studio. I settled on a silver captive bead ring. I don't know the gauge, but I'm pretty sure it was the smallest one available (maybe 18 or 16?). The piercer was eating, so we had to wait about 10 minutes. He sterilized the entire piercing area and had me sit in a chair next to him. He cleaned my ear and marked the area where the ring was going to go. He took the proper safety precautions: gloves, new needle, sterile equipment, etc. I asked him if this hurt more or less than a tragus, and he told me that it would hurt more. That did little to calm me down, but I still wanted it. He cut the (new) needle to a size he wanted and got prepared to pierce me.
I had been used to a clamp before, so I was waiting for him to take one out. I was surprised when he didn't use one. He said he didn't use clamps. I asked him if I'd get a warning before he pierced. He said yes, but lied. He put the cork behind my anti-tragus and stuck the needle in, sans warning. I thought he was just checking the placement, but he was ready to go! I guess that was better than him warning me, since I was sort of freaked out about it. I held my friend's hand, as it did hurt. I got the familiar sting and then it was over. He put the ring in and cleaned up the small amount of blood that was there. I looked in the mirror and saw the piercing. It looked exactly the way I wanted it, although the ring looked a little big. I guess it needed to be a little big to accommodate swelling. I'll change the jewelry to something smaller once it heals. The piercer did a great job, despite the sneak attack with the needle. Then he sent me upstairs to buy some aftercare spray. I bought a bottle of sea salt spray and have been using it along with antibacterial soap in the shower (yes, I know I'm supposed to get antimicrobial, but I haven't gotten around to it yet). The anti-tragus definitely hurt less than the tragus. The piercer told me that he said it hurt more so that I would expect more pain than I actually got.
When I met up with my friends later, they noticed it within minutes. One of my genius friend decided to touch it, which made it hurt for a little while.
I've had the piercing for 3 days, and it's obviously still sore. It's a little hard to turn in the shower, but I imagine that as the days go on it will get easier. The first day I couldn't turn it at all because it hurt so much. The second day I could turn it once, and today I got it turned almost 2 times. It still hurts a lot to turn it, and it has sort of settled against my ear instead of standing up like it did when it was pierced. Once it stops hurting so much, when I touch it (with washed hands of course!) I will try to get it back to its original position. So far everyone that I have shown it to either loves it or cringes from it because they say it looks like it hurt. Well, it did hurt, but it was well worth it! Since these piercings are both in my left ear, I think I will get something in my right ear next time. Maybe I will try again with the rook, since I really liked that piercing before it migrated.