My first piercing endeavor was my anti-tragus. Granted, I have had my lobes pierced since I was eight, but this would be my first professional piercing. My mom and I walked into the shop and talked to Cary about what I wanted done. He seemed surprised that I was doing this for my first piercing, and he took my mom and I back (I had to have a parent with me because I was 17). He sat me down on the piercing chair (an exact replica of a dentists or doctors chair, with new paper over it and everything), and explained the procedure and also the autoclave process and all of their certifications. He also showed us that everything he was going to use was sterile and the needles were brand new.
At A Glance Author Nichole Contact Nichole@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Cary Studio Body Language Location Columbus, Ohio He then turned me to my left and made the mark of where the piercing would fit best. I agreed with him, so the process started. I grabbed my mom's hand while he talked me through it step by step. This was where I really started to get nervous. After all of the research I had done, I was anticipating pain like no other. However, I tried to remain calm and took the deep breaths I was told to take.
On the first or second exhale, I felt the needle go through. But pain? What pain? This didn't hurt at all! My mom was surprised, later informing me, "You didn't even flinch or clench your hand,". While he was inserting the jewelry, he told me how happy he was to do this. He said how it was a fairly rare piercing, and he hadn't done one in at least three months. This made me feel even better about the piercing.
Once, it was done, I took a look in the mirror. I loved it. I thanked him once again, bought a bottle of H2Ocean, and headed out the door.
Fast forward four months. During the healing process, I had no problems whatsoever. There was a little discomfort for a couple weeks, and the wind hurt the piercing really bad, but other than that it was a dream. Then, I got sick and took Nyquil. This was a bad idea. Throughout my sleep, I got it knocked multiple times and woke up with it sore, red, and bump invaded. I went to the shop to have Carey look at it.
He took me back, and after cleaning it up a lot, he said to just keep doing what I was doing because it hadn't got infected. After that, it was smooth sailing. Until July when I went to Florida.
At the time of my visit, I had been dealing with a new bump for a week or two. Sea salt soaks weren't really helping it at all and i was starting to get worried- the piercing didn't hurt but the bump was red and nasty. Then, one fateful night, I wake up and my ear is covered with blood. Turns out the bump had burst in the night, and after I cleaned it up, I resolved to find a local piercer who could inspect this for me (I didn't want to take any chances).
I found a shop called Solid Image in Delray, and their piercer was more than happy to help me out. He took me back and said he was going to drain it for me. This process HURT, and there was lots of bleeding. He even tried coaching me through, telling me to take deep breaths. Finally, it was done, and he commented on the length of my jewelry. I hadn't changed the barbell since I'd had it done, so it was really long. He changed it for me (which hurt as well). Afterwards, he charged me for the jewelry ($25), I thanked him a lot, and I was on my way with my like-new piercing.
It's been a couple weeks now, and my piercing still feels good. I'm afraid I might be getting another bump, but I can't quite tell right now. This is a troublesome piercing for some, and I have to constantly keep up on upkeep and soaks. That previous bump was the only one I'd ever had a problem with - usually the clear up pretty fast.
So, bottom line, the piercing really doesn't hurt. It's pretty resistant to getting messed up (i've bumped it pretty badly a few times on accident, and it's bounced back quickly with no signs of the impact). Just keep up on it and don't be afraid to go have your piercer check it out if you get worried (I myself have went in 2 or 3 times...only once was an actual problem. I felt a little dumb, but I'd rather know it wasn't a problem. Remember, this was my first dive into piercing). You'll also get lots of comments/compliments on it, and it's a great looking piercing!!