A few weeks after college finished for summer (woohoo!) I went to Manchester to meet my friend Vicki, who I hadn't seen in ages. After much walking around, shopping and talking she decided she wanted to go around a few tattoo shops to get a quote for a tattoo she wanted and then we could find someone to pierce me.
At A Glance Author KamikazeDoll Contact KamikazeDoll@bme.anon IAM KamikazeDoll When Three months ago Artist Kate Studio Holier Than Thou Location Manchester, UK I suggested she went to Holier Than Thou for her tattoo (and to give me a chance to check it out) but unfortunately the tattoo artist wasn't in and wouldn't be for a while. They were very helpful and told us other places we could go to. Unfortunately we either couldn't find the shops or Vicki felt it was too expensive for what it was. Eventually we did find somewhere, but her tattoo is another story.
After she'd had her work done and had paraded it around a bit I wanted to go back to Holier Than Thou, as I've wanted a piercing done there for ages. But first I went to Subway for a quick bite to eat so I wouldn't faint! Now that would be abit embarrassing!
So off we trundled to HTT. I originally wanted both my conches done, but I didn't have enough money for that at the time so I settled on getting my tragus done with a ring as it was the cheapest option (I AM a student :P) and because I'd wanted my tragus doing at some point anyway. I filled out the necessary forms and had a chat with the guy behind the desk about what it felt like to get it done, aftercare etc as he'd had his done. He was a nice guy with cool tattoos. It's a shame I didn't catch his name.
After a brief wait it was my turn. The piercer, Kate, told me to come in. She went through telling me about the procedure and asked if I had any questions, of which I had none. She then started marking the placement on my ear and asked me to check it. It was perfect!
She then asked me to lie on the bed with my head to the left while she changed her gloves (very hygienic) and got the equipment ready. I'm not sure whether she put some clamps on me at that point or just left it. I think she did. She told me to take 3 deep breaths and pierced my tragus on the third. The feeling was...odd, rather than painful. It felt like...well, like there was something going through my tragus! She then put in the jewellery which, to be honest, hurt more than the actual piercing.
Kate then took me through the aftercare advice and asked if I had any questions, which I did. I just asked whether I could use TCP (I know, I know, TCP is bad!) and she set me straight thankfully. Then she took a few photos of my tragus for her portfolio and we had a quick chat about BME and implants (I'd spotted some she had on her arm, as well as other work. She looks amazing, I'd urge you to go to HTT just to marvel :P). It was all very nice and friendly. The staff at Holier Than Thou really put you at ease, whatever you're having done.
I really struggled not to play with my new tragus ring on the way home. I kept having to look in the window to check out my new addition. I've had loads of compliments, people tell me it looks really pretty and plenty of people ask me about my experience as it seems it's a popular piercing to want.
Healing's been fine. I've been using sea salt solution and my god it's enjoyable getting rid of those crusties. Haha. Once it's fully healed I think I'll change the ring for a bar as the ring gets in the way when I sleep on my right side. And also my hair tends to get caught in it. So advice - get a bar! It heals quicker (I've heard) and doesn't get in the way of things. I've seen some quite nice amber jewellery for it. Can't wait. (That's another thing, HTT have a huge selection of jewellery - listen to me, I sound like a bloody sales person!)
I guess the only real problem I've had with the piercing is not being able to give blood as the piercing had only been done a couple of months previous. Also because of wanting to give blood I can't get another piercing until soon after I have given blood, so for about 3 months. So yeah, if any of you are planning on giving blood, wait at least 6 months after having a piercing to do so. It'll save a lot of people's time.