I decided to stretch my inner conch piercing because when I suggested the idea to my piercer, he laughed and shot me one of those "you wouldn't be able to take it" look. He said "Oh, yes, that's a fun one...!" So I took that as a challenge. Besides, I had to prove to him that I am not a big wuss, ever since the unfortunate incident when I had my VCH pierced and I yelped in a most girly fashion, before taking the next few minutes to recover!
At A Glance Author Squinchester Contact Squinchester@bme.anon IAM squinchester When A month ago Artist Self Done Studio My Bedroom Location Isle Of Wight I have always loved the effect caused by having a hole in the center of the outer ear, and the daylight that streams through the ear and catches the attention of unsuspecting passers by. I knew my piercer was right, that it would not be easy to achieve and would hurt pretty badly, but my mind was made up.
I started at home by cleaning my ear with savlon and removing the 1.6mm bcr. I should say here that my inner conch is one of my favourite piercings, and I really didn't want to fuck it up! It was perfectly healed before I started, so I was fairly confident that it wouldn't be too difficult.
"Why not just dermal punch it?" I hear you ask. True, it would have saved me a lot of pain and time, but I am pretty scared of the idea of being my piercer's guinea pig (he has never done this before, as far as I know, although he does have a punch in his studio waiting for the right person). I am not so keen on the idea of having a piece of tissue punched away! I mean the very idea brings me out in a cold sweat. So I thought I'd do this at my own pace.
I started with a 2.4mm ring. I'm not sure what diameter it was but it was pretty big. The 2.4 went in easily, no problems at all. I proudly rushed to my piercer and showed him what I had done. He was impressed but I wanted more. I wanted to see daylight!
Several weeks after having the 2.4mm ring in there, I decided the time was right to try a 3.4mm bcr. I have lost the ball for this ring, so after using savlon as a lubricant and jiggling the ring through, I let it hang down on either side of my ear. I have to be honest, I should have done a few things differently here. I should have used a barbell, I think it would have caused less pressure when I stupidly attempted to wear a motorcycle helmet over the ring! Also I might have been better waiting longer before attempting the 3.4mm.
This is the part where I really fucked up! I couldn't wait more than a few days for the next stage. I was using a small black taper by now, 3-5mm size. I pushed the taper in a short way, and immediately I felt my whole ear start to throb. My body was saying, enough. But still I pushed... I was determined that I would see daylight!! I had a 4mm eyelet ready and waiting...
After several attempts in the same evening, I eventually managed to ram the eyelet through my poor sore ear. It looked fucking amazing, I have to say. I loaded up on painkillers and went out (on my bike again- getting the helmet on and off was agony) to show everyone. I showed people at work and they were so impressed / disgusted that it was all worth it! Every time I passed a mirror that day I was having a little look, just to check how cool it looked! The daylight looked striking.
The next morning, I woke up in less pain than I had been in the previous night. Already I had that horrible sinking feeling we all get when we realise we might have lost a favourite piercing! I dashed to my bedroom and my fear was confirmed. The eyelet was on my pillow. I grabbed the taper and re-inserted the 3.2mm bcr. There was no way I was getting the eyelet back in there. Ever since, the bcr has been ultra painful and I have missed the 4mm eyelet. But I think it's getting to a point where I am ready to try again, this time with a 4mm barbell. I have a few days where I know I won't be wearing a crash helmet, so that's all good. I guess I just need to learn to be patient.
My piercer now has some 3.2 eyelets in, which would provide the daylight effect I so crave, without the pain. But I still kinda think that the effect would be so slight, I would just seem like a wuss who couldn't make that all important 4mm....lets see how the next bit goes! I'll keep you posted!