Ever since I got my right rook pierced when I was 15, I had been wanting my left tragus done, but my parents wouldn't give me permission to do it. So, I had to wait until I was 18 to do it on my own. After three years of long, patient waiting, I finally reached my 18th birthday as a freshman at Indiana University.
At A Glance Author Colleen Contact Colleen@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Rachel Studio Big Red Genuine Tattoo Parlor Location Bloomington, IN As a college student, my last class ended at 12:05pm, but I had to wait for my friend, Sarah, who was going to drive me there (no bus stopped nearby, and it was too cold to walk the distance from campus). At around 4:30, Sarah called and said she was ready to go. On the way there, she told me she wanted to get her helix pierced. I told her she should go for it, and soon we reached Big Red Genuine Tattoo Parlor in Bloomington. We were lucky that my birthday was on a Monday, because the sign out front said they were closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Anyways, we walked in and the place was full of tattoo designs; I think the tattoo artist is called Shannon, and he was doing something with the tattoo gun. The place smelled very sterile. Shannon asked if he could help us and I told him I wanted to get my tragus pierced. He said he had the right person for me, and called a girl called Rachel over.
Rachel asked for proof of age and I handed over my driver's license which she scanned into a form, and handed over for me to fill out. It asked questions like my address and phone number, and I signed it. She then led me to a chair, and went over the cleaning/healing process. She then set up her tools, and began cleaning my tragus. When Rachel brought out the needle and the receiving tube, which were sealed in a packet, she told me to look at there were dark brown arrows, which meant they had been through the autoclave, and then showed me a non-sterile packet (which had pink arrows). She put on her gloves, and made a mark on my tragus with a toothpick dipped in the infamous purple ink. She gave me a mirror and I gave her the ok to go ahead and pierce.
Rachel changed her gloves again and tore open the packets containing the needle and receiving tube. She came over to my left side, and I felt the needle and the receiving tube touching my tragus. I asked her to count down, and after three, she pushed through from the inside. WOW. It BARELY hurt. It was like a tiny little pinch for one second, and that was IT. No crunch, no fiery hotness, nothing. I was so amazed at how painless it was that I just kept gawking for ten minutes. When I got my rook pierced, I would say the pain was about a 7 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being very painful); the tragus was about a 2. It was amazing. I don't know if it was my pain threshold or if Rachel was just incredibly slick. I think it was the latter.
She left the needle sticking in my tragus while she went to get the 18g 5/16" CBR. It didn't feel uncomfortable at all and my friend took a couple pictures. Rachel then slid the jewelry in and I could barely feel anything. Actually, the only painful part of the procedure was probably when she was closing the ring with the pliers, probably because it was putting pressure on the sides of my tragus. She told me to hold the bead in my hand while she adjusted the ring to accomodate it and then I heard it pop in. It started bleeding a tiny bit so Rachel used gauze pads to soak it up. Then she cleaned the wound up with some Q-tips dipped in cleaning solution, and I was done. The total was $40.90, which is definitely reasonable for a piercing, especially one that didn't hurt!
It's been a little over 24 hours after I got my tragus pierced, and I have had no discomfort so far. A little dried blood formed around the wound, but it cleaned off easily with a wet Q-tip. Rotating the ring was a little scary because you have to be very careful and gentle, but I've already cleaned it twice and am having no trouble at all.
I'm still amazed at how painless the piercing was. I've heard stories that it was "a bitch to get done" so I was a little nervous. But I definitely chose the right place to get pierced...so remember, if you ever want a piercing and you're in Bloomington, ask for Rachel at Big Red Genuine Tattoo Parlor, on S. Walnut.