March 30, 2007, marked my first real leap into the world of body modification. My younger sister (15 years of age) wanted to get her navel pierced. She kept threatening to pierce it herself with a safety pin. (Not a good idea because the change for infection is greater and a safety pin is not 14 gauge) My father asked if I would come with him and my sister because he did not know what questions to ask. I asked if I could get a piercing as well; he said sure, thus why I ended up accompanying them.
At A Glance Author rach Contact rach@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Troy Studio Studio 13 Location West Lafayette, Indiana We arrived at Studio 13 in West Lafayette, Indiana. The three of us went inside and I immediately talked to the man behind the counter. I asked for two papers and my father asked about prices, a bellybutton piercing costs $25 and an industrial costs $55. My father told me that $55 is a little much...so I asked about a tragus. The tragus was $35, so he settled for that. My father had no idea what a tragus or an industrial were, so I just told him an ear related piercing.
I filled out my form and the piercer took it, along with my younger sister's and my father's ID. I did not need my ID since my father had his. My father paid for the piercings, $60 including jewelry. My younger sister was nervous so I tried to calm her down. I explained to her that the most painful part of piercing is the clamps. After a few minutes, Troy came back and asked us which one wanted to go first. I let my sister go first because she was nervous.
We filed back into the room. It was very clean. Troy sprayed the table down with antiseptic, as well as the chair. He spread out a sheet of Saran Wrap and took out the clamps, a needle and her jewelry. He cleaned her navel with iodine and marked her for the placement. She looked at it and everything was set. She was pierced.
Troy went over aftercare with her. He told her to do sea salt soaks twice a day and to wash her bellybutton with non-harsh soap. He told her to not play with the fresh piercing, as much as she wanted to, and to wait two months before changing the jewelry to something more flashy. I asked about alcohol and whatnot because my sister was under the assumption to use rubbing alcohol. (Like the ear cleaning solution from Claire's or what not)
I have noticed (this is my personal opinion so take it with a grain of salt) that if the piercer tells you to wash your piercing with alcohol or peroxide and to apply Neosporin, then I would not personally go to him or her. But that is just my personal opinion and does not have to apply to anyone but myself. Troy did a very amazing job discussing aftercare.
Troy cleaned the table and sprayed everything down once again. He washed his hands twice and applied fresh gloves. Saran Wrap was applied to the table and my needle was taken out of a drawer, q-tips were placed down to clean my ear, what I assume was K-Y jelly was squirted on the Saran Wrap and my needle was opened and custom bent a bit. It was placed into the K-Y jelly. Troy had to go to the autoclave to get a receiving tube for my ear. He does not use clamps for tragus piercings.
About this time, my father and sister told me they were going to leave the room because they did not want to watch me get my "gothic ear piercing." I nodded and Troy and I discussed how he got into piercing and why I like piercings. I also asked about the pain associated with this piercing. I was told it was one of the most painful piercings from people who have gotten it. I have my septum pierced and it did not hurt at all when I had it done. (I did it myself and Troy looked at it and told me that I had perfect placement according to my sweet spot.) He told me that if I can handle a septum piercing, I will handle a tragus piercing like nothing.
I decided I wanted my right tragus pierced, since I have a cartilage piercing in my left ear (I'm big on symmetry) Troy cleaned my tragus and inspected it. He was inspecting it for a few minutes. I was scared that I was not able to have it pierced, so I asked if my tragus was able to be pierced. He said it is quite able to be pierced; he was just looking for the right spot to pierce it.
After deciding on where to pierce, Troy marked my ear and I looked at it to confirm it was an okay spot to pierce. I immediately agreed. He ran through the procedure again and I was told to lay on my back with my head turned to my left.
He got the needle and told me he was going to count to three and I suddenly became nervous. He counted to three and I exhaled. As I exhaled I felt a bit of pressure and I heard (AND FELT!) a crunching/popping. I felt the needle being removed from my tragus and I felt the jewelry being inserted.
Troy had to wipe the blood away before he could attempt to snap the bead into place. It took quite some time to pop the bead into place. There was quite a bit of pulling and tugging. That had to have been the most painful part of the experience. After about five minutes of pulling/tugging, the bead was snapped into place. The piercing felt very similar to a septum piercing. The same pressure, the same feeling of popping. There is also the same annoying mild stinging and throbbing, but no actual pain.
Troy ran through the aftercare instructions, sea salt soaks twice a day, no playing with the piercing, if bumps form then I can come in to have it looked at or try tea tree oil massages. I asked about healing time and it was the same for any cartilage piercing like I had assumed before asking; 2 months to a year, all depending the way an individual's body heals and such.
I repeated everything back to Troy to make sure I had all my information correct. He kept nodding and told me that I must know a bit about piercing and such. He gave me his card and told me to call if I had any questions concerning my tragus or my septum. (He really liked my septum and thought I did a nice job)
I expected my tragus to be the most painful thing I have experienced in my lifetime. It was in fact not painful. I was quite surprised. Just a lot of pressure, a little bit of a quick stinging sensation, heat, throbbing/dull ache, and tenderness around the piercing.
It has been 3 days since I had my tragus pierced and it is doing great. The redness has vanished, the ache/throbbing has subsided, and it is only mildly tender. I can now sleep on the right side of my head without discomfort. I originally went into the piercing shop with the idea to get an industrial. I had always been too scared to get a tragus. The decision to get my tragus done was rather made on a whim. It was an out-of-the-blue decision and I totally suggest getting a tragus piercing. This was my first actual piercing done in a piercing/tattoo studio. I loved the atmosphere and the people. I am excited about the possibilities in the near future for other body modifications
If anyone in the Lafayette/West Lafayette area are reading this, I highly suggest Studio 13. Ask for Troy, he is amazing and makes the process very simple. He really knows what he is doing.