At A Glance
Author	Rinni
Contact	rinnismells@gmail.com
When	Three months ago
Artist	Dana
Studio	HTC
Location	Tempe, AZ

yes, I'm a dork . . .

My stress was frying my brain. When it gets this bad, I become a little too self destructive. I find that the best way to avoid unhealthy behavior at these times is to either nurse a bottle of Jager all day every day or to get something pierced. Unable to allow for the consequences of being constantly inebriated, I went with the piercing. I was feeling pretty low so I wanted something that would take a lot of love and time away from my self-pity. I had been pining away at the idea of an inner conch dermal punch for a year or so but was, quite frankly, intimidated (maybe it's the word "punch"). I judged that nursing 2 inner conchs would distract me sufficiently for possibly a year. I had a little trouble finding a reputable studio to do the procedure. My favorite piercer did not perform dermal punches and because of how much I love and trust him, this alone was almost enough to send me to my freezer for that green bottle tucked in next to the frozen vegetables. Browsing pictures on BME of large gauge cartilage piercings, it occurred to me to search the experience section for a dermal punch done by a studio in my area. Sure enough, there was a studio with a very good reputation close by (within walking distance, actually). I felt like a dirty rotten traitor calling them, having always considered them a formidable rival to my favorite studio. I wasn't given an answer over the phone but told to make a visit in person. Nervous, I walked in and told the guy behind the counter that I wanted a dermal punch and could I talk to someone about the procedure? He stared at me for a few seconds and then asked me some questions: where? what gauge? do you know that's permanent? He showed me what jewelry would be used and told me that the piercer would stretch in addition to punching. I have a social anxiety disorder and while it's nothing severe, this (coupled with my slight nervousness at the idea of having a chunk of cartilage removed from both ears by someone who had never touched me before) made me more than a little antsy and I wasn't very friendly. I asked to speak to the person who would perform the procedure. I didn't ask the nameless guy behind the counter (nameless because I have a bad memory) any questions because 1) he mispronounced "conch" and 2) he wasn't the person whose business ethics, conduct and intelligence I would have to judge. My piercer was very friendly and, as soon as he heard that I wanted to talk to him and saw that I remained seated he came and sat beside me. He's the kind of guy with animated facial gestures and hand movements, which makes me feel silly because I have a tendency to inadvertently mimic the person I'm talking to. I felt almost like I should discuss the piercing in hushed tones. I asked a lot of questions. I even asked questions that I knew the answers to, just wanting to hear his response. He answered everything quickly and intelligently and even offered a few humorous anecdotes. By the end of the conversation, I was satisfied that I had come to a competent person and told him I would ret

The Procedure

I usually research a piercing, mull it over and then just go in and do it. This was the first time I had made an appointment. I was thinking about it all day and showed up almost 15 minutes early. I paced the parking lot for a little while before coming in and, seeing that my piercer was helping other customers, taking a seat. I have a very active mind and it was running in circles. I was thinking: "Is it going to bleed profusely? Is he going to do it slowly or quickly? Does he really know what he's doing? Is it going to get infected? Am I going to develop cauliflower ear? Why isn't he worried that there might be veins in the way?" and so on. My piercer was nothing short of bubbly. He set the jewelry up in the autoclave device and then came to chat with me while the other piercer (a younger, more attractive man) was besieged by his obnoxious, young fan club. I was more comfortable in his company having familiarized myself with his presence in the previous visit. I got the impression that he genuinely enjoyed his job, and thus assumed that he was so energetic because he was just as excited about the punch as I was. When the jewelry was ready, he had me come back and lay on a sort of doctor's table. I half expected to see stirrups (for pelvic exams and child-birthing). He had sterilized 2 gauge glass plugs. I mentioned something about bleeding and, while removing and donning another pair of gloves, he responded, "Stretching cartilage is not comfortable. Do you want less pressure or less blood?" As far as I was concerned, bleeding was inconvenient. I don't have a problem with blood, but it occurred to me that he meant "Do you want it to hurt more or less?" I wanted it to hurt more and bleed less and I wanted to remember forever the way it felt to have this beautiful jewelry in my ears. He took his time marking my ears and then had me lay on the table with my head to one side. He placed a sheet of medical tissue over my ear with a hole so that the only thing he could see was my ear. A thin board of cork was pushed behind my ear and the breathing began. On the last deep breath, the punch crunched slowly and painlessly through my cartilage and my ear felt warm but not unpleasant. Then, a 2g glass plug invaded the fresh hole in my ear and white, hot searing pain coursed down my neck. I could only mutter "fu*k" and fidget. I kept my head still but clenched my fists and beat them against the table. I wiggled my fingers. I breathed deeply. When he was done securing the black o-ring tightly against the fresh wound, he asked me how I felt and was I ready for the next one. I told him I wasn't really in the mood to move my head just yet. I felt lightheaded and stunned. I needed to lay there and digest the pain for a few seconds. I'm not sure how many minutes those few seconds were, but he made the mistake of explaining after care to me. I was a complete bumbling airhead. I could barely comprehend anything he was saying. The second ear hurt much more. Once again, the punch itself was a breeze but the glass jewelry...I was

The Healing Process

The morning after was uncomfortable. My ears were swollen. There was still no blood or lymph drainage. The pressure was noticeable for a few days but only about as bothersome as a bug bite. I checked the jewelry every morning for crusties or blood and I actually started to get a little worried that there was none. As far as I was concerned, discomfort and body fluid were part of a healthy healing process and I was concerned that neither of these were present. It took a week, maybe more, for the crusties to start showing up. I never do salt soaks, but my piercer had insisted and had even given me some free sea salt. Even so, I'll admit that I soaked my ears maybe a handful of times in a matter of 2 months. I'm not a morning person and don't always have time to shower (or even change out of my pjs) before work, so I didn't always take care of my ears as well as I probably should have. They were a little sore every time they went without a thorough antimicrobial cleaning and I was paranoid that I was going to get an infection. They actually healed much quicker than I wanted them to. A few weeks after the punch, I was sleeping on the side of my head. A month later, I was supposed to go back in to replace the 2g plugs with smaller jewelry to relieve pressure and quicken the healing process. My ears felt and looked great. There was no pressure and they seemed to be healing perfectly. I didn't go back in. Two months later, the crusties were gone and I happened to be at the studio for a new cbr for my septum (the one I was wearing was cheap, scratched and a little too large in diameter). My piercer checked out my ears and called me a mutant. I asked him if he thought it would piss the piercing off too much to replace the cumbersome plugs with some silicone earskins. He didn't like the idea of changing the jewelry, but seeing that my ears were healing so well he said that if I were to do so I should use a material a little more sturdy than the flimsy silicone. Unfortunately my guy friend forgets, no matter how many times I remind him, to avoid my ears and the right plug fell out twice during sex. The second time it dropped to the mattress, I just left it out until we were done. I didn't have a problem putting it back in, but the ear was a little sore for a few days. I hadn't washed my hands when I had touched my ear or the jewelry so I decided to wait to make sure there was no sign of a possible infection. I am now sporting a pair of single flare 2g pyrex eyelets. My ears didn't react to the jewelry change, probably because I replaced glass with glass. I realize now, that there's no way a silicone earskin would have enough wearable area for my conchs but I have a set of long silicone eyelets that should work just fine and I'll be eager to do away with these o-rings. I check my ears every once in awhile just to make sure the jewelry is still there. I don't give my ears special treatment, so it wouldn't surprise me if I knocked the eyelets out while sleeping (or even during sex). I'm a little disappointed that this piercing pr

I currently have 12 piercings.

I was once Mormon.

There's no telling where I'll go from here.