I always wanted a cartilage piercing (and by always I mean when I started college three years ago) but I didn't want to get it done at Claire's, since I know they use a gun and I read and heard that it's bad for your ears if you do that. I didn't want to look for a tattoo parlor or go to Venice Beach and get it done in one of those little tent stalls (much worse than getting it done with a gun at Claire's!). I read online about how your ears can collapse and about all these infections and whatnot when people get their cartilage pierced which scared me off for a while.
At A Glance Author anonymous When A year ago Artist Ross Studio Can't Remember Location England I was in Europe last summer and on a whim my friend and I decided to get piercings while we were in England. I had always talked about getting my cartilage pierced but my parents are pretty conservative (think typical Asian immigrant family), and they didn't even want me to get a second piercing in my earlobe. I had to fight them on it but I eventually won.
Anyway, while in England, we stumbled across a tattoo parlor that looked kind of dirty but some native English people told us to go there. I was kind of hesitant because I'm a wimp. I was scared that something would go wrong, and if it did what would I do in a foreign country? But the people inside were really nice and reassuring; they had piercings all over their faces and their arms were covered with tattoos but even still they were nice about talking me out of my fears of something as simple as a cartilage piercing!
I was taken into a little room, where Ross told me to sit down on the bed thing, like you see in a doctor's office. He washed his hands, put on gloves, and got out all the things he would need to pierce me. I was really scared at this point when I saw the huge needle he was going to use.. and I told him! He was very calm, which made me relax a little more. He told me what he was going to do, that he didn't think that it would hurt more than a pinch. Then he cleaned my ear, took off his gloves, washed his hands, put on new gloves, and then told me to take a deep breath as he poked the needle through. I didn't hear any popping and it didn't hurt too much. He cleaned the piercing off, gave me some directions about how to clean it, directed me to the nearest drugstore to buy some Q-tips to apply the aftercare solution, and sent me on my way.
I didn't really take care of it, since I was running around across Europe for the summer. I did buy the aftercare solution and used it for the first two weeks or so before I misplaced it and left it in some hostel. When I washed my hair I was sure to keep the piercing dry, or at least away from shampoo and conditioners. Before I got it pierced I had read about how to clean it and care for it, but it's hard to soak your ear in salt water and wash it with antibacterial soap when you're living out of a duffel bag! So the only thing I really did for it was to make sure I didn't touch it too much, didn't sleep on it, I pushed my hair away from the piercing so it wouldn't get caught, and apply my aftercare solution with a Q-tip.
My ear was really sore for the first month or two, but eventually I could sleep on it, pull shirts and sweaters over my head, and touch it without wanting to cry from the pain. I haven't had a lot of trouble with it, and considering how little I took care of the piercing I consider myself very lucky! Sometimes my ear will be sore from sleeping on it for too long one night, or from someone hitting it or me hitting the piercing on something (walls, car doors, my glasses... I'm a very clumsy person).
I did have hard lumps on the back of my ear, like many people do, but they went away on their own. I didn't see a doctor or do anything about it, I just stopped touching it, tied up my hair, and was very careful not to let anything touch it and to not sleep on it. The lumps disappeared in a couple days, nothing big.
Surprisingly, my parents didn't react violently to the piercing. I haven't decided how much I like it yet.. maybe when I put in a different ring or change it to a stud I will like it more. In any case, it's a totally impermanent thing, since I haven't experienced any adverse reactions to it or scarring.