It had been months since my last piercing (trans lobe) and I felt I needed another ear piercing to 'even it out'. I felt a bit heavy on one side you could say. When I initially thought of what to get, I wanted another trans lobe, but in the other ear. After some serious deliberation I decided against another trans as my first one was still healing. In addition I've found wearing a standard earring in that lobe rather difficult due to swelling (I assume). I didn't want to go through that again any time soon.
At A Glance Author starxfighter Contact starxfighter@bme.anon When A month ago Studio Hairhouse Warehouse Location Marion, Adelaide, Australia. I kept thinking and cruised around bme for a bit searching for ideas. When I narrowed it down, my decision was between a Tragus, Snug, Conch or Anti Tragus. I chickened out of the Conch and Snug after reading some experiences, so it was down to Tragus or Anti. Right up until I was sitting in the chair, I still didn't know what to get as I'm a really indecisive person.
So I had the day off and I didn't really plan on going to get it done until I had a family emergency of sorts. I had to take my Dad to hospital over the other side of town (where the shop is), so decided to pop in after I left him. (By the way, he was OK. I didn't go and get pierced when he was on deaths door!). I went to the shopping centre and spoke to the piercer and said that I wanted either of the two mentioned piercings but I wasnt sure what. First we picked out the jewellery and I chose a curved barbell. Their jewellery is high quality titanium and I have not had any issues with it with any of my prior piercings.
I sat down and filled out the consent form and after some general chit chat she asked what I wanted. First I said Tragus, then anti, then tragus. After a lot of pissing around on my part I just said f**k it, give me an anti tragus. I've never seen it on anyone and I thought it'd make a great addition to the trans that I never see on people either. She was heaps happy with my long awaited decision because she hadn't pierced an anti tragus in ages, so it was something different. When I asked about the most common piercings she does, she replied with navels, lips and noses. When she mentioned not doing the anti tragus, I asked if she'd done one AT ALL and she assured me that she had. *phew* There was no way I was going to be a guinea pig.
I sat there and the girl marked it out and after looking I asked for it to be moved and there was no prob. Apparently my ear was perfect anatomy for an anti tragus. After checking again I agreed and she put the clamp on. Holy crap! All my other work has been free handed so the clamp was a shocker for me...I couldn't believe how much it hurt, but I was glad that she used it. I was looking at the tray with all the equipment and she suggested I look away when she picked up the needle. She warned me and proceeded to push the needle through the thiiiick cartilage.
I must admit that it hurt quite a bit, but it was nothing compared to my trans. Actually, it was about the same pain, but a different pain altogether. The cartilage pain was blunter whereas the trans was a hot, scraping feeling. Anyway, jewellery in and no major dramas.
A drop of blood fell onto my chest and she had to stop the bleeding for a little bit. The girl cleaned it up, I had a look and was pleased, she gave me some gauze just in case it played up, I paid and was on my way.
It got red obviously and even now 6 weeks later it's a tiny bit swollen still but not sore. I tried not to sleep on it for a few weeks and now I have no problems sleep-wise. The ONLY problem (and it's a doozy for me) is listening to music with my headphones. It's kind of impossible to keep an ear bud in there, especially at the gym when you're moving heaps. It's very annoying to say the least! Hopefully I can change the jewellery to something else to make it easier, but Im sure I will deal.
I recommend this to anyone because it was relatively easy. Not a great deal of pain and I've had no major issues during aftercare. All I used was a bit of Protat antiseptic spray every now and then, but generally it healed on its own. And that's my Anti Tragus!