I had my first piercing other than standard earlobage a couple of years ago: a BCR in my left helix. It was done in Cardiff, Wales. I have a small confession - I hated the huge metal ring they put in and couldn'twait to get it changed for a pretty little one. Styoooopidly, I was reckless with their advice, got my pliers out and changed it from the big fat ring to a smaller silver one myself after about 3 weeks (surely the studios exaggerate infection risks to cover their arses, right?) but NO.... it fucking hurt, hurt, hurt, got infected and minging as minging can be and was hot, red and swollen for bloody weeks. I couldn't even bear being hugged by my boyfriend in case he brushed my general ear area and pulled at it at all. Sleeping was a nightmare; I could only sleep on my back or on the other side - absolutely no chance of sleeping on the pierced side until it has completely healed - way too painful. This new ring was nothing but infection and hassle - it kept flaring up, falling out, rejecting like nothing else - eventually I admitted defeat, took it out and let it close over and bid the thing fucking ado.
At A Glance Author Bluebell Contact Bluebell@bme.anon When It just happened Studio Ouch! Location Barnstaple, Devon
Anyway I have been thinking about having it done again because I really like helix piercings, I think they're pretty and cute. Another reason I made myself do it is that I also am thinking about a vertical clitoral hood piercing - but I know unless I psych myself up with one or two less gnarly piercings first I'll probably wimp out! The funny thing with piercings is as soon as you've had one you want another straight away. There are a couple of things I want done one day so I'm hoping this philosophy will motivate me through the actual piercing processes better than my own feeble willpower!!
I am a bit of a wuss with needles and I knew the only way I was going to do it would be to just damn well get my arse in there and do it - no friends to hold my hand, no appointments or big lead-ups, just get on with it and stop faffing.... I went to Ouch! in Barnstaple because it is central and reputable. They told me it was perfectly easy to re-pierce closed scar tissue and may even heal easier than the first piercing, which was good news for me after the mission last time!
The place is OK, it's not the most flashy or upmarket (Barnstaple is a small town, there can't be masses of business for them) but it's clean and professional. The guy (I didn't catch his name unfortunately) was friendly and efficient; he didn't talk much but he told me all the essential health and safety stuff you want to hear your piercer say before they start sticking you with spiky objects. First he cleaned the area with an alcohol swab and let it dry. Then, he froze the area with some kind of anaesthetic spray, which felt a little cold but didn't hurt. At this point I was shitting it a little bit, especially since he wasn't telling me what he was doing at each step - and since the piercing was on my head, I couldn't really turn to watch - and every time he came at me with a handful of something I would brace for the stab but it would just turn out to be another cold swab... anyway finally he attached the clamps and told me to expect a sharp sensation. The needle hurt a little but nowhere near as much as I was expecting - it was enough to make me screw up my eyes for about half a second (more in surprise than anything) and then it stopped hurting again. When he put the ring in that hurt a bit more - all the fiddlig with the ball wasn't too comfortable either - but it was definitely tolerable and I didn't feel like I wanted to flinch or shout or anything like that.
It hurt noticably a lot less than the last time, but then he did freeze me and I suppose there was no cartilage to push through. Afterwards it felt pretty hot and tender but after a couple of hours I was surprised to find it didn't hurt at all and now (6 hours later) it's a litle bit sore but on the whole, OK. I bought some boots antiseptic spray and cotton balls on the studio's advice to clean it with twice a day.
I am glad I got it done at last (been meaning to for ages) and hopefully this time I have learned my lesson to FOLLOW THEIR ADVICE!! I will definitely go to the studio to have the ring changed rather than try to do it myself this time- idiot.