I have a whole bunch of piercings, and all but one are in my ears. This is a delightful story about the 7th "hole in my head," as my bewildered friends and family refer to them. =)
At A Glance Author Cait Contact Cait@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Dave Studio Explosive Tattoo Location Salisbury, MD I got my standard two lobes done when I was pretty young, and then I begged and begged my parents to let me get another, and they only said yes when I promised I wouldn't ask for any more after that. So I got my cartilage pierced, but that was when I was 14! And, as we have all probably realized, piercings can be pretty addicting, so when my parents stuck to their "No more!" rule I was pretty bummed. Then... I turned 18. FINALLY. It took me a while to figure out what to get but, inspired by a friend of mine, I got a nose ring... I never even thought about the tragus. But once my nose healed, I was itching for something new and different, and tragus seemed like the way to go. Nobody I knew had one (granted, I'm the only one of my friends who has more than a couple piercings, but still...) and I saw pictures of it online, on BME and elsewhere, and it looked SO neat. So I decided to go for it! I didn't tell my parents, because they just sort of gave up on that kind of thing after I was 18 knowing they couldn't really do much about it whether they wanted to or not. They're cool that way.
Anyway, so one fine March day I moseyed on down to Explosive, which is a cool little tattoo place a few minutes from my house. There are two main places in my town, and the other place did my nose, but I was not so impressed with their piercer. Explosive's people are more heavily modified in general, which makes me more comfortable because I feel like they know how things should be, and they're just cooler and more laid back and I like the place a whole lot better in general.
I got there and talked to the resident piercer, Dave. He is wonderful. I told him what I wanted, we chatted some, I showed ID, filled out forms, picked out jewelry- a 16g CBR with a black bead- and paid. I think it ended up being maybe $50 altogether.
I waited with the friend I'd brought for moral support, while Dave went to the back to get ready. I was a little nervous, because I thought this would be a lot more painful than my nose, which was nothing, and it was my first "real" ear piercing, as I thought of it. Pretty soon, Dave came to fetch me and luckily let my friend come back with me to hold my hand. I'm not a baby, and I can do the whole pain thing pretty well, I just like to have someone there.
So Dave swabbed my ear to clean it and checked it out a bit. He warned me I have a pretty small tragus, so it would be a little tricky, and I had to be SUPER still so he could get it just right. He also mentioned that he was using as small a ring as he had, but it would still look kind of big on my little ear. He marked it with the requisite purple marker, and I checked it out but I honestly didn't care too much at that point, it was all the same to me really and I trusted him. He put the little clamp on, which squeezed uncomfortably, and asked me if I was ready. I nodded yes, smiling a little- I love the feeling right before it happens! So he gave me the "take a deep breath in... now exhale" and on exhale IN went the needle. I remember there being very little pain, and I didn't hear the 'crunch' that most people say they hear. People ask me about it all the time, and are surprised at both of those things, I don't know why but it was all just dandy. Then it was time to get the ring through, which tugged at the new hole a little so it was a touch sore, but nothing too terrible. I always think getting the jewelry in is worse than the piercing itself. He gave me care instructions- the most important being "DON'T EVER listen to your friends' advice!"- and sent me away.
The first few days I used H2Ocean spray on it, because I was hesitant to touch it even with a Q Tip since it was still a little sore to the touch. After maybe a week, I started I taking care of it with Ear Care, that basic stuff you can get most places, and that worked just fine. Once I went on a trip for a few days and left my cleaning stuff at home, so I used antibacterial soap and water, but it still got pretty angry and swollen and a little infected, so I put some hot water in a little glass, dissolved sea salt in it, soaked a cotton ball in that and held it on there, repeat, repeat and rinse, twice a day for a few days and it calmed down and was fine. That was the only problem I had with its healing. I had long hair at the time, but that never bothered it, and after a couple months I could touch it and play with it and rotate the ring and do whatever and it was all good. I should mention, I have a friend who's a piercer, so the hot sea salt water thing was his advice and I took it... I talk to him whenever I get pierced. Oh, he also pointed out that I would probably have some ringing in my ears, because the cartilage the needle goes through goes deep into your ear, something like that, but I really didn't have an issue with that either.
So, far from a horror story! My tragus is by far my favorite of my 10 piercings, I have several more on the way but I don't think any could ever take its place. I have since exchanged the CBR for a labret stud, and it looks SO cute- I love it more than ever! I would absolutely recommend this, even if you're not a metal veteran. It's absolutely wonderful, and I would do it again in a heartbeat!