I first saw a conch piercing when I was about 10 years old, and I've wanted one ever since. Tonight I finally got around to getting one, on my right ear. A few weeks ago I went to Dorje for a lip piercing, and I really loved the folks there, so I decided to return there for my conch.
At A Glance Author rae Contact rae@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Nick Studio Dorje Adornements Location Rochester, NY I went into the shop and told Nick (one of the piercers), that I would like to get one or both of my conches pierced. He told me getting both pierced might not be the best idea since I like to sleep on my sides most of the time, and recommended that I pierce whichever side I sleep on the least.
Once I decided on the right side, he looked at my ear, asked if I wanted a ring or barbell, and showed me the type of ring I'd be getting pierced with. The ring won't be changed for 9 months, so I made sure I picked something I'd like to wear long term. Nick headed to the back to prep the room for me, while I filled out the usual paperwork and did my best to fend off the my usual pre-piercing jitters.
As I got into the piercing room he asked me if I've ever had any cartilage piercing done (nope), and told me that these definitely take longer to heal and are more sensitive than typical lobe piercings. He compared it to my septum piercing saying it's going to be pretty achy for a while, especially if I were to accidentally bump or press it.
Nick opened up a few things he'd laid out on the tray, a tube and a few other things. I was feeling a bit nervous and didn't really want to see the needle, so I'm not sure see what else was on the tray. He cleaned my outer ear very thoroughly with some sort of liquid, dried it really well and put the opened ring on my ear so I could decide exactly where I wanted it. We went with a middle position and he marked my ear with a marker on the front and back for the needle.
When he had everything ready, he told me he would have me inhale and pierce on the exhale, and then he'd slide the ring in on another exhale. I took a deep breath, exhaled, and he slid the needle through. It was pretty stingy, but there wasn't any kind of popping/crunching sensation that I'd expected to hear or feel. I blinked a couple of times and he asked if I was doing ok, then asked me to take another breath. As I was exhaling he realized he needed to open the ring a bit more before sliding it in, so he took a minute, adjusted it, and then slid it through on the next exhale.
He wiped up a couple of drops of blood on my ear, and put a nice cold wet wipe thing on my ear. After a few seconds, he bent the ring back into shape, popped the bead into the captive bead ring, and then put the cold wipe back on for a minute.
As he was cleaning up he had me hop down to look in the mirror at my ear, told me it'd swell up somewhat in the next week, and I could try putting something cold on it. He also mentioned that I could take ibuprofen for the swelling. We talked about possible ways of sleeping on that side (maybe a pillow with a hole in it so my ear won't touch anything?).
He went over aftercare, saying to use cotton balls dipped in salt water to soak the back and front of my ears, then another set to clean off my ear, and THEN to rinse the salt off of my ear. It's also important to use a mild soap to wash any shampoo off of the piercing. He said I could possibly dye my hair but I'd want to be very careful to be sure I didn't get any dye on my ear.
I felt pretty paranoid about accidentally brushing my ear against my coat as I was driving home, but fortunately I didn't. The first hour or so after I got the piercing, my ear was pretty red and throbby, and after a couple hours, it's faded out to just a dull throb. I'm a pretty big wuss when it comes to pain, but the piercing itself really wasn't too bad. I'm sure I'll get tired of the ache, but hopefully the ibuprofen will help with that.
Aside from the redness, I think my conch looks absolutely fantastic, it was definitely worth the wait! Hopefully in a couple of months I'll be able to go back and get the other side pierced, assuming the right side has healed enough by then!