I'll start off with saying; I am not a piercing rookie. Ha, I have my fair share of ear piercings. Mainly because that's the only body part my parents will let me pierce. This is my Conch/Inner ear piercing experience, but the many that came before are equally important.
At A Glance Author Jordana Contact jordanarau@yahoo.com When A week ago Artist Jenna Mapes Studio Feed My Addiction Location Wisconsin I have four standard ear lobe piercings on each ear, and two "standard" cartilage piercings as well. My first "real" piercing was my industrial. I ended up with a raging infection due to the piercer's ignorance. After that I was forced to put piercing on the back burner. I had always wanted my conch pierced, but my mom wouldn't allow another "heavy cartilage" piercing for a while. Instead I got both my rooks, left tragus, and right snug.
Finally, I was able to say "Mom I can get my conch done now." She agreed and took me in to get it done. Well, Jenna wasn't there that day, which made me more nervous and I backed out while waiting to set up an appointment. Later that week my friend, Erica, decided that she wanted her tragus pierced and that she would go with me the next Friday to get them done.
Walking into FMA knowing I was getting a long awaited piercing was what calmed me down. Erica got hers first, and she said it was the most pain she had ever experienced. All of a sudden my stomach hit the floor. I was thinking about how painful my tragus was...I almost walked out of the shop! (My friend Emma decided she was going to pierce my tragus with a thumb tack and ended up only going halfway through before chickening out and sending me to FMA. When I got there, I was bleeding and just told Jenna to get the damn thing over with.) Jenna told me it was my turn. I had picked out a plain silver 16G spiral barbell and she quickly set up. We talked about what had been going on lately since I came in last as she got ready.
Maybe I was on an adrenaline high, but when she put the clamp on, I felt nothing. Which is usually the worse part for me, so I was hopeful it wouldn't hurt. I spent the night before reading all of the conch stories on BME I could find and many people had said how excruciating the pain was, probably not the best idea I'd had.
In all my piercing experiences, I have noticed that the industrial was the most painful. Maybe I have a high pain tolerance, but the conch felt like a pinch compared to the industrial...
Two seconds later she said, "Ready hun?" I giggled and replied, "As always." She told me to take a breath and let it out. I felt a small prick and she said, "All done! Putting the spiral in may be a little uncomfortable, but I know you can sit through it." Uncomfortable was an understatement. I'm pretty sure I made some pretty sexy faces as she put in the jewelry. She then asked if I was okay and proceeded to shape the jewelry to my ear with a pair of pliers. I was holding the hand mirror the whole time so I told her how great it looked the once she was done.
She went through the after care real quick, knowing I knew the drill. Sea Salt soaks as needed, Dial soap twice a day, Tea Tree oil if it acted up, and to stop in or call her with any questions or concerns. She then congratulated me on earning my free piercing and I tipped her $5.00. I walked out the door, and jumped in my car and turned the mirror and just looked at my amazing addition. (:
The first day it was okay, a little red and not very swollen at all. Day two, I woke up on my left side (the side with the new piercing) and my pillow was covered in blood. I cleaned it up real quick and it looked fine but that afternoon I stopped in to see Jenna and she cleaned my ear a little better and told me it just looked like I ripped the skin and it would be tender. Day three my boyfriend got my hair caught on it when he was moving my hair to show our friends and holy crap, it hurt. I've been taking Advil and that seems to help.
I highly recommend this piercing to anyone interested. It's not as bad as some of these stories make it sound. Sure, pain tolerance differs among people. If you can handle, oh lets say, the industrial you can get a conch without a problem. I also recommend Jenna from Feed My Addiction, in Eau Claire WI.
Feel free to email me with any questions!