Ear piercing

The trip had been in the planning for over 6 months, two and a half weeks of climbing in Mallorca; the last week of June and the first week and a half of July. Timed so we had finished our exams, and missed the main tourist inrush that would mark the school holidays back in the UK. I was looking forward to the trip over, as I'd never been on a plane before. I was looking forward to the experience, as I'd only been out of the UK once before, and being 21 I was sure I was missing out! Most of all, I was looking forward to the main reason we were going. 17 days of living in a hammock, with really bad food, not really enough water, and some of the best climbing to be had!
unusual piercing experiences
Arriving in Palma was fun, getting to the hostel where we were to stay the first night was less so, buses being about my least favoured form of transport at the best of times, not least when you don't understand a single word being said by any of the other occupants. After getting settled into the hostel we decided to have a trek across the city and have a look at the local climbing shop. Passing through a maze of small streets in a pedestrian only zone that marked the centre of the old town. Passing shops that looked like they hadn't changed since the Victorian times, nestled up against shops of shining metal and plastic, not that it gave any indication of what they were supplying.

My first encounter was to the right, a small shop on the corner packed from floor to ceiling with display cases of piercing jewellery, everything from sparkle to black was covered, along with most everything in-between. Being moved along by my fellow climbers, the thoughts of the Tragus - Conch piercings that I had been thinking about over the preceding weeks came back to the fore, along with a very loud and stern thought of "You CANNOT get pierced before spending 2 weeks in the middle of nowhere, that is not after-care!". Realising that, as usual, common sense really should prevail, I moved onwards, only to find another piercing and tattoo shop on the left only a hundred meters or so along from the one I'd just left. So i visited Ear piercing encyclopedia and saw large posters showed pictures of piercings and tattoos they had done (or had they?) along with various famous persons with their own weakened PC versions. As we moved through the streets, I noticed several more piercing and tattoo places. The thoughts of getting my new piercing done while I was there kept circling around in my head, but reason won out. Deciding that it would just be inviting infection I passed them all by on the way back without too much disappointment.

While travelling between the various climbing locations, by coach, at least not as unpleasant as the damn buses but far too warm anyhow, I noticed many more piercing, and more often, tattoo shops. The business they did with the tourists must be phenomenal, but with the number of drunken parties of young people, not surprising. On returning to Palma, the thoughts returned to the fore; "I'm out here, I want to get it done anyway, why not?!". The plan I settled with was simple; get to the hostel, get a shower (as the facilities half way up a mountain are not the best available) then get back into the centre and see what's available!

The route to the centre was easy; follow the road at the back of the hostel, across the green expanse of park and fountains, then down the small back streets and up the steps with the water running down either side. This was when someone else was giving the directions..... and had a map! Getting to the park was easy, and various landmarks meant I got to the maze of small streets without getting too lost, that was where luck ran out. The network of small streets took me in generally the right direction. Forward and right were the main thoughts, and then the steps should be in front of me. No such luck! After another half hour of walking, getting lost, walking back, seeing a set of stairs and bounding enthusiastically up them on the figuring that up was always a good plan and finally deciding better of my original thought I found a large, and very neat looking tattoo shop on the corner of two larger streets.

I went inside and was instantly glad of the air conditioning, the heat of Mallorca being one of my least enjoyable points of the entire trip. The staff had a laid back attitude, and a fair few body mods, content to let me browse at my own pace without trying to pounce on me. After looking around I talked to the woman at the desk, whereupon I had an abrupt realisation; I didn't speak Spanish beyond ordering burgers and beer, and her grasp on English, whilst putting my pathetic attempts to shame, was nowhere near enough to converse in. I managed to communicate to the woman what my interests were, and she seemed to understand, asking a price for what I wanted done I was given the scarily small amount of %u040230, with exchange rate and the like taken into account around %u040820, not even enough to get a lobe done back in the UK. Having wondered through all the cabinets of barbell related items once already, I said I'd think about it and come back shortly. I wondered out of the shop, back into the oppressive heat of the outside world, fishing a lolly pop out of my pocket as I went, a short term addiction I'd picked up the week before. I'd had trouble with my body reacting badly to being pierced before, and I wasn't in the mood to be passing out in a piercers chair where none else spoke the same language as me.

I returned about 10 minutes later, full of apple flavoured lolly pop and definite interest in getting pierced. I ran it past the woman at the desk again, before being referred upstairs to a late 20's guy in flip-flops, shorts and a slightly lurid looking shirt. Hearing a run of Spanish go between them, along with some gesturing, he seemed to know what I was after, not that there was all that much I could do to confirm it. He checked over my ear to make sure there was nothing that would pose problems with the piercing, then passed me back to the woman downstairs to get paid, instructing me to come back up when that had gone through. Upon my return I was presented with an ice cube in some kitchen roll, and told to sit with it on my tragus for the next 10 minutes. While sitting there I got increasingly nervous about the entire event. While %u040230 was a ridiculously good price to get this done for (in the UK it would have cost a minimum of %u040860, probably more) the lack of any English going past made me feel quite alone, much more than I would have done anywhere else.

After my ice cube had melted into a small blob covered in some very wet kitchen roll, I was ushered into a piercing room. More Spanish flowed between the guy and an older lady in gloves and apron. Getting more worried that my piercing was changing places the more people got told about it, I sat down on the bench. The lady proffered me a pen, something that gave me an amazing sense of relief, and held a mirror up so I could mark the entry points for the bar. Happy I'd got it lined up level with the rest of my ear, I passed the pen back and smiled happily, glad that things were going well once again. I was instructed to lie down to make it easier for the both of us, and watched as she got a fresh needle out of the container, unwrapping it deftly as she went.

Without much warning the needle was lined up on the entry point of the tragus and pushed through. It was quite a shock, I'd been pierced without numbing before, and I found it to be less painful that it was with numbing. Either way, the needle going through my cold ear was disturbingly painful, and I was not much looking forward to the second hole as she lined up on the second entry point.

The pain from the second one was very similar to the first, although not as bad as it could have been, even without an ice cube! The bar was threaded onto the needle sheath and drawn through my ear, the ball being tightened up quite firmly. I was left to lie in peace for a minute, then moved through to the waiting room again, on the way my other bit of badly acquired Spanish made it's self useful "Gracias". She smiled and returned the sentiment.

Back in the waiting room, I got through several cups of water, much to the guy's surprise. Then went back downstairs and found some small blackline cones, picking up a spare one because the price was rather good. I thanked the lady at the desk, and the guy who'd helped me, and made my way back out into the heat, knowing roughly the direction for home, or at least hostel.

A month on and the piercing is healing very well. Crusting up a little, but no more than is expected from an open bar piercing. Swimming in the mornings seems to be rather good for it, and less damaging than scratching at it when I'm absent minded.

Overall a good experience, even if it was a little worrying at the time. And the piercing looks excellent!

A little back story: in February of 2005, I fractured three vertebrae in my back. I missed three months of school, spent 12 weeks in a back brace and then 6 weeks in physical therapy. It was a very difficult time in my life and I knew that as soon as I turned 18, I wanted to do something for myself. Over the course of the previous two years, I had been throwing piercing and tattoo ideas around in my mind because I knew that on my 18th birthday, I was going to put another hole in my body. I just didn't know where. Within a week of my birthday, I had narrowed down my choices to either my lower navel or my tragus. In the past I had my ear lobes pierced twice and the top of my navel pierced so I wanted something more outgoing.

So on the day of my 18th birthday and after I had finished Graduation practice at school, my best friend came over and we decided to head to our favorite studio, Dermagraffiti, which used to be located in Scottsdale but had moved to my hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania (yes, the home of Rolling Rock!). When we got there, I walked around looking at pictures of tattoos on the wall, trying to get up the courage to get it done. I got really excited and kind of scared. But my adrenaline was already pumping.

When I eventually got the courage, I went over and talked to Holli the piercer about what I wanted done. I had figured that I would get my lower navel done but she recommended doing it with a barbell instead of a ring. And because I didn't have a job at the time, I was short on cash and didn't want just a plain barbell. I wanted something pretty. So I changed my mind and went with the tragus. She had me sign all the appropriate papers and commented on how I was her second birthday girl that day.

After everything legal was taken care of, she led me back into her little piercing room. I had seen her do my best friend's labret piercing and I knew that she had done my friend's brother's vertical labret piercing and the guys of the studio had done both of their tattoos, so I felt comfortable being there with her. I knew that everything was clean and she definitely had a methodical way of setting everything up. Plus she used purple gloves and purple Q-tips, and everything was purple. It makes you feel more at home when even though the walls are stark white like a hospital, she has her own little touches to make you feel comfortable when you're in her care.

While she prepared everything, I chatted about random things with my friend. She marked the place and when I asked if it was going to hurt or not, she told me that it was more uncomfortable with pressure then pain. She put the clamps into position and pulled my tragus out from the side of my head so that she'd have better access to it. That felt weird because it normally doesn't turn in that direction. Then she placed the receiving tube in behind my tragus so that when she pushed the needle through, it wouldn't hit anything else in my ear. And while holding all that in there, she managed to ask me if I was ready and then began pushing the needle through. I remember that it took a fraction of a second for my navel to be pierced and this time it seemed to take a really long time. I felt it going through at the same time I could hear it going through the thick cartilage. I said "owww!" a few times, but then it was over and I only felt pressure, which is understandable. She removes the tube and then she goes about putting the ring in. It felt weirder having her pull the ring through then it did having her put the needle in. Probably because she was putting a round object through a straight hole. In a matter of a minute, she had the ring in and then she removed the clamps and I felt a huge amount of relief. She then put the ball on and it was done.Facial piercing encyclopedia. I asked her if it was bleeding and she said that it bled a bit but not as much as people normally bleed for that piercing. She handed me the mirror and I looked at it and I was in love with it. I had chosen my left side because I figured that I would want to sleep on my right side more often.

She told me to clean it with either saline solution or sea salt water. I thought that using the saline solution would be easier since I could buy it in a bottle already made and I could take it with me easier then having to take a bag of salt and risking it spilling everywhere or having people wonder why I was carrying a mini bag full of mysterious white powder with me. For the first few weeks, it was quite difficult to clean it being as I could only see it in a mirror if I turned my head a certain way. If I cleaned it after my shower, the warm water had loosened most of the crustiness and the blood and then everything came off easier. And if I couldn't get a shower before cleaning it, I would take a cotton ball and soak it with the solution and place it on my piercing and kind of wrap it around my tragus to the back of the piercing. Then I would use a q-tip with the solution to work around the hole and the jewelry. It took almost a week and a half for me to be able to move the jewelry because of the swelling.

For the next month and a half, it looked wonderful. The bleeding stopped the next day even though it was only a drop of blood every time I'd clean it. I didn't risk sleeping on it because I didn't want the ring to get caught on my pillow and get pulled out while I was sleeping. Then I noticed that I was getting more crustiness again, just like in the beginning. I don't know if it was getting infected but I was cleaning it the same way that I had always been. I noticed that I was getting a little pink bump on the front of the ring. It looked like the skin was growing out and around the ring. I went back to Holli and had her look at it and she said that it didn't look like it was infected but that I would probably just need to put something straight in it, and she shared with me that was what she had to do with hers to get it to heal. I didn't have the money at the time to get a straight barbell for it and she absolutely did not recommend me buying something from the mall and doing it that way because the metal wasn't of good quality. I trusted her judgment and even though it looked bad and it would have been cheaper to do it myself, I wanted her to do it and know that it was getting done right. I followed her instructions to the T over the next week or two and using the actual sea salt instead of the saline solution or the H2Ocean spray and it seemed to help it a little bit.

I went back to her about a week later and she put in a straight barbell. It bled and started to hurt all over again just like it did whenever I first got it pierced because this time I was taking something straight and putting it through a curved hole. I think there had been a bump on the back of the piercing as well as the front and whenever she put the straight piece in, I think it punctured that bump because for the next week, it bled every time I cleaned it, more than it did before. I was finding that using the sea salt was taking more time to mix it together and then having to throw it out every time so that it didn't get contaminated, so I went back to using the saline solution. The crustiness has dwindled away to almost nothing. I get one every day or so and it normally comes off in the shower or right afterward when I clean it. I still clean it twice a day and I think that now since the outer part of the piercing is healing, the solution is making its way to the middle of the piercing and healing it slowly. Everyone I've talked to who got this piercing says that it takes a really long time to heal. It's been almost three full months since I've had it and it looks really good now. It doesn't hurt anymore if I accidentally sleep on it during the night.

Although this piercing of mine didn't heal as hassle-free as my navel piercing did, it was worth the hassle. It has turned out to be a very beautiful piercing. I like the barbell in it more than I liked the ring. It is so unnoticeable that it took my parents exactly one month to the day that I got it done to notice it. At first they were shocked and yelled at me for getting another hole in my body but I reminded them that it must not be too bad of a thing if they didn't notice it and it was healthy.

Now that my tragus is on its way to healing completely and I'm confident that my body isn't going to reject it, I'm anxious to get more piercings because they are very addictive. I would recommend this piercing for someone who is patient. It takes a long time for it to heal and you have to be careful not to play with it or it will get infected. And because it's at such an awkward angle, it's really for other people to see and you to just know that it's there. It's a very good transition piercing if you're looking to get something more than your ear lobes done but you don't want to get into a flesh-piercing yet. It's really easy to take care of and it looks absolutely wonderful.

Before I start my story, I'll advise you all to not skip sizes. It's bad, and you can damage your ear, which, lucky, I did not do. Also, stretching with silicone tunnels is not a good idea.

Basically, it all started when I was at school. Eight grade year, my friend Amber's sister got into the whole ear lobe stretching thing. She never went past a 4g, but I became fascinated with the idea of having this pretty little hole in your ear, and, with the right earrings, you could look thru it etc, etc. Amber began to stretch her ears, that year as well. By the end of the year, she was only at a 10g.

Freshmen year, I began to explore around online, and find out what it looked like to have your ears stretched, well ... big. I decided that I would stretch, but stop at a 4g, and that that would be a good size. Boy, how wrong I was.

The first stretch I did, was in Geometry class of freshmen year. My friend Shayna had a 12g tongue ring, so we literally shoved it into my right ear. I didn't like it, so I took it out, and shoved it into my left year. I left it there for about a month. Intimate body piercing encyclopedia. She also had a 10g tongue ring, which I later borrowed from her, and stretched my ear during 3rd period speech and debate class. Everyone thought the little 10g hole in my ear was so big and strange. It gradually started to look smaller to me as time passed.

I was walking around the mall, when I passed by the store Hot Topic, and I saw that they had tons of stretchers, spacers, etc. I learned the names of all the earrings, and the types of materials and the sizes, as well. I ended up buying a pair of 8g marble plugs and a pair of 8g marble clinchers. I couldn't wait to stretch my left ear. Right when I got home, I immediately went into the restroom, and forced the 8g clincher into my ear. And it hurt. Like a burning sensation. My ear throbbed for about 2 days, and when I changed the clincher to the plug, it bled a little bit.

For a while nobody knew that I was stretching my ears, because I always bought plugs, and they thought that they were just normal earrings. Well, my dad took me to the mall, and I bought a pair of 6g plugs, a 6g taper, and a pair of 4g titanium tunnels with silicone O-ring. I couldn't wait to get the 4g in my ear. It looked so big, and I thought it'd be so cool to have that hole in my ear, and since it was a tunnel, everyone could look thru it! How awesome is that?!

I stretched my ear in the mall. Took my 8g out, and slid in the 6g taper. Didn't hurt at all. Nice pain free stretch -- the only one, too. I waited about a week, switching on and off with my new 6g plugs, before I stretched to a 4g. And when I finally decided to stretch, it was incredibly hard to get the earring in my left ear (I was only stretching one ear at the time...) My friend later suggested that I use some form of lubricated, which I did, and it worked a lot better. I used Neosporin with pain relief. The pain relief didn't relieve any pain what so ever. It hurt and was swollen and sore and got crusty and was pusing and bled for a few days. I took it out, cleaned it, and it did a lot better.

My friend Tina noticed that I was stretching my ears, and she decided that she'd lend me her 0g taper. She said it'd save me the hassle of having to buy more earrings, and the money, too. I took that pretty little sparkly purple taper, too. I waited a while before I stretched my ear to the 0g. I was at my grandma's house, about two weeks later. I was taking a nice warm bath, when I decided to stretch my ear with the 0g taper. Skipping the 2g was a horrible idea. It hurt so much to stretch. I couldn't get the taper in all the way, either. So I left it about half way stretched until the next morning. When I woke up, it was extremely swollen and just plain icky. I forced the earring in the rest of the way. I left it that way for a few days, and the swelling and stuff eventually went down.

I stayed with that 0g taper for the rest of the swim season. (Yes, I was on the swim team.) It healed just dandy after a while. My dad actually took me to the store to find a pair of 0g clear plugs for swim, so I wouldn't have to take my earrings out. We found a pair of clear tunnels, but the smallest that they had was 7/16. I bought them anyway. About the last week of school, I started to get bored with my 0g ear lobe, so when I got home, I stretched to 7/16, with a silicone tunnel. Which was not a good idea, at all. My ear got swollen from skipping sizes, and the earring was wide enough for my ear to swell, so it hurt a lot. I ended up borrowing 7/16 glass tunnels from Tina, which I used until my ear was healed.

The 2nd to last day of freshmen year, I took shayna's 12g captive ring home with me. I began to stretch my other ear. This is where I became a complete idiot. I didn't want to wait so long to have both my ears the same size. I wanted to have both ear lobes at 7/16 before school started, again. So I had the 12g in my ear. It kind of healed... but I couldn't wait. I had to stretch again, so I stretched my ear with my 6g taper. Now, skipping from a 12g to a 6g is a horrible idea, and anyone who has done it before knows. Please, please, please, do not ever skip sizes. Anywho, it hurt like hell. I couldn't believe how bad it hurt. My ear felt so incredibly hot, and began to throb and swell almost immediately. I couldn't sleep on that side of my head for a few nights. About another 2 weeks later, I stretch to a 4g. It hurt, and it throbbed for about a day, but it didn't really swell or anything.

I went to warped tour a few days later, and noticed that some people had some really really huge ear lobes. I was walking to the "hurley stage" to watch Underoath, when I found this little stand with plugs and tunnels. I bought a pair of 1/2 inch pink plugs. They're extremely pretty. I love them. But I can't wear them yet. Anyway, I let my right ear heal for quite some time, actually. Maybe a month and a half. Then I really needed to stretch. School would be starting soon. Only problem was - I lost the 0g taper. I was so mad. I went crazy. I couldn't get what I wanted. My right ear to be at 7/16, just like my left.

I was cleaning my room when I found it under the dresser. I immediately went into the restroom, cleaned it with soap and water, and then with alcohol, and forced it into my ear. It didn't go in all the way. Just like my left ear did. I had to leave the taper like that for about 2 or 3 days. Each day I pushed the taper in a little bit more, until finally it was all the way in. And it throbbed, it got swollen. However, it didn't bleed. It hurt a lot. I let that heal for a little less than a month ... maybe 3 weeks. Give or take a few days. School started in a few days. Oh no. I found my 7/16 silicone tunnels, so I went into the restroom, and tried to stretch. It wasn't working. The tunnel didn't want to pop open and stretch my ear.

Whatever you do, don't stretch with silicone tunnels. It hurts a lot, and it's just plain stupid. I guess I had no common sense. But anyway, I went to six flags, and people looked at me like I was crazy. I have holes in my ears, and you can see thru my ears, black hair, short in back long in front, messy, fauxhawk, darkish make-up, but I had American eagle faded jeans and a lime green/yellow shirt on. I guess my hair and make-up didn't match my clothes. I don't know. People were commenting my ears ... and some even called me crazy.

The next day was Monday. I had band camp, but was too tired to go, but when I got home, the first thing I did was try to stretch my ear. It didn't work yet again. I gave up. I changed my tunnel to my clear one, because I was getting tired of my black tunnel. I went into the restroom to change my tunnel and decided to try to stretch my right ear once more. Finally, it worked. I was so happy. I was beyond happy. But it hurt, a lot. And it got swollen. The next day I went to band. and people called me crazy and asked me if I hole punched my ear, and if it hurt. What crazy people they are.

I had to take the silicone tunnel out because it wasn't letting my ear drain and swell, and it hurt. I took it out pretty painlessly, and slid Tina's glass tunnel in. I left it like that until Sunday night -- the night before school started. I took out the glass tunnel, and luckily, my ear wasn't all that much swollen anymore. I got the silicone tunnel in. Yay!

So now, I have my beautiful 7/16 clear silicone tunnels in my ear. I love them, but I want to go to 1/2 inch. I will soon. I just need to buy a taper, first. But I went from a 12g to 7/16th in 3 stretches. Worst idea I ever had ... ever.

But a lot of people ask me why I wanted to get my ears that big. And frankly, I feel pretty. I like what I did, and I did it to make myself feel better. Some people don't understand how having holes in your ear can make a person feel good about themselves, but it does. It makes me feel pretty, oh so pretty.

The story of my industrial began about 2 years ago. It was then that I saw a picture of a piercing done by Luis Garcia (Infinite Body Piercing i believe) of a conch to rook industrial. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Before that moment, I had only seen helix to helix, and vertical industrials. I had been considering a helix to helix industrial for some time, but that idea changed quickly. I pondered the idea for a while, and I eventually went to visit my piercer, Ted, to be sized for jewelry. At the time, Ted was working in the Solid Image Boynton Beach location, which is very close to my house. He examined my ear and told me he would order a 14 gauge 1 1/4" barbell, which he would bend to fit my ear.
Surface body piercing encyclopedia

I'd had experience ordering jewelry from Ted before, and I knew that it would probably take many reminders and much persuasion to make him remember to order the jewelry. I was right. I love Ted, but he's very much on the forgetful side. Several weeks later, he actually ordered the jewelry, and about a week thereafter, it was waiting for me. The only problem was that Ted had moved to the Deerfield Beach location, which is a considerable drive from my house. I commissioned my mom to drive me there, since I don't feel very good about driving after being pierced. It was a Wednesday night in August, around 8pm, and the shop wasn't busy at all.

I came in and sat down in what was a new chair to me, because I'd never been to the Deerfield location before. Ted and my mom talked for a little bit. Then my mom went outside to be worried and chain smoke. Ted wrapped two pairs or pliers in tape, and bent the barbell, holding it up to my ear and tweaking it a little at a time. He had never done anything like this before, and I knew this, so the actual piercing was a little trial and error.

First, he did the usually preparatory things- wiped down the counter, put a sterile drape over the counter, got out his clamps and needles, betadine, and lube. As with most shops, I'm assuming, there are a few rumors about the talent and cleanliness of the artists. I've heard many complaints that "Ted made my nipples infected" (maybe it's because you didn't clean them?) or "Solid Image is dirty." I've never had a bad experience there. I've always found it to be very clean as well. Everything is autoclaved and all hands are gloved.

So, following all the usual cleanliness stuff, Ted got out his marker, and marked my ear. Then he swabbed my ear with betadine, placed a towel over my shoulder, and put on his gloves. He decided to pierce my rook first, since there's more leeway in placement of a conch than a rook. The rook was somewhat of a problem. He clamped it, and started to pierce. But then he realized that he was going to need to put a lot of force into it, and he needed a receiving tube. The needle was halfway through my rook at that point. My ear was very warm, not exactly painful, but throbbing a little bit. He went into his drawer, and pulled out a receiving tube. Then he changed his gloves. He decided that since my rook was half pierced already, he didn't need clamps. He put the receiving tube under my rook and finished piercing it.

The sensation following that was amazing. My ear got very cold feeling, and a little prickly, like little pins and needles. There wasn't any pain, I just felt kind of happy and good. He put the jewelry through my rook, and decided to freehand my conch. I didn't feel my conch at all. Nothing. It was similar to how I felt getting my tongue pierced. I knew it had happened, but I was shocked to not feel a thing. Ted said that was because I had just had my rook pierced, and not feeling a second piercing in close proximity to the first was common.

Before I knew it, the jewelry was through both of my new holes, and I was getting cleaned up. I was starting to feel a little pain, like little electrical shocks along the back of my ear. It wasn't bad though. I was bleeding a moderate amount (I have high blood pressure, and I usually bleed a lot). Ted asked if I wanted him to go over aftercare, or if I knew the drill already. I told him I knew what to do. He's pierced my cartilage many many times. Not to be disrespectful, but I don't follow his aftercare anyway. I've found that it doesn't work very well for me. He recommends cleaning the piercing twice a day with a mixture of half bactine and half water, and using a mild anti-bacterial soap once a day in the shower. Bactine doesn't work for me at all. My piercings allways lymph a great deal, and become very dry and itchy when I use it. I use sea-salt soaks instead, and a little anti-bacterial soap in the shower now and then for my own peace of mind.

My mom came back inside, and said my piercing didn't look as "bad" as she thought it would. She said she had been worried, because it looked really complicated in the picture I showed her, but when she saw it in three dimentions, she inderstood where the barbell was going. I paid Ted ($70-$35 per piercing-plus a tip), we talked for a little bit, and then we left.

I was a little dizzy all the way home, like i usually am. I took a shower before bed to try and wash off most of the remaining blood. I was relatively unsuccessful though. I got the blood off the greater portion of my ear, but there was some trapped between the barbell and the inside of my rook. I decided to leave it be until my morning salt soak.
Unusual body piercing encyclopedia.
It was very sore the next day. I did a salt soak before going to work, and managed to soak off the rest of the blood. The week after that, school started, and my usual regimen of one salt soak before school, one after, and either a soak or anti-bacterial soap before bed continued for months. For the first month I had it, my conch wouldn't calm down. It was swollen and itchy and sore beyond belief. Then, suddenly, all my conch problems stopped, and a long line of serious rook problems began. It wouldn't stop lymphing no matter how much I babied it. I assumed this was somewhat normal for an industrial, so I didn't worry about it. Frequently, I got pressure headaches on the industrial side of my head. And every once in a while, when I hadn't been sleeping enough lately, I would awake to the dull pain that told me I had rolled over onto my left side while I slept.

Although all of this was rather annoying, I was pretty much unconcerned until a small red bump appeared surrounding the entrance hole of my rook. Pretty soon, it grew to a medium sized red bump. I left it alone, and silently prayed for it to go away. I was pretty sure my wonderful industrial had become a traitor and started migrating on me. But I pushed that thought down in my mind and persevered.

My red bump stayed until a horrible accident happened at work. I was stocking shelves, and as I stood up, the top ball of my barbell (on top of my rook) caught itself on a plastic price ticket holder on the end of a peg. That was the worst pain ever. It got very warm and wet feeling, so I knew it was bleeding. There weren't any customers in the store, so I sat down on the floor in a little ball until the pain got better. I forced myself to go look in the mirror, and it was pretty bad. I felt really dumb, because what had just happened was a semi-comical, yet very sad and accident. It was bleeding, but not as badly as I thought it was. My red bump had popped, and lymph was all over my ear. I did the best thing I could given the circumstances-I microwaved some water until it was warm and using a cotton ball, applied it to my ear. It actually felt a lot better after that.

When my shift was over, I did a salt soak, and decided that it wasn't really that bad. It was going to heal just fine, I knew it. Less than two weeks later I could no longer deny that my rook was beginning to look very shallow. My mom took me back to Solid Image, and Ted replaced my barbell with a ring in my rook, and a barbell in my conch. I was strongly against putting anything back in my rook, but I let Ted put it in there anyway. He was also in denial, saying that maybe it was just an illusion from all the swelling, and it wasn't really rejecting. I was ok with this, because at least I knew I would be able to take the ring out easily by myself. I did just that two day later. I was, and still am, very saddened by the whole experience.

Pretty soon, my rook was closed, and my industrial was officially deceased. I planned to repierce it in a few months, but I have since decided to hold off on that. I've had enough ear ordeals, and although I might retry it in the future, it's not in my present plans. I still have my long and curved indutrial barbell as a reminder that I can try again any time.

This piercing was especially troubling to me. It was not the first piercing I've lost to migration, but it was the first piercing I've lost to migration for reasons other than my own stupidity. I made every effort to satisfy my picky little rook, but, alas, it was just not meant to be.