Conch Piercing; 1 Year On

Last year, on the 17th of December, I believe, I went to Dublin for my Christmas shopping and came home with the shopping and a fresh piercing. 

I got my Conch pierced. I won't beat around the bush, the piercing hurt being done, I yelped a bit when the needle went through. It is the thickest part of your ear so I should have expected it. When I came home, I cleaned it and it was throbbing but it wasn't painful any-more. My ear was red and angry for a few days but nothing I wasn't expecting, after all, I had just paid a lovely lady to push a 1.6mm tri-bevel hollow needle through my ear. It was mad at me. I understand!  It was agony to sleep on for 3 months or more, so I learned to sleep on my left side, which I still do even though my piercing is fully healed and doesn't hurt at all as I type this. 

A few months on (April) and I was growing weary of the little stainless steel ball in the hollow of my ear so I took myself off to Wildcat and picked up a black acrylic ball with white stars on it. I just wanted to have a nice top ball and the piercer said it wouldn't impede healing so I was happy as a clam. It hurt to sleep on for a bit but it was nowhere near as uncomfortable as the tiny ball was.

In July, I got my Arrow barbell and I adored it. I maintain my status as an archer, no matter what, I will go down swinging!! What better for an archer with an arrow tattoo to have a tiny silver arrow in her ear?! It was fabulous, until I wanted to change it. It wouldn't unscrew. For a few weeks it didn't bother me, but I knew something was up so once again, I took myself back to Wildcat to have them see what was up. Basically, I wound up having to have the whole thing pulled from my ear in two different directions and it SUCKED ASS SO HARD!!! I sobbed like a child, but the piercer was so cool she didn't judge at all, in fact she was amazing!! Back to a stainless steel barbell I went, replacement bar in tow in case I wanted to put the arrow back in a few weeks later. I didn't. I'll stick to my tattoo thanks!

Last month, I went to Baz Black (based in Dundalk), who would technically be my Boyfriends local piercing place, if Chris was pierced. I got Baz to switch out the bar, replacing it with a blue adonized Captive Bead Ring at 12mm diameter and 1.6mm in gauge. Having him change to the hoop - no bother at all, not a flinch or a twinge within a 10ft radius. Sleeping on it sucked for a fortnight and to be honest I thought about taking myself back up to Dundalk and getting Baz to swap it back again but I persevered and now it's perfect. The site of the piercing needed time to adjust to the curve, and now its absolutely perfect and it looks so bad-ass! 


Healing was a bit of a pain at times... It's had a pretty angry keloid on the back of my ear, which I drew out with Disprin pastes, and now its absolutely perfect, and healed really well after all the issues with the keloid. I cleaned it twice daily for 3 months, once a day for 3 months, and then every other day for 3 months, as well as applying tea tree oil with a cotton wool bud twice a week for the entire duration. I try not to touch it but the ring especially is easy to fiddle with. I still occasionally apply tea tree oil to the piercing and spray the whole thing with anti-bacterial spray by Easy Piercing just to be kind to it.

So 12 months on, and what's the verdict?

I wouldn't get the other Conch pierced, and probably will never venture into cartilage land whatsoever, but I would not change this conch ring for the world. I love it just as much as my tattoos, sometimes more. I'm all about tattoos, piercings are a longer more intricate commitment in terms of healing. You really have to be on the ball when you heal a piercing, there is a lot of scope for infections and rejection. I think I've learned enough about tattoos to know I'm happier healing fresh ink than a piercing. 

As cheezy as this is, I wanna say a big thank you to anyone who gave me advice or helped in any way when I was healing this bad boy! Sorcha at Wildcat Ink in Stephens Green, my lovely piercer, Dani in Dublin Ink for telling me about Disprin Pastes, Baz at Baz Black Piercing Dundalk for swapping out the bar for the CBR and various pierced friends for being dead sound when I had questions! 

Hope this post was helpful, 

Amy

xx

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Conch Healing Update - 1 Month

It has now been one month since I had my conch piercing done. I have been monitoring my healing closely in order to give you a full debriefing, in case you are thinking about getting one yourself!

Please Remember: I am by no means an expert on any kind of body modification or adornments. I am merely sharing my experience with you. As such, I take no responsibility for your piercings or their healing times. You should, at all times consult a professional for 100% water-tight advice. 






Piercing: Inner Conch (left ear)
Gague: 1.6mm
Material: Surgical Grade Steel bar, one Surgical steel ball, one hardened plastic ball. 

As you know, after I had my piercing done initially, it was beyond sore. I couldn't even wiggle my ear without wincing, but that initial pain only lasted about 3-5 days. It was red and angry for those few days but when your after having a relatively thick metal bar shoved through your ear, it's bound to be pissed off. 

I couldn't sleep on it for 3 weeks after the initial tenderness passed, even though I was taking Arnica to bring down the swelling and bruising, as recommended by Wildcat. I also took a short course of zinc to aid my immune system in the first stage of healing. 

Now, for the big stuff. 

I think it may have become very mildly infected after about 10 days (It was over Christmas so I couldn't get to Wildcat to ask), but I used Easy Piercing soap, saline and antibacterial spray to clean my ear 2/3 times a day and keep the seeping at bay. This meant that the possibility of a crust forming on the jewelry was minimized. I also used Tea Tree Oil (which is a natural antiseptic) on a cotton bud around the barbell and surface of the ear, and then pushed the barbell back and forth gently to allow the oil to penetrate the piercing and ensure the barbell was left sanitary. This isn't actually recommended and I cant guarantee it will work for you, but it did for me. I used 100% pure Austrailian Tea Tree Oil that I got in my local chemist.

Tea Tree is not usually recommended but Betadine (which is a medical antiseptic ointment) cannot be gotten in any chemist anymore. I used this to make sure that whatever was festering in my ear would not get a chance to spread. Tea Tree is usually only warranted in the event of a hypertrophic scar forming. It dries out your skin like crazy so its really only useful to use it once in every 3 days. I did use it twice a day for 5 days to a week to eliminate any infection that may have been lingering but once it was back to normal I stopped using it.  

I have been cleaning it every day but sometimes leaving it for a day so as to allow the tissue to heal without my interfering with it. I have also been into Wildcat to get a different ball on the top of the post (the ball really has no bearing on the healing according to the girl who put it on for me) and since I got the new larger ball, I have been able to sleep on it because it doesn't move as much. 

The piercing itself did not weep or pus after the 3 week mark which allowed me to stop worrying about it. The barbell has been kept clean and dried after every cleaning. I haven't used the tea tree on it since the infection cleared up, though I intend to pop a bit on once a week from now til the the initial healing time is finished to eliminate the chance of any keloid or hypertophic scarring occurring. 

NOTE: When I had the ball changed after 3ish weeks, I asked the piercer was there any signs of infection or scarring and she said no. She said that the dried skin can be a combination of initial sea salt soaks and tea tree but it was nothing to worry about and the skin has gone back to normal now. I did also get one or two serious bangs in the ear that made me cry like a baby from the pain, but they haven't affected my ear in any way, just hurt like a bitch!

All in all, my conch is healing very well and I am thinking about getting my right ear done to match. 

My Acrylic ball on the stainless steel healing bar

If you are thinking about getting this piercing done: Please remember that it is a very thick piece of cartilage and it will hurt like hell while its healing, to the point where I swore I would never cheat on tattoos again. Getting the piercing was by far the easiest part of the whole operation, the aftercare is the part you need to be aware of. I have also had to go to my optician and have them re-shape the left arm of my frames to avoid bumping on the bar but that was a small job and they actually commented on how unique the piercing was while they did it.


I hope this was of some use to you and if you are thinking of getting your conch pierced, go for it, it's a beautiful piercing.

Amy
xx 

Getting a Head Start...

Every year I make a list of things I want to do the following year. This year I have created a board on my Pinterest where I pin the things I want to do.

I've been thinking a lot about piercings versus tattoos lately, and as someone with four tattoos, two of which account for quite large portions of my body, I have avoided getting pierced for well over five years. I find myself drawn to the opinion that although tattoos hurt more and take way longer, they are infinitely more permanent than piercings; which is why I like them. But there is something about piercings which appeals to me. Maybe it's the simplicity of them; definitely the aesthetic quality.

For the last 2 months or more I've been looking at all kinds of ear piercings. I can't have facial piercings because of archery, and I'm not ballsy enough for any other bodily adornment. Ears it was. The question was, what part of the ear? The whole world and her auntie has a Tragus, Helix and Industrial. A "Forward Helix" would only get bumped by the arms of my glasses, and a Rook is too fiddly.

I decided a Conch was the way to go. So, I pinned a bunch of conch piercings onto my "2014 Plans" board, and decided it was going to be the start of my 2014 Bucket List. I've also created a board where I will post my own pictures of the thing I plan to do, when they're done.

Then last week I decided to get a head start on my list, so after I did my Christmas shopping on Tuesday, I headed for Wildcat Ink on the top floor of St Stephens Green Shopping Centre, took a deep breath, filled up the paperwork (just as you would with a tattoo) and paid €36 to have my conch pierced.

The girl who pierced me was Sorcha and she was pretty sound about my being a bit nervous, having heard me say to the girl who served me behind the counter that I was "shitting it but gonna sack up and do it". She showed me the barbell, which was sealed up in a hygienic package and the single-use needle. I almost bottled it, right there, I wont lie!! Sorcha cleaned my ear with anti-bacterial wipes, marked the positioning with a marker-pen and I gave it a look-see. I decided I wanted it lower down and she adjusted it accordingly, and then it was time to get down to the business at hand. A few deep breaths, a quick push, and a yelp (yes I was a baby) and it was done! In all honesty, the worst part of it was having the needle give way to the barbell... that was sucky.

It's now almost a fortnight since I got it done and I'm in love with it! It will take 3-6 months for it to heal up fully but I'm absolutely thrilled I went through with it. My 2014 list is well and truly underway. I've been minding it like a child, washing it with saline solution twice a day, taking Arnica for the bruising and supplementing Zinc and Glucosamine Sulfate. Zinc and Arnica were listed as useful things to take on the aftercare sheet, and Glucosamine is used to keep cartilage healthy, so it cant hurt to take that. When I'm in the shower, I've been washing it with a tiny blob of antibacterial soap and rinsing it well. So far its healing great and doesn't hurt unless its bumped quite badly.

All in all, I'm glad I went to Wildcat and went through with it. If you wanna check them out, click HERE for their website, HERE for their Facebook and HERE for their Twitter. They have some very talented artists, I've had tattoos done by Kris, and one of their past artists, Mark. As for piercing, you wont find a cleaner or more friendly place in Dublin.

What do you make of my new Conch?
Let me know!!