Over the last year I have been adding to my collection of ear cartilage piercings, firstly the tragus then a rook and my latest a new daith. Once you've been bitten by the piercing bug, Its hard not to start contemplating the next one as was the case after I had my rook done. I felt the need for symmetry, so I waited for my rook to heal before I began seriously researching and considering my daith.
At A Glance Author anonymous When It just happened Artist Blair Studio Ballistic Tattoo Location Auckland, New Zealand I decided that I would go back to the the studio where I had my rook done, as it was clean and the piercer Blair was more than willing to help answer any questions that I had, even the silly little ones that he must have heard millions of times.
I had to wait 20 or so minutes for him to autoclave his equipment, so I went for a wander to the bookstore. When I came back he had me sit up on the bench, while he assessed the anatomy. My daith itself was quite small and 'dainty' so he decided to put in a micro curved barbell in 16ga, he did say that generally he would use a ring but his reason for not using the CBR was primarily that a ring would move around to much as the daith was small and this would increase chances of rejection and it would delay healing if the ring was constantly flapping around putting pressure on the new tissue as well as general irritation.
My ear was cleaned and marked up, this took a while to ensure a good placement. I told him that if I was to change it to a ring I would prefer it to sit flat as I had habits of knocking rings and that I was in a profession where it could lead to contamination of the jewellery. The was a bit of shuffling around so that he could get into the best position for piercing, as my ear was small with not a lot of room to pierce. He clamped my ear, which caused some discomfort, clamps are never the most comfortable things, but even less so when shoved in a not easily accessible area. The needle itself was bent. I was told to relax and I felt a dull pain, followed by a sharp sting. The pressure stopped and I was informed that my ear wasn't being cooperative. Instead of the needle going all the way through the daith cartilage, it was slipping and picking up skin, which meant an extra hard push to get it through the other side, and because of the small area to work in, the angle he had to pierce at added to the problem. I said I was ready and I felt extreme pressure and a dull pain and then I felt the needle come through the other side.
The piercer apologised for the unexpected hiccup, I didn't mind to much, not everything goes according to plan no matter how many times you have done it.
He mopped up the blood and inserted the jewelery, I was worried about the pain of putting threaded jewellery through a fresh wound though. But again I had to adjust myself so that he could do up a barbell, this took a while as he had big hands, had to do it left handed, then had to make sure the ball didn't drop into my ear, further he had be gentle with a sore fresh piercing. All of which he did well since I didn't feel any of it.
He did the final clean up on my ear, and I got to see my new addition. It was delicate, nothing which screamed look at me(I get pierced for myself not to make a statement), and exactly how I had imagined it.
He charged me NZ$60 for the daith, and was given spray to keep it clean. But also I was given a guarantee that if it rejected that he would re-pierce it, no charge to me and was told to come back in if an problems occurred and he would try and fix it if he could.
I definately love this piercing, though it does hurt to smile or eat the first couple of hours due to the initial swelling I encountered, then again, the daith did get a bit of a knock around trying to get a needle through.
Its feels so much a part of me, even though it was done only 6 hours ago,its a piercing that will get noticed only if someones up close to your ear or if you show someone and thats what I like about it, its like a secret totally out in the open... heh heh.
If you are looking to get pierced in Auckland, definately check out Ballastic Tattoo in Midcity Arcade. They are willing to help with any problems and answer any questions even if you don't get pierced or tattooed.