Most people who have body modifications mention "the itch" for more. Well, that "itch" started itching about 6 months ago in February. I came to BME (incredible source of information) to look for possibilities. I wanted something on my ear to go with my 16 gauge Tragus piercings and double lobes (pierced with a gun in my MUCH younger days), and I liked the idea of a snug immediately. I came home from school in March for my birthday and went to my usual piercing parlor, UrbanXchange. They've done most of my previous piercings, except for a set of 14 gauge nipple rings which failed—I have rather large breasts and should have been pierced with barbells; I didn't know that at the time and neither, it seems, did the parlor I went to. I went with a couple friends to get my piercing done and was treated very well. I trusted my piercer very much, he turned out to be a childhood friend of my sister's, and allowed him to decide the placement. The marks were made on my left ear with a purple marker, and then came the clamps. All the instruments he used came from sealed sterile packages and the autoclave was visible in the room. After several attempts to get the clamps to stay on the tiny bit of cartilage we were going to stab, Josh said he was going to have to do it freehand. That was fine with me since the clamps were scraping my ear rather painfully. He did the usual "Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in...and out" and proceeded to impale my ear.
At A Glance Author Kiri Contact Kiri@bme.anon When N/A Artist Josh Studio UrbanXchange Location Newport News, Virginia It HURT-and I'm no wuss. I sat through a labret, nostril (ouch), tragus, nipple piercings, and a large brightly colored tattoo with little to no flinching. This one earned a good wince, but I'm very good at containing my reactions so I didn't squeal or anything. He told me to hold very still while he replaced the needle with a curved barbell, and I swear I could feel every thread going through. I then took the opportunity to glance at my friends (both of whom have only one lobe piercing per ear) and was amused by their horrified faces. I tipped my piercer well, went over aftercare once more and popped some Ibuprofen. I kept taking them to keep the swelling down and help with pain; I followed the instructions on the bottle and never really forgot to take some since my ear would remind me un-gently it was time for the next dose.
All went fairly well for a couple of weeks, except for pain ranging from a dull ache to bringing tears to my eyes (mostly while cleaning the piercing). I couldn't sleep on that side of my head (duh) and had to be careful hugging people. My roommate surprised me one day my smashing her head against mine, trapping my pierced ear in the middle, resulting in some of the worst pain I have ever experienced. I began flailing and screaming immediately, I think I said something like: "AAAAAAAAAAAH MY EAR MY EAR!!!" and she let go. She felt very bad afterwards and I said it was okay, but secretly I couldn't quite forgive her so easily, as I personally felt I had come very close to death :o) The real problems began about three months after I got the piercing. By this point I had noticed that the piece of cartilage the barbell went through was about twice the thickness it used to be. I attributed this to swelling and didn't worry. The piercing also developed extra tissue at both holes and began developing a large bump on the back of my ear. This grew to the size of a cherry and was quite tender to the touch. I'm fairly sure that the bump was an abscess or an infection deep in the piercing. I got a prescription for antibiotics from my dentist/father (not sure of the ethics of that but it works for me) and took them faithfully. There was little to no improvement until I decided to try and drain the abscess. I really don't recommend this, it was quite painful and I could have seriously damaged my ear.
Having said that, here's what I did. I took the jewelry out and applied very hot cloths to the back of my ear, and then I squeezed hard. I heard a distinct pop and bloody goop shot out. I squeezed until the blood coming out appeared normal and iced my ear to bring the swelling down so that I could put the barbell back in. The abscess improved some, but by the time I finished my antibiotics it hadn't gone completely away and began growing again soon afterwards. I decided the piercing was not meant to be, got another course of antibiotics and removed the jewelry. My ear improved immediately and now, about a month and a half after my ordeal, it looks almost back to normal. I think having a hoop may have helped; I would have been more able to clean all the way through rather than just the surface wounds. But I'm not an expert and this is only MY experience, but I don't recommend a snug piercing. It was by far the worst piercing experience of my life and no piercing is worth that kind of infection. I'll be lucky if my ear ends up looking the way it used to. If you do get a snug, keep a close watch on it and do everything in your power to keep it clean and happy. Good luck.