I recently turned 18, and I was planning for a few weeks before my birthday to get a piercing done. My mom had asked my not to get any facial ones done, so I respected her wishes and decided on either a bellybutton or a gauged ear piercing. I did a lot of research online and read a lot of testimonials on this site before making my choice. The bellybutton was tempting, but, I'm going to be working at the local Renaissance Festival over the summer and wearing a tight corset over my stomach, so I figured that it would really hurt if I had a new bellybutton piercing in there. So, after much research I decided on a conch, because they're pretty unique and didn't look extremely painful.
At A Glance Author Stephanie Contact Stephanie@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Julie Studio Mile Hi Tattoo Location Denver, CO
I was also pretty nervous about actually going into a piercing/tattoo place, because I was afraid of it being a total dive. So I asked around and ended up getting several recommendations for the local place. I was still nervous so I went and checked it out a few days prior to my birthday and the moment I stepped into the place I felt much better. It looked calm, clean, and very friendly. It was also pretty cheap. On my birthday, I met a friend at Mile Hi Tattoo and decided to get a conch as well as a helix done. I was pretty nervous--I've gotten 6 piercings before, but they were all done at the mall with a piercing gun, and I'd read that needle piercings were more painful. We had to wait about 15 minutes while the jewelry was sanitized (this place was really clean) but it gave me time to relax a bit because instead of worrying about it, we talked with the receptionist and looked at tattoo ideas for my friend.
Julie, the piercer, took my friend and I into the piercing booth and asked me which piercing I wanted to do first. I told her whichever was more painful, just to get it over with. So she started to prep the conch. She was really clean and thorough about the whole process; after she had prepped all her tools and the rings with gloves on, she changed her gloves and put some jelly stuff over the disposable needles she was going to use, then changed them again before she got ready to do the piercing. I was pretty nervous so my friend asked if I wanted his hand, so I squeezed it while Julie hovered over my ear with the needle. I was ready for it to be SO painful and also for the "popping" noise that I had read about. She told me to relax and take in deep breaths, and it felt like forever while I was waiting, prepping for the pain. But when she finally pushed the needle through, my first reaction was - "Oh, that's all?" It was seriously not half as painful as I thought it would be, and no popping at all. While she tried to get the ring in she made sure that I wasn't lightheaded, but I was fine, and pretty much surprised that it had been a lot less painful than what I was prepared for. There was some slight discomfort when she put the ring in, and for a few hours afterwards it felt like I had an earache, but some Advil took the edge right off.
I've had it in for 4 days now and it's doing great. It's only sore when it's moved around a lot and sleeping on it is kinda difficult. I'm glad that I have short hair, because the ring is so wide that it almost touches the back of my head and so if I ever brush what short hair I have behind my ears, it bumps up against it. Washing my hair for the first time was a little bit different too, because it was in the way. But it's gotten much easier to handle over the last couple of days. It hasn't even bled except for when I visited my physical therapist today, because he moves around my head a lot and it was a bit painful. It looks great though! I would definitely recommend this piercing if you're not great with pain or you want a piercing that's relatively easy to take care of. Cleansing it twice a day is obviously important and also, a saline solution soak once a day is also a good habit to get into. So far I'm loving it! (And the other piercing I got is doing great too!) I was really happy with the location that I went to so if you happen to be in the Thornton/Northglenn CO area, I definitely recommend it. It's very clean, and cheap, and the people there are really nice. Good luck!