When I was 19, I decided it was time to go get a piercing. I got my navel done when I was 17, and I got my first tattoo when I was 18, so I decided it would be a good time in my life to get something a little more interesting done.
At A Glance Author Erica Contact Erica@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Zane Studio American Tattoo Location Verona, PA My mom's friend had just gotten her tragus done, and I really liked how it looked, and she said that it didn't hurt at all. I decided right then that I was going to get it done right after I got my next pay check.
It was summer time, and in the summer in Plum, PA, a lot of people hang out at the ball fields, so I was hanging out there for a little while, and a friend of mine, Bernie, came by. He said he was running to American Tattoo so he could get one of his tattoos touched up and he knew I was interested in getting the piercing so he asked if I wanted to go along.
I had the money with me, and I was sick of sitting around the ball fields all afternoon so of course my answer was YES! I offered to drive down, because he was having car problems. We got there around I wanna say like, 3:30pm. When we walked into the shop I was a little nervous but not to much. I have been there before; it is where I got my tattoo so the atmosphere kind of makes me calm down, along with the buzzing of tattoo guns and the Howard Stern always blaring in the back round. It just makes me feel at ease for some strange reason.
I looked at prices, and the tragus was only $35, so I decided to go for it. I told the Chris, one of the tattoo artists, at the front counter what I wanted, and he said it would be a few minutes. Zane, the piercer just stepped out for a little bit, but Chris had me fill out all the fun paper work, and I showed him my ID and he let me pick out the earring I wanted. I chose a dark blue 14 gauge CBR. It was about a quarter of an inch big (I could be so off haha), and it was a little to big for my ear, cause I have tiny ears, but, I decided to go with it anyways.
About 10 minutes went by and Zane came back, the guy at the counter told him what I was waiting for, and Zane happily came over to me and introduced him self and he was very friendly. He said to give him a few minutes so he could get washed up and everything set up. After I talked to him, I was a little bit more nervous than when I first walked in, it was like oh geeze, I'm really doing this!
He came and got me, and he took me back into the room and I asked him if it was going to hurt or anything and he said "Nope! I've done plenty of these and I've never heard anyone complain!" This made me a little bit more comfortable, although I was nervous.
Well, getting the needle through was the easy part, there was a little pinch, and that was that. Well, it turns out, the needle he used, was a different gauge than the earring I picked out, and well let's just say I wanted to take that needle and stab him in the face with it.
After he tried to get the 14 gauge earring into the 16 gauge hole, he decided that he needed to put a 14 gauge needle right back through my already pierced tragus. Let me just tell you it was not a pleasant feeling. Then getting the jewelry through, Oh my God it was so painful. I was to the point of pain where he had to lay me down on the table to get the jewelry in.
He apologized about 150 times and said he had no idea what he was thinking and all this stuff and he told me that the piercing was on him because it was his fault. I thanked him and I gave him a $10 tip because he was so nice about it, and then he gave me all the after care instructions and sent me on my way.
It's been about a year now since I got my piercing and I absolutely love it! The healing process was pretty good, except for when I got punched in the head about 2 weeks after I got it done and it started to bleed again. That wasn't fun. Other than that I am extremely happy with my piercing and I would recommend anyone to get it done even though my experience was so painful!