This is my second piercing, and my first with a needle (my lobes were gunned in Claire's last year). I loved getting my lobes done and wanted something else pierced as soon as they were healed. At first I thought about getting my lobes done again, but I figured cartilage was rarer. I also thought about getting my tragus done, but a girl in my year got hers done just a little while before me, so I didn't want it to seem like I was copying her or anything. So cartilage it was.
At A Glance Author St. Gemma When It just happened Artist Terry Studio Wild Child Location Newry, NI Persuading my parents actually didn't take that long. My mum thought the idea was disgusting, but as long as I paid for it myself she didn't mind. Then I insisted on getting it done with a needle, as I've heard the horrors of cartilage-with-a-gun piercing. That was okay too. But the problem was finding somewhere to do it. It took just over a month before I came across Wild Child in Newry, which is just half an hour from where I live.
So, I turned up there (no appointment needed) around noon today and was greeted with a room absolutely FULL of body jewellery (I have never seen so much in my life) and a smiling man in a Dead Kennedys shirt. I told him I wanted my cartilage done, and after a little talk about placement he asked me if I wanted it done with a needle or a gun. I was a little surprised by this, but I guess not all piercers hate guns. I of course chose the needle.
Then I picked the jewellery. Although rings are cooler, I'm going to a Paramore gig next week and I didn't want it to get caught on anything, I chose a tiny little metallic blue spike stud. There is SO MUCH jewellery to choose from at Wild Child, you can get pretty much anything you want there, including, on a random note, vibrating tongue bars. So I waited five minutes for the piercer, Terry, to get the stud ready out there, and then it was time to get pierced!
The piercing room was a tiny little place about the size of a bathroom, probably smaller. I sat down and Terry remarked how calm I looked. After a lot of talk about placement he cleaned my ear really well. He didn't make a mark, but the placement was spot on so it didn't matter. Then came the needle. It did hurt, but not in an unbearable way. Just like a sharp pinch. Definitely not as sore as you think pushing a needle into your ear cartilage would be. He took the needle out and said "You've survived this far". Then he put the stud in and screwed on the end, which didn't hurt at all. And then he sent me on my way...
It cost me £25 for the piercing and £5 for the cleaning stuff. They didn't offer any aftercare advice, but then again, I didn't ask. I know from all my research how to look after it anyway. And the cleaning stuff had instructions on the side of the bottle.
I've had it for about 4 hours now and it doesn't hurt at all. I keep having to remind myself that it's still there. When I got my lobes done, it didn't hurt at the actual piercing, but there was a little dull throb for about 2 days. This had a sharp pain at the piercing, and now it doesn't hurt at all. Seriously. I'm beginning to wonder if the stud is magnetic and he didn't actually pierce it at all. Time will tell...
Oddly, my mother, who was so against the piercing from the start, actually asked me "Why didn't you get a bigger stud?" It is tiny, which is my one regret from all this, that you can barely see it. But then I do have a gig to go to next week, and I can always put huge monstrosities in it when it's healed.
My parents say no more piercings after this, but I'm sure they'll weaken. My school doesn't allow facial piercings, so I quite fancy the idea of a nice ear project. I think an ear with lots of different piercings with colourful jewellery is really pretty. I want to get my lobes done again, tragus, rook, anti-tragus and scaffold at least, but I'll see what I can persuade my parents to do. And when I leave school? Lip, nose, tongue, navel, and who knows...
And Wild Child is class, by the way. They're so relaxed and friendly, and the place is spotless. When I got my lobes done everyone was so uptight and 'this is gonna hurt' I felt like I was having major surgery. I would certainly recommend Wild Child, and I will be going there in the future.