At A Glance
Author	anonymous
When	A week ago
Location	San Francisco

A couple months ago, I decided that I would like to get a new piercing. My eighteenth birthday was coming up, which meant that I would be able to go to the piercing shop alone, without my mother, and get a piercing. While my mother is accepting and has taken me to get all of my previous piercings, I wanted to be able to put a new hole in my body without anybody's consent but my own. So I decided to get a cool new ear piercing. At first, I wanted a tragus piercing, but upon researching it online, I discovered the anti-tragus piercing. I liked it better than the tragus because it seemed more unusual and I had never seen it on anyone, unlike the tragus, which I have seen everywhere. I read a few anti-tragus experiences, and I soon discovered that many people agreed that it was one of the most painful piercings they have gotten. Now, I am kind of a baby when it comes to pain, so I began to rethink the piercing. After much contemplation, I decided that it was way too cool of a pie rcing to pass up. I wanted to prove to myself that I could handle the pain, so I just tried to forget about how much it was going to hurt and concentrate more on how awesome it was going to look.

So a few days after my eighteenth birthday, I went to my local piercing studio, where I had all my previous piercings done. I walked in there with all the confidence I could muster up, completely disregarding the butterflies in my stomach. I picked out my jewelry right away (I knew exactly what I wanted), and chose to pierce it with a 16g needle. I paid and then waited for a minute, browsing the various tapers and plugs they displayed in their cases. After a few minutes, they called my name. I felt a rush of excitement, nervousness, and fear as I walked down the hall to the piercing room. I sat down in the chair, and the artist marked my ear and asked if the placement was right. I was so nervous I didn't care and barely even checked the placement. He asked me if I was ready, and I muttered a meek "sure," then closed my eyes so I wouldn't see the needle and chicken out (I have to do this with every piercing, as I am terrified of needles). He lined up the needle, told me to bre athe, and stuck it through. I immediately gasped at how painful it was and even let out a bit of a yelp. It was strange, though- while he was piercing me, I was concentrating less on how much it hurt and more on what was actually going on. I realized that there was a needle going through my ear, and I surely felt it. With other piercings, I would just think, "ouch, when is it going to be over?!" But with this piercing, it slowed down, I felt the needle in my ear, and accepted it. It hurt like fucking hell, but in that moment, my fear of needles completely disappeared. I was so proud of myself that I was actually doing it, it actually made it hurt a little less. The artist slipped the jewelry in surprisingly easily- I thought this would be the most painful part, but it barely hurt. It took a minute to screw the ball on, which felt awkward because he was just tugging on the jewelry, trying to screw it on. He spent the next five minutes wiping up all of the blood that was spewi ng out of my fresh piercing; I was surprised at how much it bled. But it didn't phase me- I was too excited about my brand new piercing. He kept on asking me if I was okay- maybe I startled him when I yelped, or maybe because I was bleeding all over the place- but I just smiled and said I was fine. I walked out of the shop with the biggest smile on my face and the greatest sense of accomplishment.

For the rest of the night, it pretty much bled nonstop. I went shopping with my friend and had to constantly check in the mirror to make sure I wasn't bleeding all over. I accidentally got blood on a shirt when I was trying it on (oops...) because it was bleeding so uncontrollably. But I didn't even care about the blood. I was so happy with myself and by the fact that I had gotten over my fear of needles. Now, I crave the sensation of a needle going through me and I can't wait to get another piercing. I admit, it was the most painful piercing I have gotten, and it will probably hold that record, but it was also by far my most successful piercing because of my sense of achievement and the banishment of my fear of needles (and how fucking cool it looks). If you are thinking at all about getting this piercing, definitely go for it. Sure, it's painful, but what piercing isn't? You just have to know that the pain you go through is nothing compared to how awesome you look and feel af ter a fresh piercing. It is SO worth it. Happy piercing!! :)