With that said, I know that not everyone feels the same. I remember a day last year when a young women (early twenties, I would guess) came into the cafe where I worked, who had her septum pierced (the 'bull' piercing for those of you who may be unfamiliar). When I saw her, I immediately thought 'wow, she really pulls it off!' because it fit her look: fair skin, high top-knot, floral dress, and the septum... boho with a bit of bad ass let's call it. As soon as she had left, my co-worker (a really lovely women) said to me 'I don't understand why girls do stuff like that'. I just sort of laughed at the time, but later marveled at how differently people perceive the same thing.
To me piercings are no different than clothing style, in the sense that they are just part of how you choose to present yourself. I think that if you like the way something looks, go for it! Although piercings aren't dangerous or risky, I do think it is good to know how to care for them, where to go, and so forth. I'm certainly no expert on piercings (and truthfully don't have that many), but I do have some experience (good and bad) that I figured I would share.
My Piercings
I currently have seven piercings (all in my ears) and at the moment don't have plans to get any more in the near future. While they are all in my ear, I have some different types which were slightly different pain levels, prices, and healing processes. I have five lobe piercings (two on one side, three on the other), one cartilage, and one tragus.
Where to Go and Pricing
I think one of the most important things about piercings, is to get them done at an actual piercing shop (or often times tattoo parlors can do them too). This isn't as important for simple lobe piercings (although I would still recommend it), but for something like a cartilage piercing it's a good idea. Piercing guns are not as sterile, they force a blunt stud through you ear which can cause tissue damage, and the person handling the gun is not experienced (unless you count the training course they got which probably didn't take longer than a week or two). Additionally, at a piercing shop, you will get a good quality stud (typically surgical stainless steel) that wont risk irritating your skin.
A piercing shop will almost always be more expensive than a stand at the mall or at Clair's, but it is worth it! Pricing will be different at most places, but where I got mine done, the lobe piercings were $15 ($10 each if you got two at the same time), the cartilage was $20, and the tragus was $40. So yes, piercings can be sort of expensive; I've spent about $100 between all of my piercings, but they will last forever (unless you let them close up), so I think it's worth it.
Pain
It's natural to want to know how painful different piercings are, but before I give my opinion, I wanted to say that the pain is very temporary and short-lived... In my experience, the anticipation of the pain is much worse than the actual thing! I would say that I have a pretty average pain tolerance, in the sense that I can handle it, but it still hurts (if that make's sense). Lobe piercings truly are not something to be worried about; there will be a sharp pinch and then it's done, simple as that. I think that cartilage is probably a little worse, just in the sense that it may sting a little bit more. With that said, I would say it's still no more than a three or four on a scale of 1-10.
Finally, tragus is a little bit of a bigger piercing. You can feel on your own ear, that the tragus is a relatively thick piece of cartilage, so it will naturally hurt a little more. When I got mine, the guy had me lie die down and he first clamped the ear, and then used a longer needle to make the hole (they do have to take out a little plug of your ear), and then threaded the ring through. It did hurt (which is to be expected) and it took a little bit longer that a regular lobe/cartilage piercing. Despite that, it is by far my favorite piercing and I've gotten loads of compliments on it over the years as it's a little more unique.
Cleaning
If you get your piercing done at a piercing shop, you will most likely get instructions of how to clean it, but I figured I'd give a basic overview. For a standard ear piercing (belly buttons and noses have to be cleaned slightly differently), I would recommend buying some Bactine, which is a spray which will kill any germs and can relieve pain, and can be bought at most drugstores. Spray this on your piercing twice a day (morning and night) and then use a clean q-tip with water to wash it off after. Do this for about 6 weeks, and you should be good to go with a beautifully healed piercing!
(Possible) Problems
So all in all, my experience with piercings has been pretty uncomplicated. However (you knew it was coming), I did go through I little bit of trouble with my tragus. I got it in early spring two years ago, and it seemed to be healing alright, but right before summer I started to see that a little bump was forming right at the piercing. I immediately got a little freaked out, and started looking it up on the internet, and decided it was a keliod, which is raised scar tissue after a piercing (or other injury). There were some pretty horrific photos on the internet, so I started cleaning it again twice a day (because at this point I had stopped cleaning, thinking it was healed).
Unfortunately, summer came and I still had it, but I was going on a camping trip cross-country with my family... I wasn't really able to clean it very well regularly, so by mid summer when we came back I had keloids on both sides of the piercing and they were pretty big. I did a little more research and after a couple months (I know that's a long time, but hear me out) of cleaning it with tea tree oil, it went away! Although a couple of months sounds really long (and trust me, it was), this was an extreme situation because I had let it get out of hand. If you see a keloid developing, don't freak out: you can stop it! What you want to do is use a q-tip to dab on some diluted tea tree oil on it once a day (no more, because over-washing will do more harm than good). Additionally, don't touch the piercing area, especially if your hands aren't clean.
Keep in mind, if you are good about cleaning your piercing initially until it is fully healed, you will most likely not experience this, and even if you do, you can stop it before it becomes a big problem.
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I really hope that this has been helpful, and if you have any questions please comment or email me! Piercings are a great way to add a little extra something to your everyday look.
xx
Erin
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