Hello everyone,
So today I'm coming at y'all with a super exciting post! As I'm sure you've gathered from the title this morning me and my best friend went to get piercings together - she got a nose stud and I, a cartilage piercing. I wanted to make this post to talk through all the main questions people usually ask before getting a piercing and to share my experience.
The first thing I wanted to say, was this wasn't a spur of the moment decision. I've been wanting to get a helix piercing since I was maybe thirteen, and have been planning this trip with my best friend since about May / June time. We researched different piercing parlours and ended up selecting the one we went to because of it's great reviews and the safe way they go about using equipment.
Upon arriving at the shop, we spent a good twenty minutes looking at jewellery. (I knew I wanted a hoop but they had so many to choose from, and my bestie had absolutely no clue about what she wanted!) I ended up selecting this gold, CBR ring which I was told to keep in for two to three months after getting it pierced.
Once we'd signed the paperwork and had our IDs checked, I opted to go first. By this point I was more than a little nervous but still really excited! My piercer led me into a room and explained to my friend and I about cleaning the piercings etc. (I'll get onto this later) He then sanitised my ear and marked on the dot.
Once we'd got the positioning exactly right he unpackaged the needle and I clutched hold of my best friends hand. He then told me to take deep even breaths and after a couple of seconds he pushed the needle through my cartilage. Then all was left was to switch over to the earring which was less painful than the actual piercing - thank god - and I was good to go!
Now onto the questions...
How much did it hurt?
The thing with pain is that it's very different for different people. It depends on pain tolerance, your piercer, and a good many other things. However for me, it did hurt a lot. I remember he had to use a bit of force to get the needle through (or at least thats how it felt!) and it was a very sharp pain followed by a lot of heat. I would say maybe a 7 or 8 on the pain scale. But my best friend has hers done and she said it barely hurt at all and was a lot quicker and easier than having her lobes done. So it really does vary person by person.
Does it hurt afterwards? / can I sleep on it?
For me, it is still hurting afterwards. It's been about seven hours now and I can still feel some pain but it's not unbearable. In terms of sleeping on it, personally I wouldn't. I think it would be way too sore to sleep on, but I can imagine that once it's healed it would be fine!
How long do I have to leave it in before I can change it?
My piercer said that the initial heal (after which it shouldn't be crusty etc) is about one to two weeks but the actual piercing takes up to for months to heal. Again this depends on the person, but you shouldn't change it before the three month mark.
How much did it cost?
At the place I went to, (a professional piercer) it was £23 which included jewellery and a saline cleaning solution.
How do you clean it?
The best way to clean fresh piercings is with salt water. You can either buy a saline solution (available from most piercers or the drugstore) or you can make your own. Simply boil a kettle and leave the water to cool down until its slightly warmer than lukewarm. Then add a pinch or two of sea salt (not table salt) and stir. Next, apply this (or the ready made solution) around both the back and front of your piercing with a Q-tip, twice a day. You should do this for a minimum of two months.
Okay, so I think I've covered everything! If you have any other questions I'd be happy to answer them, just leave them in the comments below!
Your piercing looks great and I love the jewellery you've chosen.
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Thank you!! Xx
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