Back in September, I decided to celebrate my entrance into my second year of university by committing to a conch piercing! In previous posts, I've mentioned that I like wearing ear cuffs near my conch, so I thought that it was time for me to just get it done. There aren't many posts out there about conch piercings; I thought it would be useful to share my experience with you all. I by no means am a professional piercer. If you do have important questions, it's best to ask your piercer as they know more than I do. 

My piercing cost around $65.00 CAD, which is essentially what most piercers charge. When I got my piercing done, I got a hoop earring instead of a barbell as I liked it much better than the latter. I know a lot of people say it's not good to get a hoop earring as the healing time may be prolonged, however my piercer told me I still had the option to do so. Now, just because I don't like how the barbell looks doesn't mean you shouldn't go for it; if your piercer tells you to get a barbell, listen to them. I know some people who got a hoop earring right away and had a lot of issues with it, if you are one of those people, please save yourself the pain and switch it out for a barbell.

Getting the piercing itself was not bad; all I felt was some pressure and a small prick. I was told that because my pain threshold was high, the piercing didn't hurt at all for me; but I also believe that it didn't hurt because I didn't psych myself out about it and was calm throughout the entire process. It was maybe a few hours later when my ear began to hurt; it wasn't a sharp pain, but more of a dull sore feeling, almost as if someone had punched my ear a few hours ago. My cartilage was swollen for a few days and the piercing did hurt a little through those days, but within a week the pain was gone. From time to time my cartilage does get swollen, but that's a given as my ear is still trying to adapt to the piercing. Two months has already passed and I can confirm that my ear is no longer swollen or sore.

In terms of aftercare, my piercer gave me a vegan aftercare spray that I have to use on my piercing after cleaning it. I usually take a cotton swab and soak it in warm water to clean the piercing with, making sure there aren't any crusties. Afterwards I use the aftercare spray and am good to go! I know some people use a saline/sea salt solution to soak their piercings in, however my piercer told me it was not necessary, hence why I never did it. Honestly, I haven't seen any issues with my piercing without using the solution. However if your piercer recommends it, I suggest listening to them.

Something to keep in mind is being careful when washing your hair. Make sure to not snag your piercing and rinse it very well before getting out of the shower to ensure none of your hair products got onto it. It's important you take this precaution as some of your hair products could potentially irritate your piercing. 

I think my biggest struggle with this piercing is the sleeping situation. I still don't sleep on the side I got my piercing as I am very worried that adding pressure to it will hinder the healing time (for those who don't know, the healing time for a conch piercing is around 6 months). It is very uncomfortable for me to only sleep on one side, so I usually use a travel pillow and position my head in a way that my pierced ear is within the hole of the travel pillow. This way I can sleep more comfortably without adding any pressure to my ear. I believe there are special pillows out there that you can purchase, however I highly recommend using a travel pillow as it's much cheaper and gets the job done. 

That's pretty much all I have to say about my piercing. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to shoot me a DM on my social media platforms or send me an email. I'm more than happy to get more in detail about conch piercings. That's all for now, make sure you keep up with me by following me on Instagram (my username is @e.lvina) and I'll see you in the next post!