So I decided that I wanted a piercing that was just a little bit edgy and less common than the traditional lobe piercing. I’m not a fan of facial piercing, which you’ll already know if you’ve read any of my other articles (you can read all about the different types of ear piercings here).

So I opted for a piercing through the cartilage on the upper edge of my ear – a helix piercing.

I did my research on the net – I knew that instruments should be autoclaved, so when they’re brought out, they must be in sealed packages. And I knew that using a piercing gun on cartilage runs the risk of shattering the cartilage itself, so the piercing is done with a needle then the jewellery is pulled through.

I got to the salon and the piercer was busy, so I sat around flipping through magazines, getting a little nervous. When he was ready we went into a smallish room round the corner and I sat down while he got the instruments out which were, I was happy to see, in autoclaved bags. The piercer wore latex gloves and cleaned the piercing site with an alcohol wipe. So far so good.

We figured out the exact piercing site and I looked away while the needle went in. it’s an unusual feeling waiting for someone to stab you, but it’s over quickly – just one quick, clean shove and it was through the other site. He then snipped the bulky end of the needle off with scissors so it could be pulled through the other site as the barbell was pushed through. At least, that’s what it felt like – like I said I was looking in the other direction.

I quickly paid my money (think it cost around $40 – that’s AU$) and headed around the corner to drop in on mum and show her. Unlike a lot of people, especially teenagers, I have an incredibly supportive mum, who likes to show an interest in what I do to my body as long as it’s safe and well researched. According to her, my ear was bleeding a little so I went home to clean it up. I wasn’t in too much pain at this point, and the little pain I was in was kinda making me proud of myself, so it was all good.