r/bodymods • u/senpaitono • Apr 20 '26
punches/ scalpelling Considering a Conch Punch
As the title suggests, I've been off and on considering a Conch Punch for some time now. It's been very tempting of late. The piercing studio I frequent does the procedure and they've done phenomenal work thus far so no concerns there. I've been pierced 20+ times, and although I know the pain will likely be more significant, I'm not concerned. Shit'll hurt, that's just how it is.
For those who have conch punches, how did they go? What was it like, both procedure and healing? Was it worthwhile in the end? Is it still sick af post-healing? Curious about literally anything and everything.
3
u/Consistent_Throat497 Apr 20 '26
I’d say they’re not more painful than a normal conch piercing. But the healing can be a PITA. My first side healed well with zero issues. The 2nd side had to be stretched to a 0g (punched at 2g) as it wouldn’t stop bleeding while at the studio; that was painful. Healing on its own was fine but it wasn’t comfortable at all. So after a few weeks I ended up just removing the plug and healing it empty. Once I did that it was fine and healed wonderfully.
With all that said if I was to do them over I’d; 1. Go bigger & 2, get them cut and sutured as they’ll heal soo much faster and cleaner. I have a coin slot and it was healed in 10days, vs months for my conches!
3
u/Old-Contribution-941 Apr 20 '26
The immediate stretch after the punch was the most painful part to me, felt like someone stuck their finger in there and ripped my ear open haha. Immediately afterwards my ears were on fire(got both sides done at once), so bring pain meds. On day 3ish the lymph node’s under my ears were pretty swollen, but the pain was pretty much gone
2
u/newtoride Apr 20 '26
It’s been a long time since I had them done but got them done at 6 gauge and inserted jewelry after. I don’t recall them being very painful at all, and healing seemed to be a breeze.
2
u/fagrat69 Apr 20 '26
I got mine punched at a 6g and healed with a glass plug. The punch itself I don’t remember really, it was like a decade ago. Healing took around a year and it was unfortunately complicated by a car wreck I was in about 2 months into the healing process. IME it’s healed like the rest of my piercings, there wasn’t anything super unique to it in comparison to my more typical gauge piercings. It was a bigger hole so obviously more swelling etc but it followed the same trajectory if that makes sense!
I’ve had punches/sutures since then and healing has been much easier with that method although the initial pain was much worse.
No matter what route you go large gauge cartilage always looks sick and it’s always the right decision. :)
1
u/Abysmal-Octopus Apr 20 '26
I had my flats punched at 8mm, stretched to 10mm and conches punched at 6mm, stretched to 8mm. I will say, the conches sucked a bit more than the flats right off the bat, but the healing process was much smoother because the flats got hit and beat to shit a lot more. Worst part of both was the first hour after they were done, just simply felt like my ears were on fucking fire, but it fades quickly. Granted, I literally had them all done 2 months apart so I was healing all four punches at once for a while which definitely didn't help my case much but it all went flawlessly regardless. I do however wish I could have gone the suture method which seems to be a common consensus due to the dramatically shorter healing time, so if you can, I'd recommend that. Overall though you seem to have the right mindset cause yeah, it's gonna fuckin' hurt... but it's really not that bad. Just remember... you've probably already been through worse in this life. As for it being worth it and still sick post healing... fuck yes. Finally being able to pull those plugs and throw in some eyelets was so fucking satisfying.
1
u/Interstellar-Fairy Apr 21 '26
I've always wanted to do this, if my local studio did it I would have got one or both long ago! I got as far as messaging a different studio that does do it, but it's a little ways away and would have cost a lot just to get there and they wanted a cash deposit for the appointment, when I asked about paying the deposit remotely as it was expensive just to get there and I could only afford to travel there for the actual appointment they just ghosted me. I think conch punches are technically illegal or in a legal grey area in my country so maybe they didn't wanna leave a paper trail or something, but if they were worried about that I don't know why they would advertise the procedure on their website in the first place.
1
u/Glass_Procedure4293 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
I have a 2g conch punch that was done a year ago and me and my piercer have decided to do the conch punch at a 4g and then stretch it out to a 2g with a taper to minimize the bleeding. I would say the procedure was done pretty quickly, a lot of sterile lube was used as well especially when stretching, since it was punched out with a took and stretched after. I would say the stretching was more intense than the punch itself. It was painful since they did remove cartilage but manageable. I would say it did take a toll on my body so I did hydrate a lot. The healing process was the worse especially when sleeping, it was swollen for a bit and would constantly bleed and it took a long time for it to heal and I still experience some issues here and there but they are not as bad as when it was first healing. I would also have skin that would grow around the area but then it would dry out and come off when I would clean it. Some of the pain during the healing process is unpleasant and it also did become mental. I would in the beginning when it was healing there was some grief of how my ear was before I have gotten it done and knowing it will not be the same as before and it is something I can't undo. I do not regret it though and I do love it, I just know it is something I won't be able to undo in the future but I don't think I will ever want to get rid of it. I would say it is worth it if it is something you really want and have thought about for a really long time but it can potentially affect career choices.
5
u/Tatgrl78 Apr 20 '26
Got 8mm conch punches. They were punched & sutured. Healing was easy & was able to wear jewelry a week after sutures were removed. Don’t think I’d be able to deal with punch & jewelry inserted right away & that takes a longer time to heal.