1. The pain on a scale from 1-10 is about an 8.9.

A year ago, I got my Daith piercing done and that one didn't hurt nearly as bad as this one. The conch part of your ear is very thick so it hurts. I have a pretty high pain tolerance too so the fact that the rate of pain was this high means something.

From my experience, the needle itself hurt the most, but getting the bead on the hoop afterward can hurt a lot too. My piercer couldn't get the bead on at first, so my earring had to be rotated and moved a bit right after I got pierced.

2. You can kiss sleeping on that side goodbye for at least 8 months. 

I thought that when I got home, I could find a position to sleep in that wouldn't hurt if I laid on the same side as my conch piercing. I couldn't. I've had to sleep on the same side for a long time and even had to be careful when rolling over.

Even if the back of my hoop touches something, it hurts and starts pulsating. When you get a conch piercing done, you have to be extra careful.

3. The crusty stuff will be SO annoying.

If you're new to the unique piercing community, know that you'll get little pieces of crust on your earring and on the new hole of your piercing. The crust is actually a good sign. It means your ear is healing properly. However, the crusties can be so annoying when you have the conch. The crust doesn't really show up in the front part of my piercing, it shows up in the back of my ear and the back of the earring. This means when I'm cleaning it, I can't tell if I'm getting it all out. All unique piercings come with crusties if your ear is healing properly, but if you decide to go through with a conch piercing, have a handheld mirror ready to go.

4. Cleaning the back of the piercing can be hard and painful. 

Along with the last point mentioned, you have to clean your new piercing every day. Cleaning the front of the piercing isn't bad at all. The back of the piercing is a whole other story. You can't really see where you're going with the tip of the saline solution and sometimes you can bump the earring.

Bumping the earring, especially when you're still in the healing process, can be very painful. Whatever you do, don't touch the new piece of jewelry with your fingers to try to rotate the hoop. Touching it can cause piercing bumps and you definitely don't want those. When cleaning with saline solution, get a handheld mirror or even your phone to get a good view of the back of your ear and watch yourself use the saline so you can make sure you're getting everything.