Okay so my family has always been very big on tattoos. My little sister and I both got our first ones done when we were 16. But no one had ever gotten a body piercing. I've always liked piercings but for some reason they scared my parents.....Why you ask, I honestly don't know—they love all of my tattoos but freak out about a little non-permanent piercing. So when I turned 18, decided it was time for one anyway. I got my first piercing when I still lived in Texas, followed by three more in like a few weeks time. Now I like all of these piercings, but my latest (my industrial) is my absolute favorite.
At A Glance Author Ashley Contact Ashley@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Zach Studio Angry Moon Location Pittsburgh, PA
I woke up one morning, right after I moved to Pittsburgh with the all too familiar 'I need a new piercing now' urge. Well, I ended up on the South Side with my aunt because someone in my family was once again getting tattooed. Originally I wanted to get my tongue pierced but I had just started a new job and was told it wasn't a great idea. So I settled on my industrial. I hit every shop on the South Side of Pittsburgh and then some.... I decided on Zach at Angry Moon well, because he's the BEST ever... I felt really comfortable in his shop and he didn't mind answering ALL of my and my aunt's million questions. I walked in to the shop and he told me he was going to try something new with my ear--this is where I got a little nervous. He went to the back and brought out this weird looking plastic stuff. Its kind of in the middle of being fishing line and weed whacker line (but it is 14g) and it bends and stuff. He told me that instead of using a barbell he was going to use this stuff (he called it PTFE I think). The plastic was supposed to reduce my healing time by a whole lot because it would bend a little bit and not cause as much stress on my cartilage as the metal barbell would. At first I wasn't really up for it because it was clear and I thought people wouldn't be able to see it which was part of the reason why I was getting an industrial done in the first place but then he explained how I wouldn't be able to sleep on it for a while if he used a barbell and it how it would bother me for a while if I bumped it or anything like that, so I gave in.
As usual, I ended up in "The Chair," waiting to get yet another hole in my body. I must admit this one worried me a little because the tattoo artist has his industrial pierced as well and had told me while I was walking to the back that it was really bad and that they took forever to heal. So Zach came back and measured my ear to make my special jewelry, set up his tools and all of that fun stuff...And yea, it did hurt, but it wasn't a life ending pain-it was that good, piercing pain (I know, it sounds sick). When he was done I got the usual keep it clean, don't play with it directions, you know....then it was off to show the world.
The night, after he did it, it burned a little but it was cool...my urge was finally satisfied. The next day I was fine, it was a little sore when I bumped it but I was happily surprised because it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Sleep was a little strange at first because I had to avoid my right side, but I had a pillow trick that I used to avoid putting any pressure on it. The sleep issue only lasted about a week because soon after that I was healed and ready to go. Zach was pretty excited because the plastic let me heal ridiculously fast and well. I was fully healed and able to change the balls (and the actual jewelry if I wanted) in about two or three weeks. The clear thingy has grown on me- people actually look at it more because all they see are the silver balls, not the middle part. I work at a nice restaurant and its funny because sometimes people look at my ear in a funny way-I love it!! (And oddly enough so does my grandmother....) But yea, I would recommend an industrial to anyone, they look awesome, my healed really fast and they are just fun.....but as everyone already knows—make sure you have a knowledgeable piercer and keep it clean!! The urge is back by the way-I'm off to visit Zach tomorrow for the tongue ring......I'll let you know how that one goes.