I've shared a couple stories so far for BME and the more time I spend on this website the more I love it. I figure I should contribute and share my stuff too. A little background first off. I have two tattoos (soon to be 3 or 4 and then more to come) and some body piercings. I currently have my eyebrow, tongue, both nipples and a left ear orbital. Also retired is my labret (done twice, see story named "Labret gone bad . . . Twice"). I have wanted to do my industrial for a while but decided to do my orbital first. After another month or two I decided it was time to get the industrial done. I had a birthday coming up so I figured what better way to celebrate than to treat myself to a new piercing. Nothing says Happy Birthday like a couple of needles and a whole lot of pain.
At A Glance Author designer26 Contact designer26@bme.anon IAM designer26 When A month ago Artist Elby Studio Captive Elements Location Blaine, MN The day to get it done arrived and my girlfriend and I headed off to Captive Elements, in Blaine, MN. Quick side note to anyone living in or around the Twin Cities. If you are thinking of doing piercings, this is the place to go. I have come in to see their primary piercer (Elby) a few times and you can't beat him. He is the best, coolest piercer I have met. If you live in the Twin Cities area, even if you aren't in the northern suburbs, go there. Its worth the drive. I will be returning to him for all my future piercings. OK, on to the story now.
We arrive at the studio and fill out the necessary paperwork for our piercings (my industrial and my girlfriends nipples). We wait while he finishes another piercing and then follow him to the piercing room. I go first and tell him what I am looking for. We discuss the concerns I have (I have small ears and was worried it may not be suitable for an industrial). He assured me that if he wasn't 100% confident in the piercing he wouldn't proceed with it. After concluding that my ear was plenty suitable for this piercing we proceeded with the cleaning, marking, measuring, and then the piercing. The piecing itself was better than I had expected. Not even a single drop of blood. Being a BME junkie I had read lots of stories about how horribly painful the industrial is. It certainly was painful, but I expected worse. Cartilage piercings generally are painful so to do two of them and connect them with a long bar would certainly just add to the pain. The pain isn't in the piercing itself, its in the healing. All in all, plenty bearable and certainly worth the pain.
Next up was my girlfriend's nipples. He was very professional and made sure she was perfectly comfortable. She isn't shy to begin with so she had no problem being topless in front of him. They discussed placement, decided on horizontal piercings, and proceeded with the necessary steps. She said it definitely hurt but she made it through without a problem. She absolutely loves them.
Mine on the other hand haven't been as fun. Industrials HURT!!! I'm not talking the piercing process itself, I'm talking the healing. The first week is HELL. My ear was swollen and very very tender. Elby used a great length bar, long enough to allow room for swelling, but short enough to not get bumped more than usual. I have been following the aftercare, keeping it clean, doing sea salt soaks, even taking lots of Advil to try and keep the swelling down. But it takes time. Don't expect quick healing for this piercing. It didn't hurt constantly or anything like that, but DON'T touch it! Don't bump it, don't sleep on it, don't touch the area of the piercing at all. Even the cleaning process was enough to almost bring tears to my eyes. By far the most painful piercing I have had. I went back in after a week just to follow up and have him take a look at it. He said it looked fantastic and was healing wonderfully. The pain I was feeling is completely normal.
The first week was a lot more painful that I expected. Every other piercing I have had was doing wonderfully by the 4 or 5th day at the latest. Even my nipples weren't tender anymore by that point. Its now been a second week and its doing a lot better. Its still tender when cleaning it, but the swelling is down and the pain is minimal. I still avoid sleeping on it, but if I happen to role over onto that ear or anything, its not too painful to lay on. The industrial is a great looking piercing and I would recommend it to anyone. Just know the work involved and the pain that you can have. Don't expect it to be a fast healing piercing. All it takes is time and a little TLC and you can have a sexy piercing you can be proud of.