All throughout my life I had only been allowed to get ear piercings, so when I turned 18, I decided it was time to consider something else. I don't like the idea of having something around my mouth, or in my genitals, so I decided a cartilage piercing or an eyebrow piercing would do the trick. Once I saw pictures of an industrial, I knew I had to have one. (I decided to get just a plain lower to upper cartilage bar)
At A Glance Author sari Contact sari@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Dann Studio Divinity Tattoo Location Scottsdale, AZ I went into the tattoo/piercing studio (Divinity in Phoenix, AZ) and was pleased with how friendly and helpful everyone was, plus they had large books of full-color pictures of various piercings and tattoos, which were fun to look through. Because they gave me a good deal on price, I got my industrial and an eyebrow piercing at the same time. The industrial was done differently than I had ever heard of it done, as I was expecting to get two CBRs and then return in three months to get a bar in. The piercer, Dann- an amazing guy- told me that no, I'd be getting the bar in that day, which made me nervous because I had heard that the bar in two piercings can cause infection. He told me that he did the piercing a different way- first I was going to get pierced twice with a 12-gauge needle and he'd put 12-gauge open tunnels in the holes. Then he'd slide the 14-gauge bar in through the openings and pull out the 12-gauge tunnels. This, plus the fact that the bar was a fair deal longer than one I could get once the piercing was healed, would supposedly decrease the chance I'd get an infection.
I trusted his words and sat down, scared to death of my coming three piercings. Dann was absolutely hilarious, he told lots of jokes and made fun of the rich "Scottsdale girls" who didn't know the difference between clit and labia piercings. While he was getting ready he made me look away from the needle, knowing that seeing the 12-gauge would freak me out. He drew many different marks on my ear, letting me pick the placement of my bar. Anytime that he saw that I was beginning to feel nervous he would crack another joke- I was so impressed with how smooth and funny he was the whole time. He did the industrial first and- surprisingly- there was very little pain. I felt a great deal of pressure from the needle, but that felt more like a throbbing sensation rather than a feeling of pain. One more time and my tunnels were in; 5 minutes later he inserted the bar and pulled out the tunnels, which resulted in a gush of blood down my neck that lasted for maybe 10 minutes. (Then he did the eyebrow- which comparatively- hurt more!)
It's been three months now since my industrial and it looks wonderful. I only ever had pain for the first week- and then only during sleep. Bleeding never returned and I religiously cleaned the piercing to remove extra crud. For cleaning I never used a salt soak but instead used lots of neutral Dial hand soap with hot running water, and afterwards a Q-tip with saline solution. After the first two weeks I began using Bactine to clean the piercing which I felt really did it's work well in healing the piercing.
Unfortunately, there's a small bit of extra tissue that's sitting on the underside of the upper piercing, but it's hard to see unless you're flipping the ear almost inside out. This is most definitely due to the fact that I had a little bit of a scab that had formed and accidentally tore out while doing my hair one day. A different piercer who recently did my nipples was quite surprised that I had had it done with the bar first, due to the excellent quality of the piercing. He also pointed out that the extra skin bit is really hard to notice, and comparatively a ton smaller than what some people develop- even with CBRs first! He had also not heard of the method in which I had gotten my industrial pierced, but agreed that it was probably the reason mine looks so healthy. In the next few weeks I plan on getting a shorter bar because I feel that the piercing is completely healed and wonderful. I have no regrets about getting this.
In short: I would definitely recommend an industrial piercing. Make sure you baby it and take extra special care, for longer than you think necessary, especially if you get the bar in first. I took care of my piercing twice daily for the first three weeks and daily since then, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. Don't get piercings if you're not prepared to take care of them! Also, Divinity is a great place for both piercings and tattoos, if you live in the Phoenix area.