I had my industrial pierced on my 16th birthday. I fell in love with it the second I saw it, I was at work and my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend (its confusing, I know) came in and he had gotten an industrial and as soon as I saw it my heart skipped a beat. Up until that time I had one piercing, my belly button, and I had been feeling the itch but I didn't know what to get. I knew I wanted something different and original (I know copying the idea isn't original but its not like I was copying a tattoo). Well, I had finally found it. So I went home and told my mom and of course she said no, like all parents do, but my birthday was coming up so there was nothing she could do about it. finally she tod me okay, but I would have to pay, what a great present.
At A Glance Author Jenifer Marie Contact jenifer5165@yahoo.com When Two years ago Artist T Studio Dogstar Tattoo Company Location North Carolina
So my birthday came in early January and off I went to Dogstar. I brought my mom and my sister.my sister went because I was scared and I had no idea what to expect. So, we get there and I told T what I wanted. I didn't know what it was called and I hadn't found BME yet so I just described it and it took her a while to understand but once she did she took me back to a cubicle. So I sat on the doctor table and she marked my ear and showed it to me and I okayed it, given that I had only seen one industrial I didn't know that there were different types. As soon as my ear had been marked and I okayed it I started getting really freaked out. Especially because I didn't know what to expect, I only had three lobe piercings. T told me to lay down and turn my head and I grabbed my sister's hand. T said okay, I'm going to do the first hole, let you breathe, and then do the second one when you tell me its okay, are we ready? I said yeah and she counted to three and pierced the first hole and oh shit That hurt like a motherfucker and I jerked my head away. I think I kind of pissed her off but I was acting like a child so I'd have been pissed too.
So she told me it was done and I was like great let me see and she was like "no, it's just the first hole" again she was losing patience but I totally don't blame her, I was acting like an idiot. I started getting nervous again and she told me not to worry, that it was going to hurt but it wouldn't be as bad as the top hole so I relaxed enough for her to count to three again pierce the bottom hole. It did hurt and it was as bad as the first oen, but in a different way. It was more pressure than pain. So, anyway, finally it was done and the jewelery went in seamlessly, T's really good with that kind of stuff, I didn't even know it was done, I was still waiting for it to hurt and she said "ok you're done.". So I got up and looked in the mirror and feel in love. All the pain was so worth it and it was like instant gratification, it was great.
For the next six months I cleaned it, religiously at first, then five or six times a week and finally once a week when it got sore and then it was fine, I thought it had healed so I quit cleaning it and went along my merry way. Fast forward about 3 months, I woke up with a gigantic bump on the top and the bottom hole. I was pissed. So I talked to one of my friends who was really into piercings and she told me that my ear was rejecting the metal. And I believed her, even though she was wrong it was good that I asked her and because of her I went to Dogstar and talked to a girl that worked there, she was really sweet and told me to start cleaning it again. So I did, religously for 3 weeks and no progress.
The bumps were getting bigger so I went back and t was there and she told me that I had keloids and I was like wtf? And she explained that they wouldn't be there forever, she just needed to change my barbell to two cbr's which made me mad, not at T but just because I loved my barbell, I loved the hardcore look it had. I know, I'm real hardcore. So she changed them and they immeditly got better. I cleaned them every other day, less than I should have but they still got better and within two weeks I had put my barbell back in and everything was happy. Until prom time. I decided at the last minute that I didn't want to wear my jewelry to the prom so I took it out and partied all night had a great time. I stayed out all night, went to bed at 8:00 in the morning and got up later and realized I hadn't put my jewelry back in. So I went to put it in and pushed and pushed and no luck. So I closed my eyes and shoved as hard as I could and it popped through the first hole and I did the same to my bottom hole and finally got it in. That night I woke up, four hours before I had to go to school, to find my ear swollen beyond belief. The top bead of my barbell had practically been swallowed my my ear. Just touching it was agony so I gritted my teeth and took it out and cried.
I was so sad, I had lost my favorite piercing. To this day the holes are still there but they're tiny. I'm in the process of stretching them back out but at the rate I'm going its going to take forever. But anyways that's my story and my advice is do not remove your jewelry for one night out. Its not worth it