Sometime back in September I wanted to compliment my newly stretched ears with some mod bling. I spent a while on BME looking at different ear piercings, as well as some facial piercings. I thought about getting my tongue pierced for a while, but then I saw an industrial and instantly fell in love. So, around a week later I went up to the city with Robert (b/f). I had gotten my eyebrow pierced at Mystical Illusions and had a decent experience, so I decided to go back there.
At A Glance Author spiraling_towards_stardom Contact spiraling_towards_stardom@bme.anon IAM spiraling_towards_stardom When Six months ago Studio Mystical Illusions Location OKC We drove up, stopping along the way to put a little food in my stomach. They had moved the studio since my eyebrow piercing, so we had to go a little bit further north, and had to look around a little because the directions posted on their old building weren't very clear. We walked in and approached the counter. The modified man behind the counter asked "What can I do for you today?"
"I'd like an industrial please." He gave me the waiver forms and told me to go back to the piercing area and wait. There were a couple of people in front of us, so we had to wait in a short line outside of the room. I don't know what the girl in front of me was getting pierced, but after a few minutes I heard "Oh, shit, shit....oooooh, shit..." in a rather provocative voice, so I'm now wondering if she was having her hood pierced or maybe her nipples.
After about 15 minutes of waiting, we went into the room to the waiting piercer. He hardly had anything to say, which scared me a little. Conversation is soothing, especially when you're about to get rammed through with a needle. The only thing he said was "which ear?"
"This one," I said, pointing to my left ear. I chose my left ear mainly because my right ear has been a little misshaped from birth. I figured it was a bad idea to accentuate my weird ear.
This is what really gets to me: he marked the entry and exit points, but didn't even have me look in a mirror to approve the placement of my new steel. For every piercing and tattoo I have, the artist made sure I was happy with the placement. This time, nothing.
He marked me then instructed me to take a deep breath. Like always, on the exhale he pushed the 14g needle through the first side of my cartilage. He left that needle there, then did the same for the inner side of my cartilage. The second breach hurt more, obviously, for two reasons. One, I knew what was coming, and two, the cartilage is a LOT thicker on the inner edge. I could hear this one, "crunch." Nice... Then the piercer fed the first end of the jewelry through the outer hole, after the needle. Then, he continued with the second hole. Then he screwed the bead on, this hurt a lot because he had to bend my ear a lot to get enough room to get the bead on.
I bled a lot, and he told me that this can be for two reasons. I'm on birth control, which thins the blood, and if I had consumed a lot of sugar prior to the piercing it also thins the blood.
I'm usually pretty bad at aftercare, but since this was in a very awkward place on my upper ear, I did an especially bad job at it. Within only a week or two, I was cleaning it with just a wet Cu-Tip. And, I was twirling it periodically throughout the day, which I thought was a good thing for it, but in retrospect it must have been bad. Twirling the barbell would break the skin at the wounds and cause it to bleed sometimes. This also delayed the healing process. I would still clean it with anti-bacterial soap in the shower, but I got lazy and that eventually stopped.
It was extremely uncomfortable during sleep. I had to learn to sleep on my right side 100% of the time. However, sometimes I would still wake up on my left side and find my industrial to be a little irritated.
I've now begun to clean it with anti-bacterial soap during every shower. I've also been working really hard to not touch it or irritate it AT ALL between cleanings. And, especially, no turning of the barbell!! That was biggest contributor to elongating the healing process. I've been doing this new routine for a few weeks now, and I can already tell a major difference. It doesn't look or feel irritated, there's no bleeding, and I've been starting to sleep more on my right side again with no irritation.
One thing is for sure, I won't be going to Mystical Illusions again. I thought the piercer was really unprofessional and unfriendly. I'm planning on having my nipples pierced soon, and I have already decided on going to 23rd Street Body Piercing. I've read a lot of really good experiences of their work, and they have an outstanding reputation here in the Oklahoma City metro area.
I really recommend this piercing. It's unique and beautiful. Make sure you have the discipline to care for it properly, or you're in for a long haul of pain.