After 6 ear piercings and a navel, I started to get "the itch" again. Piercings became all I could think about...I had always been interested in getting a tragus and thought that would be it for sure. Then after surfing around BME (I had JUST found the site), I had finally decided on two piercings that I wanted to get and I choose to save the tragus for another date. Instead of choosing between them I thought, Hell I'll just get them both! Might as well deal with healing them at the same time instead of separately. So I decided to get them both on my left ear due to the fact that I work on phones most of the day and didn't want any problems associated with having a dirty phone on my ear all day. This story will be about my industrial...
At A Glance Author Rosie Contact Rosie@bme.anon When N/A Studio Paragon Location Honolulu, HI Having just recently moved to the town, I was not familiar with any of the tattoo/piercing shops and not having a car I wanted to opt for one as close as possible to eliminate unnecessary walking. After a string of let downs or places that felt uncomfortable, I finally walked in to a shop called Paragon about 20 min from my apartment. The first time I went in, I called ahead to see if there was a wait, and they said no come on by. I got there about 20 minutes later only to have them tell me the piercer had gone home sick for the day...thanks for telling me that earlier...
It also took them at least 10 minutes to acknowledge me or even say hi, which was off-putting to say the least. I decided that I would not come back to this place.
Fast forward to the next weekend and I couldn't wait any longer. I went back to Paragon just because it was clean and certified and most importantly close to me. I figured customer service wasn't all that important as long as they did a good job. Luckily there were two women there this time and they were much friendlier.
I waited around for 5 minutes or so while they prepped someone else for a tattoo and filled out paperwork, filled out my own paperwork and she took me back to get pierced.
I told her what I wanted and she spent a few minutes gathering the jewelry and cleaning my ear. She asked if I wanted large or small balls for the end of my industrial. I asked what the difference was and she just said that it would be less irritating to the ear so I opted for small.
She said I did not have much choice as to where the industrial would go it would just depend on the anatomy of my ear and I said ok. First she marked my anti tragus and pierced it.Then came the industrial. She started right away and did the lower hole first. Again I barely felt it at all, not even a pinch just a tiny bit of pressure. The second hole hurt a tad and made me wince but overall the whole thing was a breeze. All three holes took about 2 minutes total to pierce. The whole thing was super quick. There was no crunch or popping noise or anything out of the ordinary.
I think I may be blessed because out of all 8 piercings I have had in my ears so far, 5 in the cartilage, not a single one has hurt one bit. It shocks me to hear that cartilage are supposed to be the most painful...the moral is don't worry about the pain. It is different for everyone and getting worried won't change anything. It will either hurt or it won't but most likely you'll be surprised by how much it doesn't. Or you can learn to enjoy the pain.
My piercer recommended that I just use dial soap to clean and nothing else.
Overall, I was happy with my piercings. I paid $136 total which seemed rather expensive but worth it. I also tipped $10 bucks.
Immediately after leaving the studio I still had the adrenaline rush and the smile on my face from knowing I had more metal in my head, as my parents would say! I walked to the store to buy some Advil and sea salt and juice then went home to relax.
It has now been almost a month. I've been washing twice a day with dial and doing sea salt soaks irregularly. About three weeks afterwards, I bought the H2ocean spray which made it so much easier. I had had a hard time getting it because I live in Hawaii and they will not ship it here but finally found it on EBay! Also took my daily dosages of zinc and vitamin c to help heal...I don't have health insurance anymore and didn't want to take any risks.
I have not had any problems or bumps or infections or anything of the sort. I do not sleep on it at all. It was swollen for almost two weeks but I figured that with putting three holes in my ear at once that was to be expected.
Anyways, I give both a thumbs up! I couldn't imagine getting an industrial pierced with cbr's then having to WAIT for the bar. I see no reason why you should have to wait. It's true that if you bump one end both get irritated but that just means you need to be extra careful right? I've had no problems with healing so far...now to plot the next one!