A couple months ago, after MUCH begging and pleading, I finally convinced my parents to let me get the industrial I'd so desperately been wanting for my 17th birthday. About 5 months previous at the same shop, I'd gotten my tragus pierced, however I didn't have much luck with it, as it migrated and eventually we had to cut the ring to take it out. That didn't go so well, actually. Rip is a better word for it. Before enough pressure could be applied to the right to cut through it, it pulled through the skin, leaving a little notch in my tragus.
At A Glance Author Mell Contact Mell@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist ? Studio Elite Tatto and Piercing Location Beaumont, TX I promised my parents I'd take even better care of this piercing, they gave in and we found ourselves at the tattoo/piercing shop. The initial piercing went fine. My dad had to sign a form or two because I'm still a minor and they took a look at our IDs. I was taken back to the room where i was to be pierced. I watched as the needles and the jewelry were sterilized. There was a slight pinch as each needle went it followed by a couple pops. Each needle point was stuck into a piece of foam to prevent it sticking me when it was pushed out by the jewelry. There was the usual bit of pain as the jewelry was inserted but nothing i hadn't experienced before as with the tragus. They gave me the same instructions on taking care of it: salt water soaks twice a day and a gentle cleansing with dial liquid soap, and I was off, happy and smiling ear to ear with my new birthday piercing.... for a while anyway.
A couple weeks went by, and I noticed that my new piercing was still draining a bit more than it should, and was still really very sore, but I denied anything was wrong with it for as long as I could. I tried to attribute it to several things. "Oh, well, it was the way I slept on it," or "Well, I went on that roller coaster and it got banged around a bit and now it's just a little irritated." When I finally came to terms with the fact that there was something wrong and that I really needed to have it looked at, it was more painful than ever and had been bleeding for a good bit. I cleaned it as best as could be done, and I made myself look in the mirror. What I saw through the blood made my stomach turn. A perfectly circular pit had formed around the top ball of my barbell. I freaked. It looked bad.
My daddy, none too happy, took me back to the shop where I'd gotten both my tragus piercing (my FAILED tragus piercing, that is), and industrial done. As soon as the owner of the shop saw it, she said "Oh, that barbell is way too short." The owner entrusted me to one of the piercers, a girl that hardly looked older than i was (I'm sooo bad with names), who took me back to the very same room where it was pierced (talk about fond memories) and changed it out for a longer barbell, making conversation with me to take my mind off what she was doing to my ear. She asked me where i'd gotten it done and who had done it, and she was shocked to find out that it had been done in the very shop she worked at. As it turns out, or how i understood it anyway, the guy that pierced my ear had ran for the hills. "Oh, him? He doesn't work here anymore," she told me. Was he FIRED perhaps? I find it a little unsettling that maybe he didn't know what he was doing. So, here I am, a good two and a half months later and it's just now healed properly.
I've learned my lesson, come away from this experience a little wiser. Just because a person is likeable and makes you feel safe, doesn't always mean that they know just what they're doing. When my tragus rejected it should have been a sign to me to let someone else pierce my industrial. oh, and if you feel as though something is not quite right with your piercing, take care of it right then. Don't wait. My industrial has been salvaged, but i could have very well lost my new piercing and wasted my money, or worse, i could have big ugly nasty scars on my ear.
So be aware of what you're body is telling you. If it hurts, it's a good sign that something is going wrong, and above all, do some research, ask around. I doubt I was the only one to be nearly messed up by the same guy.
Anyway, thanks for letting me share my experience with you. I hope that maybe it will keep you from making a mistake that I did. Good Luck.