Hi!
At A Glance Author David Contact David@bme.anon IAM Ars Anima When It just happened Artist Audrey Studio Planète Rock Location Chicoutimi (Qc, Ca) So, as you can see above in the right corner, my name's David and i'm 16. For quite a few months now, I wanted to get an industrial done; The look of it made me love it at first glance, and it's a pretty uncommon piercing in cold Chicoutimi.
I decided a few days ago that today would be the day; it was the day I was (supposed) to get my college schedule, and I thought going get my piercing at the same time, since I was near the best piercing studio in town.
Well, to make a long story short, I didn't go get my schedule, since i've missed my bus; instead, I passed the day with a friend loitering in town. I then remember I wanted my industrial done, so I went to the Sylvain Gagné piercing & tattooing studio; it was closed. I was about to throw my plan out of the window, when I recalled that a friend of mine, who has many piercings, always went to Planete Rock, some kind of hot topic there is only in our town.
She told me they were pretty good, so I thought what the heck, I should test my luck with them.
I went there, met the piercer (audrey), I learned that she was not only a qualified piercer but also a nurse, signed the papers (here in canada, well at least in quebec, all medical procedures & the such are legal without parental consent past the age of 14, it all depends of the studio you go to), chose the jewellery, and went upstairs to the piercing room. It was small, and I mean it! a tiny tiny room, there was barely enough room for the tools, the piercer, me and my friend. Even though it was that small, it was very clean, and with a nurse as a piercer I didn't worry at all for hygiene matters. So she cleaned up her hands, put on a pair of gloves, took out her tools (2 brand new clamps, sterile needles, the jewellry which she autoclaved, and all her little antibiotics and such). She marked my ear, asked if I like the placement, and once I agreed, disinfected my ear. She then applied a mild anesthetic (not in my demand, but she told me she did so on all her piercings), and placed the clamps.
I took a deep breath, she asked if I was ready, and shoved the first needle through. she inserted the jewellery, asked me if I was ready once again, pierced the other hole, finished putting the bar in, and that was it! I don't know if it was because of the anesthetic, but the clamps hurt more than the first needle did; the second hole, though, made me cringe a little; the cartilage was thicker and my ear was already tender from the previous hole, but it wasn't that bad, really!
She applied pressure with gaze to stop the bleeding (this is what hurt more of the whole procedure), cleaned me up, showed me (I loved it), and then explained me how to clean & care for my piercings, gave me a little sheet with all of it written down and her phone number instead I had any questions later, offered me to buy some Dragon Mist, but told me that I was better to go with the salt & water method(she prefered to give a good advice than to get a few bucks more, that was sign of a good piercer), and then offered me to stay sit a little if I was feeling a little dizzy.
I wasn't at all, in fact, I felt great, far better than before getting it pierced! so I got up, went to pay (a big plus at Planète Rock is that taxes and all are already included, so you don't have to mess around with a few cents). It cost me 60$, jewellery included. I leaved a little tip (couldn't give much, I was almost broke!) and went out, proud of my new ear ornament.
My parents took it better than I thought, strangely enough it's my sister (who has a tattoo, also a tongue, navel and nipple piercing) that seemingly disliked it the most; in her case it was mostly the barbell I choose(it has pretty big spikes, makes it look quite scary), but other wise, they took it pretty well.
If you think about getting an industrial done, I say go for it! it's a simply gorgeous piercing, and doesn't hurt that much. But as I did, you'd rather go see a good piercer; i'm much into the DIY way, but for a cartilage piercing, one should be cautious enough to go see a professional! If you ever go to Chicoutimi (which I doubt, but who knows!) I seriously recommend going to see audrey at Planète Rock. She isn't the most experienced piercer (she has 1 and a half years of experience), but she's very helpfull and take her job seriously. Plus, she's a nurse! safety-wise, you can't get better than that!