I'm 28 years old and got an industrial piercing about a year ago. I had always thought they looked really cool but piercers had told me they were a bad idea as they healed badly and hurt for long periods of time. After two failed attempts to keep an eyebrow ring (both sides grew out!!) I figured I'd go for it, because at least I knew my other cartilage piercings had healed, although I'm not an easy healer in general.
At A Glance Author Punkrock666 Contact Punkrock666@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Justin Studio Bodytech Location Gainesville Florida The initial piercing process made me a little nervous, because I knew I had to experience the spike twice. I always kind of forget the feeling pretty quickly after I get a piercing, because it is quick and usually there's not a lot of pain afterwards. There is that one moment when the actual hole is made that is pretty intense, and I knew once the first hole had been made, I'd be not too thrilled about a second one. I didn't want to seem like a pussy so I just breathed normally and went for it. Justin, the main piercer at Bodytech, is a definite professional so it's not so much the pain I was worried about, but I had unwisely informed my sister and mom about the procedure and they showed up to witness the process. They already think piercings are unusual if not crazy, so I had to man (woman?) up and look stoic.
The actual piercing went fine and was perfectly placed (in my opinion). The only real pain was when Justin pushed the threads on the barbell through both holes; all my previous piercings had been rings so I hadn't experienced that, and it did take my breath away momentarily. But it looked fantastic, I was happy, and I was sure if I took excellent care of it it would heal fine. Plus, I could tell my mom and sister, who I'm sure had been expecting me to freak out or cry or something, were at least impressed with my pain tolerance. So I left the parlor happy and sore but convinced that if I didn't slack and really kept the piercing clean that it would heal fine.
The truth - not so much. It turns out that Justin was right in warning me NOT to get an industrial (he even tried to get me to do two rings, let them heal, then put a barbell in, but I would not be swayed) if I didn't want to deal with some really annoying shit. I've had the piercing for almost a year and a half and I still have crust. Granted, not as much as the first few months, but still it has to be cleaned and rotated and it's still tender to the touch. It even bleeds occasionally if I remove crust that has actually scabbed up for some reason. I can't sleep on my right side, and everyone I ask for advice just says their industrial took forever to heal too. On Justin's advice, I switched from Saline solution to Witch Hazel, but that hasn't seemed to help at all either (not to mention it kind of smells horrible).
A friend of mine who'd had an industrial for a few years recommended recently putting in a longer barbell; she said that helped her healing process tremendously. I went back to Justin and he seemed kind of indifferent to the idea, but he did switch it out with a slightly longer one. I hadn't realized how close the balls were on my outer cartilage. Just lengthening the bar by about a quarter inch has helped somewhat, I have to say. Sleeping is easier and I have way fewer crusties, although they're still there and they still scab over sometimes. I think I'm going to take that step farther and get an even longer barbell to kind of give it room to breathe. I don't know if I'm crazy, but it's the only thing that's worked for me. Before I changed it out the first time, I was actually having to cut off the skin that was growing over it, which is not fun. Now that it's getting better, I'm going to give it some time to rest and get a longer barbell, and hopefully that'll be the end of that saga. Until my next piercing, of course.
I just wanted to share my experience in case it helps anyone who has trouble healing and wants an industrial. It will be a bitch, there's no doubt. It almost became a personal battle for me; my friends and family would continuously ask why I just didn't give up on it. I had to explain that I was not going to quit after all the pain and all the effort I had put into it - I was at war with my own ear. Didn't help them think I was any less crazy, but like I said, if you're willing to go through the aftercare process, it's a seriously badass looking piercing.