So, it is May of my Senior year of high school, and with prom and graduation around the corner, I decide I want a new ear piercing. I already had lobe piercings, two on each ear, so I decided to get a cartilage piercing this time.
At A Glance Author anonymous When Six months ago Studio Pierced Out Location San Jose, CA I had been thinking about getting the industrial piercing for a while, but was a little hesitant about the pain factor. But I was willing to put the pain aside – the industrial piercing intrigued me...it's pretty rare from what I've seen, and I think it looks really unique. I've always been attracted to different things, so I just decided to go for it.
I spent a few days mentally preparing myself for this experience by watching all kinds of videos on you tube, asking one of my good friends at school about her experience, reading stories on this website, weighing all kinds of pros and cons of this particular piercing, etc...also, it took a bit of convincing with my parents, but hey, it's my body, right? They can't really do much once the piercing is actually in there, but I still wanted their approval...eventually they gave in, and I was finally ready to go.
I head on over to Pierced Out by myself after school...the friend I had mentioned earlier recommended this parlor, so I took her advice. Her industrial piercing turned out really nicely, so I figured I could trust this place.
I finally found the piercing parlor, walked in and observed the area for a moment – it was pretty small, but it was a nice, clean environment. Didn't really look trashy or anything, so I figure that everything should be fine.
The piercer greeted me, and I told him I wanted the industrial piercing...I hadn't really thought about which ear to get it on, I didn't really care either way...I figured since I sleep comfortably on my right side, it would make sense to just get the bar on my left ear.
So, I paid and went around to the back to take a seat. I was really jittery as the piercer was getting his gloves on, especially when he brought out the needles and stuff.
As he was making the markings on my left ear, I started getting really nervous and shaking, but the piercer assured me that it was going to be fine.
He had me lay down and turn my head to the side, and I thought, here goes nothing...the piercer told me to take a deep breath, hold it, and as I exhaled, the first hole was pierced! Not so bad, but I could feel the blood rushing and my ear felt really hot...He told me to do the same for the second piercing, and before I knew it, that was done in no time...the second hole was a little bit more painful, but before I knew it, the bar was in, and I was done!
The piercing didn't really hurt as bad as I thought it would. It was just sore for a few days, and just within a few weeks, I was able to sleep on my left ear without experiencing too much pain.
Personally, I just thought the cleaning process was annoying...completely necessary, but annoying nonetheless. However, it's a small price to pay for an awesome piercing. I never experienced bleeding with this piercing, and I guess that's thanks to a good piercer and thorough cleaning.
What I did was, twice a day, fill a measuring cup with warm water, mix in the sea salt, and leaned down to soak my ear in it for about five minutes. I hated this, because my neck would always hurt afterwards, but I think these salt soaks definitely helped it heal faster. In addition to these soaks, I would be sure to clean the piercing with pure castile soap that I found at Whole Foods.
Overall, I was satisfied with this experience, and I highly recommend Pierced Out if you're in the San Jose area. It cost me $70, but it was well worth it for a job well done. I didn't experience any particular problems during the healing process, but you really have to make the effort to clean, nurse, practically baby this piercing...the only thing I could think of is that my long hair was kind of hard to fix, I had to be really careful when tying my hair, for example. There were several occasions when my hair would tangle with the top part of the piercing, but nothing bad really happened. I was really paranoid about infections, so I made sure to be as careful as I could when dealing with this piercing...always washing my hands with antibacterial soap before cleaning it, etc.
Now, 8 months later, my piercing is pretty much healed, and I still love it as much as I did 8 months ago.