I never really wanted much in the way of body modifications, in part because growing up I was a very obedient child and my mother disapproved of them. I remember her reaction to the tattoo my cousin had done on his ankle: I thought it looked beautiful, she thought it looked tacky. Besides, I was always afraid that on the off-chance I did get a tattoo or a piercing, I would end up hating it or regretting it. It might be a little hard to explain to my bingo buddies at the nursing home why I had a heartagram on my arm, for instance.
At A Glance Author death.on.a.vespa Contact death.on.a.vespa@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Andy Scott Studio Bethesda Tattoo Company Location Washington D.C. All that changed when I met my friend Dorrie in high school. We were initially drawn together by our love of alternative, rock, and punk music. Dorrie is now one of my closest friends. My musical knowledge grew about a hundredfold in the time we were in school together. She introduced me to her favorite band, Kill Hannah, and I introduced her to mine, The Smashing Pumpkins. We drooled over Davey Havok together and watched episodes of Criss Angel Mindfreak ("Jesus, how does he do that?" "I don't know . . . OH OW SHIT GOD that must hurt!")
Dorrie also introduced me to body modifications, and to BME. Before having some in-depth conversations with her on the subject, my knowledge of mods was as follows: 1) earlobe piercings; 2) "cartilage" piercings (known to the initiated as helix piercings); and 3) tattoos. I knew there were other kinds of piercings, such as navel, nipple, eyebrow, tongue, and different kinds of genital piercings for men and women. I also knew that certain tattoos and piercings were more common with certain demographics, like many beachgoing young women could be seen sporting a navel piercing and perhaps a lower back tattoo. I had never even heard of scarification, branding, labrets, the wide variety of ear piercings, surface piercings, bridge piercings, and so-called "extreme mods" except in the form of The Enigma, who I knew from an episode of The X-Files. But I just figured that my regular earlobe piercings, one in each ear, was the extent of the modifications that I would have performed on my body.
This is how I learned about industrials.
Dorrie comes in wearing a straight barbell in her earlobe.
ME: Hey!
DORRIE: Hey!
Various salutations, hugs, how-are-yous, etc.
ME: Hey, what's that in your ear? New earring?
DORRIE: Sorta. It's a barbell.
ME: Cool. I didn't even know they made stuff like that.
DORRIE: Oh yeah. This is supposed to be for an industrial, but I don't have one, so I wear it here.
ME: An industrial? What's that?
DORRIE: It's a bar going through the top part of your ear. Like this.
She unscrews a ball and holds up the barbell in the place an industrial would go.
ME: Hey, that looks really cool!
After that I was hooked. I absolutely fell in love with industrials, and I made up my mind that I was going to get one, once I turned eighteen. I spent a few months looking around on BME, reading people's experiences with industrials and learning about the risks. When I finally felt like I knew enough, I decided to start looking for a studio.
I finally decided on Bethesda Tattoo Company in Bethesda, Maryland, a city just outside Washington D.C., where I live. Although the place is a little hard to find, I was very impressed by the atmosphere and the cleanliness of the shop. It was very clean. I spoke with two of the tattoo artists (the shop has three) and with the piercer, whose name is Andy. I asked him to look over my ear to see whether it would be possible to get an industrial, because not everyone's anatomy is suited to the piercing. He said sure, the only limitations were that certain angles would not be possible, because I of course wanted to avoid a shallow industrial at all costs.
I went in a week later, ready to be pierced. Although the cost was a little steep, I was willing to pay for the piercing I desperately wanted and for the guarantee of a clean shop and a piercer who knew what he was doing. Because it was my first piercing other than getting my earlobes gunned at Claire's when I was eight, I was a little nervous. Andy made me totally comfortable and talked me through everything he was doing. He also talked to me about other things, like music and his own nervousness on getting surgery the coming week. He was very professional but also very friendly.
He told me to take a deep breath and let it out, and pierced my ear. One down, one to go! I'd heard that the second hole usually hurts a lot more, and it really did. It seemed to take longer, but now I realize that it was both the needle and threading the barbell through that was making it hurt longer. Then he screwed the last bead onto the barbell, cleaned up my ear, and it was done!
Andy explained aftercare to me, and gave me a sheet of instructions as well as a bag of sea salt to soak my piercing in. He also gave me some other basic advice, like to be careful when brushing my long hair. Overall, I had a great experience, and I would definitely recommend going to Andy. He's friendly, he's professional, and he definitely made me feel comfortable and not nervous.
I got my industrial three days ago, and so far it's been healing just fine. The only problem I have is avoiding sleeping on it, because I habitually toss and turn while I sleep. A final note to anyone considering this piercing: yes, it hurts. Yes, the aftercare goes on for a long time. But ultimately, if you find a good place and you want to do it—just do it! When the only thing stopping you is yourself, just go for it, and you will not regret it!