I decided to write about my experience of getting a "standard" industrial piercing (as opposed to a vertical, or helix to concha, etc.) mainly because I didn't really find an awful lot of information about the actual procedure before getting mine done, and so I wanted to use this to really explain it.
At A Glance Author violenthelena Contact violenthelena@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Mike Studio Westport Body Piercing Studio Location Dundee, Scotland I have had a limited amount of experience with body modifications, I only have one tattoo on my right shoulder blade and before I got my industrial, I only had my lobes pierced, not stretched at all, and a BCR through my lip. However, a few friends of mine are far more experienced with this sort of thing, so I at least had someone to ask for advice on aftercare etc.
I decided I wanted an industrial a long time ago, mainly because I wanted something a little bit different. It's interesting, looks great, and is easy to hide under hair or a hat or whatever if you need to. So I saved up the money for a couple of months while asking around about other people's experiences. I didn't really know a lot about industrials, but three of my friends had them already. All of them had varying experiences, both with the procedure itself and with aftercare. One of them said hers healed completely with no problems; another has a huge keloid on the back of hers, with no idea what caused it. I have to say, it didn't exactly fill me with confidence! So I decided that the logical thing to do would be to find out as much as I could via BME. It was really useful to get as much information as I could from people who had actually had this piercing themselves, and I would say to anyone thinking of getting one, do a lot of research!!
Once I had read about it and I was sure about getting the industrial, I went back to the same guy that pierced my lip. It cost me £45 which, as far as I'm aware, is slightly more expensive than a lot of other places, but I can tell you now, it was definitely worth it to be able to go back to a piercer I trusted implicitly.
So I went in there, and the girl at the desk couldn't have been nicer. I told her what I was having done, and as I filled in the consent form, she explained all of the aftercare involved, even talking about her own experience with an industrial. It really put me at ease, so when I went through to the back room I was totally calm and ready to get my piercing.
I lay back on the table, and turned my head to the right to expose my left ear. Mike spent a long time making sure that the bar was the correct size. Apparently even if it looks too big, you can never predict how much a particular piercing may swell immediately after being done. He also spent a while lining it up so that the bar wouldn't make an indentation in my concha (I have tiny ears!!).
Having done all this, it was time for the moment of truth! I am not going to lie to you, actually getting this piercing was one of the most painful experiences of my life, but the pain lasts minutes at most, followed by a dull throbbing ache for the rest of the day, nothing totally unbearable really. The first hole was the most painful, probably because I didn't realize how much it was going to hurt. The receiving tube was put in, followed by the jewellery, and the receiving tube was removed. The second one was OK, probably because I was still in a lot of pain from the first one! Again the receiving tube was put in, but then came the most painful part of getting this done. In order to feed the jewellery through the second hole, Mike had to push it back out of the first hole slightly, and let me tell you, that was not pleasant! It was over in seconds though, and once the ball at the bottom end of the jewellery was screwed on, it was done! I was given as much time as I needed to make sure I wasn't light headed, as this can be common with industrial piercings.
Long story short, it was incredibly painful, but totally worth it! I can highly recommend getting this piercing, as six weeks on it looks fantastic. I can't wait to get more ear work done, possibly my right tragus or antitragus, I will definitely be going back to the same place, as I feel it's really important to go to a piercer you trust and who makes you feel completely comfortable about any procedure.