Disclaimer: Always get piercings done by licensed professionals and with parental permission. I know you've read this everywhere else but, just cause mine worked doesn't mean yours will.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A month ago Artist a friend who prefers to go unnamed Studio my school's music room Location Weston MA
Also I'm sorry if this isn't in paragraphs for some reason they wont work.
I am writing this over a few days so it may seem kinda disjointed.
I have loved and admired piercings since I was in about fifth grade. At first I just wanted one hole in each lobe, the same thing all the girls I knew had but as soon as I got that it was not enough. By eight grade I realized my parents would never allowed more piercings so I did them myself. I have wanted an industrial bar since then but with my parent's piercing rules (one in each lobe and that's it) I obviously could not get one. Since I had been breaking their rules anyway by having 5 piercings in one lobe and 3 in the other (my parents don't know about these) I decided getting an industrial couldn't be too much worse and one of my friends said he was happy to do it for me.
I insisted on all the right equipment, even though I was getting my ear pierced by a friend I wasn't going to settle for safety pins and some cheap piece of plastic. We used two sterilized 14g needles. I got the best bar I could find, which ended up costing about $50 (a bit out of my price range but worth it).
Finally after waiting for everything to come it was time for the piercing. We set up shop in a music room at our school. I sat down in a chair as my friend got everything ready. I had seen another girl get the same piercing a few weeks earlier, also done by my friend, so I knew what to expect.
The top hole was first. It didn't hurt, possibly because of the adrenaline and possibly because i have an impossibly high pain tolerance, and there was pretty much no blood. Then the bar was put through. This was the part a lot of people said would hurt so I was a little scare but it didn't hurt a bit, in fact it was barely even a pinch. Then came the second hole. It hurt more than the first but it was not unbearable at all. I was worried about getting the bar through the second hole because I thought it might tug on the first but again I barely noticed it. I was a little swollen and red but perfect.
Then about half an hour later it started to hurt because the adrenaline had worn off. I went home, took some ibuprofen for the swelling and pain and it was fine. I did not have the correct ear cleaning antiseptic so I was forced to use hydrogen peroxide which I diluted so it was about half water. I have since bought the right stuff at a piercing shop.
I have had my industrial bar for a week and I have been cleaning it twice a day once in the morning once at night, first just with hot water on a q-tip to get the crusties off then with the ear care antiseptic. Everyone has recommended salt soaks which I have not done only because putting my ear in salty water for 10 minutes a day seems difficult and it is healing fine anyway also hiding it from my parents would be difficult.
After about a week I rolled of a couch and accidentally hit the side of my head against a table. The outside of the top hole started bleeding a bit and since industrials are known to be likely to migrate and reject I was extremely worried about it. However it has now been another week or so and is not migrating or rejecting.
As soon as it started bleeding I called my "piercer" and pretty much said, Its bleeding what do I do? There really is very little to do about it, I made sure it stopped bleeding and made sure to clean it extra well. I expected it to hurt a lot or something but it was pretty much normal except that the crusties on one side of one hole were red.
The only problems I have experienced (so far) have been getting used to sleeping on the other side and being very very careful with what hits your ear. I never realized how many things I do daily that hit against my ear until now. And cleaning the inner side of the top hole because it is hard to get to without tugging on everything else but as it heals that is getting easier.
Overall I am very pleased with my industrial bar and do not regret going against my parents rules and getting it done by a nonprofessional. To put it less formally; I love my industrial!