At A Glance Author Hilikme Contact Hilikme@bme.anon IAM Hilikme When Six months ago Artist Craig Landon Studio Trendsetters Location Prince George, British Columbia Well, it was nearing a month since my helix (a.k.a. first half of an industrial) was done, and I was really getting excited, knowing I'd have that long barbell intersecting my ear in the near future.
December twenty third was when my appointment was booked for, and that pre-piercing nervousness showed up even later this time, not really hitting me till I sat down in the front of Trendsetters to wait. At least this time, I remembered to have some good food before hand, which I'm sure was beneficial. On the other hand, my boyfriend was busy with other things that day, so to make things a bit more stressful, my dad was the one to drive me there and back, but boy how he was relieved to know that he wouldn't have to be in the same room as me when I'd be getting pierced! The waiting was a bit awkward as it was my dad taking down the information for that aftercare quiz and legal form for me, -- I was cringing the whole time as I could only imagine what he was thinking, with the receptionist chatting back and forth with another girl waiting, about DIY's gone horribly wrong, and failed, rejecting nipple piercings from long ago. It wasn't exactly a good time to get my dad doubting how he feels about piercings (though, in the end, it wouldn't matter anyways).
As distracting as that was from my nervousness, I was glad to be done with the waiting, which, I think, is the worst part. Craig came out to come find me, and we headed back into the room, where I quickly found my place in that chair again. Fernanda was there as well, like last time, again watching and assisting with little things.
My ear was cleaned up, as Craig and I talked about lymph, or in my case, the lack of it, as he pointed out that if the trauma is kept to a minimum, and there's no accidental knocking around of the jewelry, there's sometimes no lymph at all, and that either way, my helix appeared to be healing up wonderfully. I commented that I heard that this top hole is supposed to be quite a bit more painful then the first, at which Craig feigned disappointment "You weren't supposed to hear about that part!"
My comparatively small barbell was removed, painlessly, as he moved on to picking out a long bar for me, holding the potential jewelry in front of my ear (in the autoclave package). The one and one fourth inch bar? Too small... One and three eighths? Probably could fit, but no room for swelling if any were to show up. So I, thinking I had pretty small ears, would be getting a one and one half inch bar.
My ear was cleaned again, the marks were meticulously made, and needle lined up, ready to go. Craig prompted me on the "one", breath in, "two", breath out, and... Youch, and this time I mean it! It was still nothing to make a big deal about, like before, I don't remember making a single sound, but it does smart quite a bit. Before I knew it though, my new barbell was being threaded through the lower hole, and up through the knew one, which didn't feel as bad as the needle going through, by far. The ball was screwed on, and by this time, that flaming ear syndrome was back, just as vicious as ever. I got that nice cool clean up once more, as I commented that it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined it would be.
I was handed my old barbell that I could use for something else later on, which was good since I was already missing that cute little guy not hanging out in my ear. After a lot of thanks, and before paying, the two let me in on the news that Fernanda would start to be doing piercings herself, under Craig's supervision, and they needed "ear models" for her, they sure didn't have to twist my arm to sign up for that offer... Who could turn down the chance at free piercings (besides jewelry cost), not to mention, helping a piercer get started. Foreshadowing of experiences to come!
I didn't bleed, or swell, which didn't surprise me, as I hadn't experienced either from the helix piercing alone. I don't think I noticed it as much the first time, but I definitely noticed it this time -- that piercing "high". I was grinning endlessly for the rest of the afternoon, not to mention laughing at all sorts of things which normally wouldn't be so entertaining. Long story short, my family now thinks I'm crazy, not even taking into consideration the metal in my ear.
For the first few days, my upper ear was pretty sore, and cleaning in, around, under and behind that bar was hell at times, both because of the achiness and the difficulty of maneuvering cotton swabs in such a small, cramped area. But other then that, it wasn't too much different then caring for that initial helix.
The biggest problem I had was the fact that snowmobiling season was in full force and we had just brought home a knew sled. Wearing anything on my head was a pain in the ass to keep from pressing, uncomfortably, on the industrial, but in minus thirty Celsius, it's rather important to keep my ears warm, lest I want them to freeze and fall off. I did eventually come up with a headband that didn't put any pressure on it, with my jacket's hood over that, but that didn't stop a stick from smacking me in the side of the head while speeding down an overgrown trail.
That mishap, eight days after the piercing, put me into a week of major crusting, which declined until I was back to a trouble free healing for awhile, until I crashed on the living room couch, regrettably on my left, industrialized, ear, near the end of January. Sleeping on it that one night made it pretty damn grumpy, and before I knew it, there was a bump growing on the side of the top hole. I thought I was doing so well, too, but nope, I was cursed with that infamous bump. Fortunately, after implementing a routine of frequent hot soaks and tea tree oil, it really started to come down in size.
The bump returned full force (and possibly worse) after unusual mishaps, such as people grabbing me by my ears and accidently slapping me in the side of the head and ear, but it always went down after a week or two. Currently, almost four months to the day that I had my industrial completed, the bumps all but gone away, there's no pain, no crusting, and I'm planning on picking up a bar that's a bit shorter, as it startles me (for no reason) when something snags or hits the annoying, extra length that slides out of the lower hole.
As for the technique -- piercing one hole, then waiting and piercing the second hole -- I think there are definite benefits to this method, since the first piercing has time to settle before the second one is pierced, which, I'd suspect, makes for a less sore ear overall, once you have the long barbell placed. However, I've never experienced any other methods, obviously, so have no immediate way to compare, and I don't even see too many industrials being done this way, other then on Craig's clients. It's something to consider though!