I'm going to get my left ear done on Tuesday and would like to hear your experiences with the Industrial. I'm slightly scared it will hurt as much as I've heard it does. How was yours done? Did you take the long barbell right away or heal it first with two short ones? Which should I do? Did you have troubles sleeping with it, how long did it hurt?

I appreciate all replies on the subject.

My best friend has one and says that it hurt when she had it done and it was sore for about a week or so after. She went with the long barbell right off the bat and says it doesn't bother her sleeping on it at all.

Hope that helps.

~spider

I have one, and I've had it for over 2 years now.

I won't lie, it's painful. The second hole more so than the first. However, as with all piercings, I find that the futzing around getting the jewelry in and closed is way worse than the actual needle stuff.

And for what it's worth, it still all doesn't take that long to do. A few minutes at most. And generally, as soon as it's in, it stops hurting. Unless you accidentally smack into it or something (or if you have a crap piercer who placed it incorrectly).



I had one long barbell. The reason why I would suggest doing it this way is because at least you'll know the holes will line up straight. With seperately healing barbells or even rings, it's possible that the angle between the holes will be off (and if using rings, the holes might be a little curved inside due to the curvature of the jewelry), or they might heal slightly crooked or something like that.

Just make sure the barbell is long enough to accommodate swelling. You'll be able to downsize the barbell after about 3 months or so for a better fit when the initial swelling has gone. (I didn't downsize mine until a year or so later, but it just depends on how much the longer bar bothers you).


I didn't sleep on that ear for 10 months. That's how long it took me to heal the entire thing completely, to the point of not having any crusties (dried lymph) appear on it at all. That was also the point where I could sleep on it without it aching or hurting anymore if I put pressure on it.

A former friend who also had one done slept on it from about day 1. She developed hypertrophic scarring (what they commonly, and mistakenly, call keloids) on the holes as a result, so I really don't recommend sleeping on it until it's quite well healed. Hypertrophic scarring does go away, but usually not until the piercing is healed. It looks pretty ugly too.

This is a piercing that takes the better part of a year to fully heal. So be aware of that. It hurts to get done, and it can be a fussy bitch.

For aftercare I highly recommend warm/hot sea salt soaks, and basically not much else. I found the less I did with it, the better and faster it healed. Your body's immune system can generally deal with most things, and you don't need to have harsh cleansers to keep it clean, they seem to cause more problems than they're supposed to solve or keep at bay.

Even with the pain and the hassle that it does bring, I'd do it all again in a heartbeat because I absolutely love that piercing.



Lilith

I can't speak from personal experience, but as Lilith said, they're painful and they take a long time to heal. I have a huge, strong, metalhead of a friend whom my hubber and I nicknamed Thor. He got an industrial at the same time I got my nose pierced, and it took a good 9 or 10 months for his to heal to the point where it didn't hurt anymore. And he complained about it the whole time. Keep in mind, this guy is a locksmith who has accidentally sliced up his fingers on a key cutter before w/o so much as a peep. He has several large tattoos that were "no big deal." But the industrial? "Man that hurt!"

Another thing to consider, he got it done in Oct. Come winter, whenever the temperature dipped below 50, he said the piercing hurt, so depending on where you live, in 6 months you may want to invest in a nice warm hat. Also watch when you put on glasses or sunglasses, pull clothes over your head, or shake open garbage bags. Thor had painful mishaps involving all these things.

Well, I finally have a fresh industrial in my ear, and I love it, I'm so happy I had the courage to go and get it. It hurt and bleeded, and like Lilith said the second hole was pretty painful, but it was fun listening to the cartillage go snap, crackle and pop. It wasn't intolerably painful (though it did feel uncomfortable since the piercer pushed the needle through sloooowly..) and I could definitely do it again for such a lovely piercing. My next one will probably be an inner conch ring. Won't get any more piercings until this one has fully healed though.

Yeah, I heard a little bit of this from Lilith on irc already, but it's glad to have an expanded version I can reference, as well as Pho's story as I plan on getting an industrial as soon as I have the money.

daladus

I say go for it Dal, good things are always worth a little pain.

Yeah, I definitely recommend against this. ESPECIALLY in the same ear.

I had a lobe piercing done in both ears a month after the industrial... bad idea... trying to heal 3 holes in a small localised area is not a good idea, and I'm sure that even spread out over your entire body, you just don't want too many different wounds healing.

Also, having something that's healing on both sides of your head at the same time is also just a bad idea, because it really only leaves you with one position to sleep on, your back, unless you want to lie on fresh piercings.

I think next time I won't even get lobe piercings done in both ears at the same time at all, just one at a time and let one heal before I add one to the other side, just to be able to have one side of my head that I can sleep on.

Better to do less at once and have it heal faster, than more and extend healing time and increase the potential for problems.


Lilith

Yeah, I'll be chanting this in my head like a mantra when this baby makes an appearance.

Which is sure to make the industrial look like a piece of cake



Lilith

:b

That made my afternoon!

Pho, glad to hear you went for it! Enjoy your newly punched and bejeweled head-holes. I'd love to get an industrial, but seeing as how I can't even keep a cartilage piercing, it may not be meant to be.

Yep, sleeping didn't turn out nearly as difficult as I thought, though I've noticed a few things bothering my everyday life. Since I constantly work with music, I use studio quality headphones and they're of the bigger sort, and the industrial hurts when I wear them. So I have to use these little earplug phones as long as the piercing(s) is (are) healing. I'm glad they're not bad in quality either so I can work pretty normally. I also keep getting my hair tangled up with the barbell, since the stuff growing on my head isn't long enough to be worn on a ponytail. Ah well, I'm pretty sure I'll manage. I just need to tell everyone to be careful when hugging me - grandma came over today and gripped me tightly against her chest, and the piercing hurt sooooo much! (and of course I got the obvious nagging about ruining my body and my life and my future)

Hairclips, they're invaluable. Not always the most flattering look, but if you need to keep the hair out of the way, which you'll certainly want to do initially when everything is just really sensitive, that's the way to go.


Lilith

Yea, I have wanted one for a while now and was all worried and whatnot. Sounds safe enough, so I think I well get one over the next week or so.

-[Atticyi]-

P.S. thanks for the info you guys

It's safe enough if you choose a good piercer. This goes for most body modifications.

A few major pointers that people need to know, things I feel are important:

Choose a good and reputable piercer (/tattoo artist). This is not something you want to be cheap about. If you can't afford a good piercer/artist, save up your pennies and wait.

Why do you want to do this? Well, you get what you pay for... someone who's cheap might be cutting corners, be it on cheaper jewelry, or their sterilisation and cleansing procedures. And this is your body we're talking about. A botched piercing or tattoo can ruin a lot of things. You might get lucky and it might "just" be some cosmetic flaw or an infection, or you could end up with something that's with you for life, or could end your life like certain viral contaminants.

All piercing and tattoo parlours should own an autoclave. This is a hospital grade sterilisation machine (the same one that doctors and dentists also own). If they don't have one, run, don't walk, out of that place. Spraying windex or some alcohol solution onto the jewelry or tools is not adequate sterilisation (and this is why you need to stay away from those mall piercing booths like Claires and Piercing Pagoda), and will not kill certain bloodborne pathogens, like Hepatitis and HIV and other viral diseases. If you want, you can go the extra mile and ask to see their spore test results. They should test for spores once a month, this makes sure that the autoclave is not contaminated itself.

No piercing or tattoo place should reuse their needles. Everything needs to be single use, and disposed of in the sharps container afterwards.

Avoid any piercing or tattoo place that will pierce/tattoo you if you are legally underage. If they're breaking that law, what other laws and rules are they breaking? And do you want to risk your health on it?

Avoid any piercing or tattoo place that will pierce you if you're under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Avoid being under the influence too... alcohol thins your blood and will make you bleed like a motherfucker. No reputable studio will do work on you if you're under the influence, if they're willing to do work on you if you are, get out of there.

Don't get pierced with a piercing gun. They can't be sterilised properly, and they shove blunt studs through flesh, which traumatises the flesh and skin more than a sharp needle does. Also, piercing studs do not allow adequate room for swelling.




Lilith

I'm curious, I think this piercing looks nice, but have generally only seen it on females. Would you say this is a more femminine(sp?) piercing or one acceptable for both sexes?

Khonsu