It started with my first ear piercings when I was a mere 11 years old. It was in a hair salon and they had used the dreaded piercing guns of doom. These highly common piercings sustained me for only so long, however. When I was 14, I began stretching them, and they are currently at an 8g, but I will soon be upgrading. Six months later, came my DIY second ear piercings and a septum piercing, soon followed by my (also DIY – which was a horrible decision) surface piercings, to name a few.
At A Glance Author Vermilion Contact Vermilion@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Deb Studio House of Creations Location Wisconsin, United States of America Angry with myself for letting my surface piercings reject, I was desperate for a new piercing. I started searching the web, scanning library books, and checking out other people's piercings at my school. One day, while waiting for my friend at her locker, a girl walked by. And in that half a second, I knew the piercing that I wanted. That bar through her ear was exactly what I had been combing my resources for. I went home that day from school and began researching, and I discovered the name of this piercing – an industrial. The only thing left was to get permission.
Now, my parents are strictly against body mods, but I thought that my argument ("I can take the bar out and put in rings or studs. Plus I can just put my hair down.") would be enough to win them over. And it was. With a bit of a fuss from my step-dad the appointment was made with a local piercing studio.
When May 31 arrived, I was making myself near sick about the whole ordeal, but I managed to choke down some breakfast and get my act together before we headed downtown. When we arrived and walked inside, I no longer had butterflies. The place looked nice and clean and smelled really good! We approached the counter and were greeted by Deb, my piercer. She handed my mom some paperwork to fill out, which, I might add, contained some very odd questions.
Then, she told me to take a seat in the chair. By now, I wasn't so much nervous as I was excited as I plopped down on to the black leather hairdresser's chair. First, she donned a pair of rubber gloves and disinfected my left ear's cartilage with something. Then she pulled out a brand new marker and a small metal rod. She laid the rod next to my cartilage and carefully marked the needle's entrance and exit points before asking me if I liked it and then disinfecting it a second time. Laying the pen aside, she reclined the chair just a bit so I could relax.
Out of the drawers came a clamp, a needle, and a whole box of industrial bars, all autoclaved and individually wrapped. First, she told me the bars were titanium which is supposed to be the best kind of metal for new piercings, and then she let me pick out which color I wanted (I chose light blue). She told me to lay back and relax all my muscles. This wasn't really a difficulty to me as I have gone through quite a few piercings and have become very good at staying relaxed during the whole process. At this point, my mom had walked out of the room because she said she didn't want to watch it. "Pussy!" I yelled out and started laughing as she smirked at me and replied. "What? We can't all be tough and manly like you." To which I stuck out my tongue in reply.
Deb started talking to me and explaining the whole process start to finish. Then, she opened the clamp and positioned it on the area around the top hole. I thought this was odd as I hadn't read about the use of a clamp in industrial piercings, and she said it's an uncommon practice, but it makes it a bit easier as it flattens out the surface. I trusted her (which I felt was perfectly fine because she happens to be a family friend), and let her continue.
She set the needle next to my ear and with a 1-2-3-Breathe, the needle was through, however I didn't feel an ounce of pain. In fact, had she not said anything, I wouldn't have even known it broke the skin. On to the next hole. She corked the first needle and got out a second one, which she then stabbed through my ear and corked. Then, she unwrapped the industrial bar and unscrewed one of the ends. She threaded the bar through the needles and carefully removed them then replaced the end. The top hole didn't bleed a drop, but the bottom one started bleeding slightly, which she easily remedied. After the whole thing was over, she removed her gloves and handed me an aftercare sheet, which we went through orally together.
Once I thought I understood everything, we paid for my brand new metal and were off. It's been a little over three weeks since the initial piercing and it's going beautifully. No problems with infection or swelling or anything of that nature. I really recommend this piercing to anyone who wants something a little out of the norm. And if you're afraid you won't be able to handle the pain, don't be. At least in my experience, it was virtually pain-free. It's also very easy to heal as long as you clean it properly and adequately. It's my favorite piercing that I own so far.
Good luck and happy [insert preferred body mod here]-ing. =]