Industrials!!

So as you know I like to get piercings.....lol  so this post should really come to no ones surprise that I got another one!!  :)  This one is a little different than the normal run of the mill piercing.......  Haley and I went on March 10. 2016 to Mason City to go to River City Tattoo Company......ya see, Haley had been saving up her money to get this piercing done so we had to find a place that was within her allotted savings.....lol  She had saved $50.00 so it was doable!!

 First we started off on that Monday prior that we would be going to TechinoColor in Mason for their $20.00 Tuesday deal (which this is 2 holes so good to go)  So I messaged the piercer their to confirm that he would be there, we didn't want to make the drive for nothing.  He promptly responded (which I LOVED) and let me know that he would be there after 4:00, so I let him know that we would be there!!  Well, that Tuesday morning I received a message from him letting me know that I didn't need to "worry" about coming in as he wasn't going to be there.....I was bummed!!  I knew Haley would be crushed.  I told him that I hoped everything was alright and we would have to try for another day. (this was really our one free day as roller derby was starting up the following week and was on the day of his $20.00 deals)  so I messaged Haley and let her know, as thought, she was crushed!!  So then I messaged River City, to be honest, I was very disappointed.......I simply asked if they had any piercing specials going on and let them know the piercing we were looking to get.  I never got any response.  With the technology of Facebook today I do know that they saw the message, just never responded. :(  So Wednesday morning I messaged the piercer directly, asking him about specials and if they still did the students get $20.00 piercings on Thursdays.  He semi-promptly responded that they did still run the special!!  yeah!!  So with just a few more simple questions which he answered the next day we were set to go!!

So, one word of advice.....remember all of your needed paperwork.  And know your laws if you are having a minor getting pierced.......unfortunately we forgot Haley's birth certificate.....so we had to drive back home and get it and go back.........blah!!  Our piercer was amazing about it though, if we had been in before to have her pierced it would't have been a huge deal, but since we hadn't it was a no go.  And I wasn't upset, I was actually impressed that he stuck to his guns and didn't bend for us.  It's called being PROFESSIONAL!!  So that was nice, just wish I would have remembered it the first time!!   ;)

Just so you know, there is some paperwork involved in getting any work done at a tattoo place.....the general name, birthday......then the health questions.....yep, normal stuff!!  they copy your id as well.....but not the birth certificate (that I remember)  Next, our piercer went back to his work space to prepare for our piercing.  Also side note, your piercer will ask you prior to setting up what/where you want pierced.  With ours it was the top of our ear so he checked to make sure that was a possible piercing as it's pretty well known that everyone's body is different.  Not all people are candidates for every piercing.  Then once her was ready for us we were called back.  Each piercer has different rules as to how many people can come back and all that good stuff but we only had the 2 of us so we were set.  He asked who was going first, we told him it was up to him (as we were both kinds nervous and each wanted to go first)  he decided to start with Haley, youngest first!!  All good with me, I had been watching You-Tube videos so this was going to be a breeze..........

the piercing needle......14 G.

all of the supplies....needle, q-tips, tooth pick??  yep, to mark a straight line on the ear.
(there was ink too just not shown)

Haley's ear was marked and the first hole was pierced....

Haley watched very few videos but saw the "elf ears" and
wanted to make sure that I got her's!!
So both holes are pierced, her ear does straighten out.....lol

Yep, Haley is a bleeder.......cleaned up with q-tips and good to go!!

All cleaned up and looking dandy!!

Measuring to make sure the bar is a good fit.
You want a longer bar than necessary to allow for swelling.

  It was my turn next, Haley told me it didn't hurt!!  (She lied!!)  Although she didn't even flinch when her's was done!!

The holes are done!!  The first one wasn't as bad as the second!!
That one was tough!!

Bar is in and ready to put the balls on the end.  :)

Looking all excellent!!  :)

 So done!!  Let me tell you.......when Haley told me it didn't hurt she was a liar!!  The bottom hole wasn't bad....tolerable!!  The top hole sucked BALLS!!  lol  I kinda knew that going in though.....if you realize the top of your ear is much thicker and harder to pass through than the bottom part.  On a scale of 1-10 (1 being what happened and 10 being H0!^   $*3@) it was about a 6-7.  Would I do it again??  Dependable....lol  although I have another possible piercing planned that is in the similar spot so most likely!!

The after care is the same as other piercings.......http://www.safepiercing.org/learn/piercing/body-aftercare/#!/~/product/id=23786192

 http://www.piercingbible.com/piercing-care

 Each piercer will have their own tips and tricks but for the majority of the time it's pretty straight forward.  Although we have never used their brand of cleaner...

 We use the Band-Aid Brand Antiseptic Wash, love this stuff and never had any issues with it.  We also use it on cuts and scrapes and it helps them heal a little faster than left untreated.  Not sure if it helps heal faster with piercings but it works for us.  Not going to say that it will work 100% for everyone for every piercing but again, it works for us.  :)

Another bug thing is to not play with it at all!!  It's hard to do, it's something new and shiny and you want to show it off.  Just gonna say, it cold slow down healing time....and it could potentially cause infection if something would happen to get into it.  No one wants that so keep your hands DOWN!!  :)  With this piercing, you need to make sure that your hair stays out of the way for the first while.  It will get wrapped around the bar and it will hurt when you pull on it.  I found if I keep most of my bar towards my head that works best for me.  I was bumping it on too many things with the extra on the bottom....lol

Sleeping was interesting....I would NOT recommend to get this piercing on the side of your head that you generally sleep on.  For the first few nights up to the first few weeks, your ear will be tender.  (Mine hasn't been too bad at the 1 week mark, I've been sleeping on it for a few days without pain)  Each person is different so your time frame could be different but Haley's is super tender as where mine really isn't.  Yeah me!!  lol

Make sure you don't change your jewelry out early!!  This piercing can take up to a year to fully heal.  Yes that is a long time, can you change out with in that time, yes we were told we could.  I defiantly will be changing to a shorter bar when the time comes.... I guess I have small ears to this thing is killing me being so long!!  There are different lengths of bars that differ for each ear, so you'll need to measure what the right sizing is for yours.  There are tons of different styles of bars; fancy, plain, bling or shapes.  I'm hoping to find a kitty one (no luck as of yet though)



But again......all information that I give within this blog is not professional at all!!  So if you have any questions please contact a piercer and ask them.  Again, each will have their own answers, and their own ways of doing things so keep that in mind too.  :)