Industrial piercing…healing help?

Industrials can actually take up to a year to fully heal. Most of them put up a good fight not to heal for several months. Many people end up with some scarring around the piercing sites even when they take the best care of the area. Often these bumps will go away with time and more good care, but it can be extremely frustrating for the wearer.

Industrials are so much trouble for so many people that my piercer refuses to perform them on the general public without intense persuasion and complete understanding on the part of the piercee of what they are getting into.

Personally I feel that bactine is too harsh for a cartilage piercing and can overdry the area, slowing your healing. Some people have great results with it, but even more people have success with sea salt soaks.

To do this mix 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (or non-iodized salt) in 8oz of warm water. Apply to the piercing with cotton wool for a few minutes. Sea salt soaks clean the area, soothe some soreness, and can help speed your healing.

If the little bit of skin is just hanging around being annoying, then just leave it alone and keep an eye on it. Picking at it may make things worse, so don’t try to tear it off. If it gets larger, hurts more, or does anything unappealing then show it to your piercer. Just let the skin do its thing unless it really misbehaves.

Cartliage piercings tend to improve for a few weeks, then take a turn for the worse, and then progress toward healing again. This can happen because you slacked on cleaning one week, you slept on it wrong, you got it caught on something, or it’s just being obnoxious. As long as you never touch your piercing with dirty hands, do your best to keep it trauma free, and clean it on schedule it will eventually heal.

You can expect a sore, crabby ear for at least a few weeks. If you’re lucky, it may heal in a matter of months. If you’re like most people it will be a nuisance for a few weeks, a mild aggravation for a few months, and then finally heal up as you intended.

Just keep cleaning your piercing (you will eventually be able to cut down from 3 times a day to once or twice) and keep dirty hands away from it. Return to your piercer if you start seeing strange lumps, bubbles, or anything else out of place. A piercer can often help you solve “bump” related issues if you go in soon enough for help.

Industrial Piercing Healing

In my piercing adventures over the last year, I have found that cartilage piercings are the longest to heal. I began with a helix, followed by a tragus, and now an industrial, which is now four days old.

My helix and my tragus were done at the same studio; my industrial was done at another location. I received conflicting aftercare instructions between the two places. I m also not sure if the size of the needle used affects the healing process, but that might be something to look into.

For my industrial, she said it takes eight to nine weeks to heal. Everything I ve read online seems to say six months to a year, which seems more realistic based on how long it s taken for my helix piercing to heal. I ve had it since August, and still haven t changed the jewelry. My tragus, on the other hand, seemed to heal right away.

The aftercare instructions I was given for the industrial are as follows:

-clean five times a day (using a saline mix; I use either Wound Wash or 8 oz. of water mixed with 1/4 tsp sea salt)

-do not twist jewelry

-do not touch jewelry (her words: leave it the **** alone)

I do not recommend sleeping on the side where you got pierced. Keep your hair away from it so the oils do not affect it. If you work out, immediately clean off the sweat after. If you have dried blood around the piercing site, gently wipe it off with a q-tip drenched in warm water.

If you do the salt soak, do it for 5-10 minutes. I put the water in a coffee mug and then tilt my head to the side for those 5-10 minutes.

How aggressively are you cleaning it? In my experience so far, it s been virtually painless. I throbbed for about a day and a half after the procedure, but now the pain is gone unless I have to touch my hair or accidentally bump my ear when pushing hair out of the way.

RE:

Industrial piercing…healing help?

I got my industrial pierced exactly 7 days ago. The first few days it was fine, I cleaned it 2-3 times a day with Bactine (what the piercer told me to use), and it was fine, a little pain, but only because it was recently done. Today is the first day I’ve had any problem from it. The upper…

If there’s not redness or swelling or warmth you should be okay. It’s gonna take a good 6 months to heal. If that gets worse, I’d go in and show your piercer, but it sounds totally normal.

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