Comprehensive Guide to Industrial Piercings

The next piercing comprehensive guide in my series is here! This time I focus on the industrial piercing. This guide offers a general overview of important information pertaining to the industrial piercing.

Because I'm always asked...
Lipstick I'm Wearing 💄// Pumpkin Spice by Jeffree Star Cosmetics

♡Social Media♡

[cebbi]

An industrial piercing is the only piercing I want, I love them so much.

Man though, the disruption to my life might just not be worth it. I'm a swimmer, a side sleeper who tosses and turns a lot, and I wear earphones almost constantly because I'm autistic.

[arashimatoshi]

I've had my industrial for 14 years this year 😂 It's one of my favorite piercings! Didn't hurt a whole lot. The bottom part, the one further away from your head, felt like getting a normal helix piercing. Little pinch, no problem. The one closer to your head actually hurt a little. Bigger pinch, still not bad. It's a gnarly piercing! Took forever and a half to heal. All in all, it stopped hurting after a year and a half completely. It was a little finicky during the healing process and very sensitive for the longest time.

Love the jewelry options, especially the wavy bar! I got it pierced at 14g and I've kept the bigger gauge.

[perryplayz]

I had mines for about 7 to 8 months now, the only problems I had was swelling and bleeding. The pain was about 3/10. It was worth it though I love it and was thinking about getting my jewelry changed. :)

[dayna]

Made an appointment for next week to get an industrial! So excited, but at the same time pretty nervous for the healing process 😬

[millieallen]

Had my Scaffolding (from the UK) for 10 years. It was a bit of a pain to heal and can flair up sometimes. It is my favorite piercing. It was my first proper piercing. I will never get rid of it! The length of time I have had it I can keep it out for about 2 weeks. This is helpful now I'm getting my other ear pierced

[strawberriesandglitter]

I got mine done a month ago and I’m surprised I actually haven’t had any problems. It’s been more comfortable than my nostril and septum piercings because I lay on my stomach and for awhile with my nose piercings I had to sleep on my back but with my industrial for the first couple weeks I slept with a neck pillow but now I can sleep without it since I know how to not hit it. I will say I’m extremely careful so I’ve only hit it once. I clean it with the saline spray you get for allergies and it’s worked with every piercing for me

[alexusw]

I’ve had mine for 4 months still haven’t completely healed bumps formed on it and sometimes yellowish stuff comes out I tried using tea tree oil on the bumps and i have 3 different saline solutions but the piercing just seems to all ways be irritated even if i just leave it alone for half a day I’ve tried sea salt soaks idk if I’m putting too much salt it kinda irritates the piercing its so stressful because i just want it to heal i keep my hair away from it and I don’t touch it unless my hands are clean help please 🥲

[Nails_by_Jess]

I got mine 4 days ago and it didn't hurt just kinda felt like my ear was hot and it hasn't hurt much since except when I hit it or my hair gets caught in it

[stevenmeaders]

From personal experience I just got it done yesterday and people make it out to being the worst thing ever but for me it did not really hurt that bad and in my opinion the conch hurt more for me overall pain 4/10.

[zannahthewicked]

You should never reuse needles, good piercer will not have any problem with aligning the angles. If you need one needle for angles to match up you shoudn't be doing industrial. Also even with desinfection something might be left on the skin, , the chance is low but it does exist, then you might have infection in both holes insted of one. Not to mentions, needles have extremely thin edge, that gets slightly blunt after one piercing, epspecially cartlige, your next hole will hurt much more than it would i've you used 2nd needle. Industrials need two needles, piercers that use one either lack skill or/and are cheap.

[kore]

personal experience here: i’ve had the industrial for almost 3 years now, i got it the day after christmas for $20 at a sketchy place cause i was underaged and without a parent. it hurt a bit after the fact but i can’t say much for the initial piercing part because i tend to forget the pain right after (i have 16 piercings now btw and soon to get 17). healing was most definitely annoying. i never slept on it as it hurt and hurt for a very long time (i would create a donut shape with my arm and place my ear in the hole) it kept growing bumps pretty much throughout the whole healing time until maybe 10 months after i got it, once 12 months hit it was perfect. after the fact however small bumps would form on the end and i hoped it would just go away like the rest did but it didn’t. it wasn’t until a few months ago that i finally made a homemade sea salt solution with a bit of tea tree oil and cleaned the bump for about a week. after 2 years this bump was finally gone. so i definitely recommend that for longer lasting bumps. over all i love my industrial. after it was healed i put in a 1 1/2 size bar and it’s 16g (14g hurt) i definitely recommend this one if your ear supports it. if you have any other questions feel free to ask!!

edit: i wanna add that this was my first real piercing after my lobes so i didn’t know much about it at the time and can’t really say how the guy pierced it but he actually did a good job on this one

[paigegalvin]

So I have an industrial! For pain it was a 2 hurt way less then my septum.
Also NECK PILLOW, that is your best friend for sleeping and healing ! Mine healed in 6 months

[marrasaratoga]

Got a helix piercing a few weeks ago and I'm a side sleeper. Buying one of those memory foam travel neck pillows has been AMAZING. Use it like a regular pillow so that your ear is cradled in the center.

[Beth]

I have an industrial piercing almost 2 years ago. It did hurt because the size of the needle. The healing time was a little bit less than a year. I wasn’t sure if I had space on my right ear but, the gal behind the counter changed my mind in getting a cartilage piercing on that ear. I didn’t have a family member with me on the piercing. I’m glad the piercer took a few seconds between them. I think she used one needle during it. I think so far the industrial piercing is my favorite one so far. I still industrial bar overnight but, it is easy to change it on my mood.

[sasharandomly]

Got mine 5 months ago. It hurt like a sumbitch. An 8/10 for sure. The healing sucks but now its only a little uncomfortable while I clean it. After I finished it's fine, no standing pain. My piercer used 1 needle. Not sure how I feel about that. Can't wait to change it.

[RowanElletson]

Btw if you use the same needle for both of the piercings, the second time it enters it will be slightly dull. This can just make it a lil bit more painful and hard to heal but it’s never good

[tstretch]

I got my first industrial in '04. Initial pain was a piece of cake. 2/10. However, the next day for a week it was very tender. Woke me up out of sleep a few times. It settled down and I haven't had any problems with it in 15+ years since then.
I got my 2nd industrial (train tracks) in '2010. Same as the first one. It was all good til I caught it on a zipper and ripped the helix out of the top bar. It healed and my daughter (now a professional piercer) re-pierced it 2 weeks ago. Even going thru scar tissue was too bad.
They can get a little sore from time to time if I wear a headset or things like that.
I even let my oldest son get his industrial (he's 16) done when I repierced my top bar.

[nyxel]

My piercer used two needles she said that the one needle isn't recommended due to once they pierce one that needle becomes dull and pretty much is forcing it through the 2nd hole. I've had mine a month now and it's been a ride lol. Its my 1st none lobe so it's been interesting.

[kaitlinlexiexx]

my experience: for me, my industrial was the most painful piercing i’ve gotten, but i love it. my piercer used two different needles!

[dianapalade]

I pierced my industrial last Friday. I can say that the pain is kinda a 3/10, you know the second hole is always the worst. I really love it a lot. However I have now my dear friend in a healing process and he is doing kinda fine. He's not red and does not hurt, but I am so scared to do something wrong and to fuck it up. Wish me luck🖤