Industrial Piercing

Industrial piercing is a special type of piercing where two (or sometimes more) pierced holes are connected with a single jewelry- most of the cases with a long barbell while occasionally with a curved one. Industrial piercing is frequently performed on ear, though it is possible to make it in any other part of the body. This sort of piercing was first introduced by a Californian piercer Erik Dakota in “Body Play Magazine” #4 (1992), where it was titled as “industrial ear project.”

Industrial piercing is nowadays becoming very popular among the youngsters throughout the world and especially in western countries. It is also known as- Crossbow piercing (in Canada), Construction piercing (in Alaska), Scaffold piercing (in the UK and Australia), and Transversal piercing (in Brazil).

In this kind of piercing, usually two holes are made in the upper ear cartilage- one quite close to the head while the second one is further downward the cartilage; these two holes are connected with a beautiful jewelry. If you become interested to industrial piercing, you can definitely have this kind of piercing- you can get one or more piercing in your ear or ears, according to your choice. Before having this kind of piercing, you should properly learn the ins and outs of it- like you should properly know about the risks, healing and aftercare, precautions and so on. Besides, it is wise to choose a good jewelry for your piercing as well.

Industrial piercing is a simple type of piercing to perform- there are no severe dangers of industrial piercing like tongue piercing. You need not be afraid of being the victim of any severe injury from it. You may overhear a rumor that if the piercing is not properly done, you may become blind- it is nothing but a myth. So, in order to have industrial piercing, you need to take the general precautions that you need to take for the other kinds of piercing, no special precaution is needed.

About the healing process, industrial piercing generally takes six to twelve months to be completely healed.

Now, after making the final decision of having industrial piercing, at first you need to find out a good, skilled and experienced piercer at your locality. You can ask any friend or relative, who has had an industrial piercing recently or you can search for the newspaper or online- make a list of several parlors from these sources, and then find out the best one for you by considering several issues like experience of the piercer on industrial piercing, safety of the parlor, costing and so on. It is better to physically visit the parlors and ask the staff for your queries, see their records and feedback, inspect the sterilization process and other relative necessary things; you can even talk to the piercer directly.

After selecting the parlor that suits you best, go for your piercing and during piercing process be conscious about several issues like the piercer is cleaning everything properly - the tools, their hands and the part of your body that is going to be pierced. In case of this type of piercing, be sure about the angels of the holes that you like their positions before the piercer creates those.

After the holes are made, be sure to aftercare the wounds properly until they are completely healed. You should maintain the following issues-

• Never touch the wounds by yourself and do not let others to touch- bare hands can convey bacteria and can become the reason of infection

• During the healing process, especially for the first 2-3 weeks, you need to clean your piercing daily with an antibacterial soap.

• If you feel increased pain, notice increased redness and an enlargement of the thickness of the wound area- then it can be a bacterial infection. In such a condition you should consult with a good physician or with the piercer immediately and take next necessary steps according to their prescription.

• Never use chemicals like methylated spirit, hydrogen peroxide, Betadine, Chlorhexidine, tea tree oil, etc. to clean your wound. These will kill bacteria, but will also destroy your healing flesh. The weak flesh will be easily infected later.

• Be careful while playing or doing physical works so that the wounds do not get hurt and become worse. You can use a bandage to protect the wounds, but remember to remove it as soon as possible after the event is completed.

• It is better to use surgical tapes during sleeping in order to protect the wound from any accidental scratch.

• You should be careful if you go for a swim- swimming is not prohibited while the wounds are healing, but you should swim only for short period of time. You should not let your skin become winkled and soft. Yet, avoid swimming after heavy raining because overflow of storm water often contains parasites and/or bacteria.

• The jewelry can become tighten in either or both holes due to growth of skin. Do not be anxious if it happens- it is not dangerous or unusual, it can be happened in any sort of piercing. This problem can be resolved if the jewelry is moved about or rotated during daily washing, the fact is you have to understand the limit- do not rotate or move the jewelry excessively, it will rather delay your healing.

• Severe viral infections can be occurred if you become careless with your wounds. Viruses like Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV can penetrate into your wound until it is completely healed. These viruses are spread through saliva, blood, sweat, vaginal secretions and semen of infected people. So, until your wounds are completely healed, avoid the fluid of any individual’s body contacting your wound.

• Modern research of medical science has shown that zinc and vitamin C accelerate healing of any wound. Usually 2000-3000 mg vitamin C and 1oo mg zinc are needed daily for better result, but do not start to take it by yourself- consult with a good physician and then take those according to their suggestions. Consulting with a physician is very much important in the cases when you are taking any other medications because they can interact with each other and can have any negative effect in your body.

The next important issue is selecting a good jewelry that is made of a safe metal. Jewelry made of titanium and surgical steel are the best for using and especially until the wounds are completely healed. After the wounds are properly healed, you can use the jewelry made of gold or silver. Nonetheless, it is wise to consult with your physician before using a particular metal to be sure that you are not allergic to that metal. Besides, be certain to use the proper size of your industrial piercing jewelry.

The costing of getting industrial piercing is not too much to afford. It generally costs around $40-$90 USD.

These are almost all the necessary issues regarding industrial piercing. If you like to keep yourself up-to-date with latest fashion and find industrial piercing as an attractive trend, you can go for industrial piercing. This variety of body piercing is a new and modified one unlike other ancient varieties and being increasingly popular with time.