WHAT IS AN INDUSTRIAL PIERCING?

Industrial piercings are a combination of inner ear or ear cartilage piercings connected by an individual piece of jewellery, usually a barbell.  There are numerous options for these piercings, depending on the individual client’s taste, the most common of which being a barbell crossing the ear rim itself from an upper helix piercing to an outer helix piercing. 

There are however many other options including, but not limited to an upper helix to conch, upper helix to rook, tragus to conch and even a three point connecting the upper helix to rook to conch.  The usual thickness of the jewellery for these piercings is the 1.6mm or 14 gauge with the length of the barbell used varying from person to person based on the size and shape of the ear.  Industrial piercings can be done in two ways, the first being done with a long barbell immediately getting the desired effect of connecting the piercings, albeit with a bit of extra length to compensate for swelling and ease of cleaning.

The second option is doing individual piercings with much smaller barbells, giving them several months of initial healing and then after two to three months, changing the jewellery to a perfectly sized and shaped barbell.  Healing time of industrial piercings can vary drastically from person to person, taking anywhere from two to twelve months, with an average overall healing time of four to six months.  The aftercare for this piercing is relatively simple, using a solution of  one half teaspoon of sea salt in a coffee cup of hot water and soaking the piercing for approximately five minutes once in the morning and once in the evening, and then rinsing with warm water afterwards.  A saline piercing aftercare solution can also be used in place of this, applied to a cotton bud, giving special care to clean the jewellery as well as the piercing.  In addition to this, anytime you shower at the end of the shower let hot water thoroughly rinse the piercing for several minutes to wash off any products such as soap, shampoo etc.  As with any piercing it is important to never touch the piercing unless you are cleaning it and be sure to wash your hands before the cleaning process.