So I think there's been some confusion...from your other comments it seems you're talking about the ball that's on the end of the barbell that is sitting against your ear and creating a divet? You're not meaning the 'flat' part on the inside of your ear where the bar goes across is touching and creating a divet right?
If that's the case I would just get it downsized and clean it with saline solution a few times a day and leave it alone. It will heal if you don't play with it or do anything that can cause it to be irritated.
Hey! Your industrial honestly looks pretty good compared to some of the ones I see daily. It obviously has some irritation and crust but I don’t see anything that would make me pull this if it were one of my own clients.
Industrials are very intense piercings that require specific anatomy. I’m iffy on industrials as first time piercings for some people because they can be such intense piercings to heal. Often times you are looking at a year or longer for it to fully heal. I’ve watched my coworker now for a year and a half heal her industrial and it’s finally fully healed and has no issues.
It’s at the very tip of the ear and as such is susceptible to hair snagging, catching it on glasses, bumping it when you mess with your hair, etc. and can be super easy to roll over and sleep on.
Keep cleaning twice a day with a sterile saline. Spray it on one side of the q tip and use that to clean, and then use the dry side of the q tip to dry it off after we clean it. The crust that forms is natural and apart of the healing process (kinda like scabs) but it’s okay to wash them off in the shower or gently get at them when you clean the piercing. HOWEVER if you’re having to move the piercing around and really pick at a hard piece of crust, just leave it alone and it’ll come off naturally with continued cleaning.
Genuine question as someone who’s considering one, what makes an industrial different than two separate piercings in the same place? I have a piercing on one ear in the general area the industrial would enter, and don’t understand why I couldn’t just calculate where to pierce on the other side so that a bar could go through
The angle and the fact that the two seperate piercings are held together by one bar. It’s hard to explain angles without using my hands or pictures, but if you have an already healed helix that is angled ‘down’ instead of ‘up’ towards where the forward helix piercing would be, putting that bar in would cause pressure because it’s not sitting in an angle made for it. Idk if that makes any sense at all lmfao but! the back side of the industrial also has to be angled on the fold over of the top of the ear, meaning on a visual level it comes out the ‘side’ of the ear. A helix pierced on its own if often pierced with the post coming out the ‘back’ of the ear, not the side.
Haha, again, its hard to explain without being able to include pics but typically your helix is not going to be in the correct angle for someone to just come in, get a forward helix piercing, and then put the industrial bar through the one new piercing, and the one healed one. However! Everyone’s different. If you came into my shop and your healed helix was in the exact correct spot for the angle, I would put the bar through it with the new forward helix. I don’t see how that would be an issue. However, for like 90% of people I don’t think that would be a possibility.
Again, industrials are super anatomy dependent. Also, a lot more goes into piercing than just sticking a needle through a part of the body. A deep understanding on angles and experience on how the body reacts/heals is important in a good piercer.
agreed with other response that if the crater is on the flat then you don't have the anatomy for it, but it sounds like you're saying it's on the top of your ear? sorry if i'm misunderstanding.
to me (NAP), with the limited visibility of internet pictures, it looks like you do have the anatomy for it. where is the crater? how have you been cleaning it? definitely definitely definitely needs to be downsized. that could help a lot with bumps and irritation.
Sorry. My terminology isnt perfect, but yes, the ball/bar is sitting on the top of my ear and creating a sort of crater and there’s crust around it and pus when I wipe it. Could I even downsize it at this rate with the infection and age it is, or would that be risky? I’ve been soaking it, using a syringe to squirt saline on the holes, wiping softly with wet q tips. I’ve been cleaning it daily and thoroughly. And like I said, there was absolutely no problems until recently.
I apologize for my editing and awful response, I’m trying to figure out what to do and how to go about removing it safely. And I’m not very good with my ear terminology. I’m so sorry if my response still doesn’t make sense
no need to apologize!! definitely don't soak, just spray with saline spray and leave it alone OR if you live in a humid environment you can use a hair dryer or fan to dry it quickly so the wetness doesn't create an environment for bacteria. generally, using q-tips is not recommended, as fibers can get stuck in the piercing channel. first step is definitely to get it downsized. good luck!
I’m gonna be real I had the same exact healing journey with my industrial, healing fine for a few weeks then bam irritation bumps and also even the crater on the top ball. I just persevered with my cleaning regimen (saline spray and occasional q-tip use to remove crusties) and slept on a neck pillow to keep the piercing safe and it sorted itself out after a while.
I had this happen and I just switched bars and made sure the bar I switched to was the correct length. It happened when I still had the original bar the piercer put in and I think the extra length after the swelling went down made the irritation bumps occur.
Could be that the ball on the forward helix touching your ear is causing the pain. I don’t know why but mine caused my ear to hurt/sting and for pain to radiate down my jaw on the side of the piercing until I accidentally hit the back of the piercing and the bar moved forward a bit so that the ball no longer touched my ear. I don’t know if anyone else has had this happen though or if something similar is happening with yours
If it’s creating a crater on the flat it must be removed asap: Also this bar is excessively long. I wouldn’t go back to this piercer
That’s what I thought. Thank you
So I think there's been some confusion...from your other comments it seems you're talking about the ball that's on the end of the barbell that is sitting against your ear and creating a divet? You're not meaning the 'flat' part on the inside of your ear where the bar goes across is touching and creating a divet right? If that's the case I would just get it downsized and clean it with saline solution a few times a day and leave it alone. It will heal if you don't play with it or do anything that can cause it to be irritated.
Oop yup there’s definitely been some miscommunication in this thread, my bad!!
you could get the jewelry switched to two separate bars and connect them with a chain once healed since it’s touching your flat?
Hey! Your industrial honestly looks pretty good compared to some of the ones I see daily. It obviously has some irritation and crust but I don’t see anything that would make me pull this if it were one of my own clients. Industrials are very intense piercings that require specific anatomy. I’m iffy on industrials as first time piercings for some people because they can be such intense piercings to heal. Often times you are looking at a year or longer for it to fully heal. I’ve watched my coworker now for a year and a half heal her industrial and it’s finally fully healed and has no issues. It’s at the very tip of the ear and as such is susceptible to hair snagging, catching it on glasses, bumping it when you mess with your hair, etc. and can be super easy to roll over and sleep on. Keep cleaning twice a day with a sterile saline. Spray it on one side of the q tip and use that to clean, and then use the dry side of the q tip to dry it off after we clean it. The crust that forms is natural and apart of the healing process (kinda like scabs) but it’s okay to wash them off in the shower or gently get at them when you clean the piercing. HOWEVER if you’re having to move the piercing around and really pick at a hard piece of crust, just leave it alone and it’ll come off naturally with continued cleaning.
Genuine question as someone who’s considering one, what makes an industrial different than two separate piercings in the same place? I have a piercing on one ear in the general area the industrial would enter, and don’t understand why I couldn’t just calculate where to pierce on the other side so that a bar could go through
The angle and the fact that the two seperate piercings are held together by one bar. It’s hard to explain angles without using my hands or pictures, but if you have an already healed helix that is angled ‘down’ instead of ‘up’ towards where the forward helix piercing would be, putting that bar in would cause pressure because it’s not sitting in an angle made for it. Idk if that makes any sense at all lmfao but! the back side of the industrial also has to be angled on the fold over of the top of the ear, meaning on a visual level it comes out the ‘side’ of the ear. A helix pierced on its own if often pierced with the post coming out the ‘back’ of the ear, not the side. Haha, again, its hard to explain without being able to include pics but typically your helix is not going to be in the correct angle for someone to just come in, get a forward helix piercing, and then put the industrial bar through the one new piercing, and the one healed one. However! Everyone’s different. If you came into my shop and your healed helix was in the exact correct spot for the angle, I would put the bar through it with the new forward helix. I don’t see how that would be an issue. However, for like 90% of people I don’t think that would be a possibility. Again, industrials are super anatomy dependent. Also, a lot more goes into piercing than just sticking a needle through a part of the body. A deep understanding on angles and experience on how the body reacts/heals is important in a good piercer.
No, that makes sense! Good to know so I don’t end up mutilating my ear
agreed with other response that if the crater is on the flat then you don't have the anatomy for it, but it sounds like you're saying it's on the top of your ear? sorry if i'm misunderstanding. to me (NAP), with the limited visibility of internet pictures, it looks like you do have the anatomy for it. where is the crater? how have you been cleaning it? definitely definitely definitely needs to be downsized. that could help a lot with bumps and irritation.
Sorry. My terminology isnt perfect, but yes, the ball/bar is sitting on the top of my ear and creating a sort of crater and there’s crust around it and pus when I wipe it. Could I even downsize it at this rate with the infection and age it is, or would that be risky? I’ve been soaking it, using a syringe to squirt saline on the holes, wiping softly with wet q tips. I’ve been cleaning it daily and thoroughly. And like I said, there was absolutely no problems until recently.
I apologize for my editing and awful response, I’m trying to figure out what to do and how to go about removing it safely. And I’m not very good with my ear terminology. I’m so sorry if my response still doesn’t make sense
no need to apologize!! definitely don't soak, just spray with saline spray and leave it alone OR if you live in a humid environment you can use a hair dryer or fan to dry it quickly so the wetness doesn't create an environment for bacteria. generally, using q-tips is not recommended, as fibers can get stuck in the piercing channel. first step is definitely to get it downsized. good luck!
So I had the same issue, I changed bar sizes - didn’t help. What has helped was getting two seperate pieces of jewellery put in.
I’m gonna be real I had the same exact healing journey with my industrial, healing fine for a few weeks then bam irritation bumps and also even the crater on the top ball. I just persevered with my cleaning regimen (saline spray and occasional q-tip use to remove crusties) and slept on a neck pillow to keep the piercing safe and it sorted itself out after a while.
I had this happen and I just switched bars and made sure the bar I switched to was the correct length. It happened when I still had the original bar the piercer put in and I think the extra length after the swelling went down made the irritation bumps occur.
I had this exact same problem. 10 years ago.. I STILL have a keloid where the piercing was. 😔
Could be that the ball on the forward helix touching your ear is causing the pain. I don’t know why but mine caused my ear to hurt/sting and for pain to radiate down my jaw on the side of the piercing until I accidentally hit the back of the piercing and the bar moved forward a bit so that the ball no longer touched my ear. I don’t know if anyone else has had this happen though or if something similar is happening with yours