OT: Piercing retainers?!

[Nissan]

SDN is my favorite studying break.. That and shopping online. Which is a bad habit.

Anyway. XD TrocarKarin, maybe you can answer this 😀...

In a fit of madness (glory?), I went and got myself an industrial (scaffold for UK people) piercing and a conch piercing around mid January.

Unfortunately, while I think that none of the faculty here cares about what I do to my ears (or face, or skin, for as long as it doesn't get caught on an animal or offends anyone's race, creed, sexual orientation, etc.), I'm applying for jobs/internships/whatever over the summer, which means in-person interviews (some are in hospitals in very conservative parts of town). Oh, and apparently I'm supposed to be professional and presentable... some kind of nonsense about having to look like a doctor or something. Silly technicalities 😀

So here's my idea: summer is way too soon to be taking out my industrial and conch, so I was going to just use a clear retainer.

And here's the subsequent problem: It's fine for my conch, but I'm having a hard time finding a retainer for the industrial. My current industrial is 16 gauge, but most retainers are 14... and I'm not exactly liking the idea of buying 2 shorter retainers because I don't want the thing to heal misaligned without the bar.

Siiiigh. I have no regrets other than not being aware enough to ask for a 14 G piercing right off the bat.

Is there a place I can get a 16 G straight bar industrial retainer? Are there better alternatives? I don't want to have to resort to "stretching" my cartilage to 14G. Is that even possible?

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[twelvetigers]

Whyyyy are you not asking Karin? You have her at your disposal! Lol.

 

[Nissan]

Whyyyy are you not asking Karin? You have her at your disposal! Lol.

Because I'm a lazy bum at home hahaha. I rarely bump into other people during exam week. And when I do, we're all incoherent zombies. ...Come to think of it, I've seen her all of 3 seconds, once, by accident after our first VBS exam. And at that time, I was thinking of food and sleep and maybe using the bathroom, not about my ear problems 🙁.

 

[168135]

Will something like this work?

http://www.bodyartforms.com/productdetails.asp?jewelry=barbell&dwzPage=3&ProductID=3885&index=1

I would be worried about using PTFE in a piercing that isn't healed though... I think that the plastic is better at harboring bacteria than other materials. Also, changing it might set your healing time back. The nice thing about it though is that you can cut it into any size.

Also, if this is the same product I bought a couple years ago, it's flexible... but no where near as flexible as the picture is making it look.

Have a look around that site anyway. It's rad.

Also, talk to your piercer. One of mine let me look through a HUGE catalog and place a jewelery order. Their supplier might have something.

 

[Bearby]

How was getting the conch piercing? I've thought about getting it but I can't convince myself...I mean it's not like I've never done anything that hurts before. I got a microdermal on my chest a couple of years ago. Anyway, maybe you can swing me towards getting it

 

[Packen]

For my industrial I took it out for a job and used two short barbells (looked more traditional) in its place. It was about 6 months after having the piercing done and I had no issues with it becoming misaligned. As for stretching, I am not sure you will be able to do that like you would for soft tissue. It would probably be more like having to repierce it versus stretching.

 

[Nissan]

Will something like this work?

http://www.bodyartforms.com/productdetails.asp?jewelry=barbell&dwzPage=3&ProductID=3885&index=1

I actually saw that as suggested by someone else on another site. Unfortunately, I don't think they're the right length to connect the two holes of my industrial 🙁. And the one that is the right length is a 14G instead of the 16G I need. Bahhh.

@Bearby: I don't know if I have a high tolerance for pain or effed up nerves, but I didn't really feel the conch when they were doing it. I only felt 1 hole for the industrial, granted, that was with a smaller gauge.

...So what I'm saying is, don't trust me when I say it doesn't hurt... but getting bitten by a cat hurt infinitely more.

And I love my conch. I'm gonna have my other ear done after exams hopefully. Comparatively, my industrial was more of a hassle, what with all the bleeding during inopportune moments (as in, having to leave a suturing lab because I was dripping on stuff without realizing it. One of the course leaders thought I had sutured myself XD). I'm also stubborn and accidentally slept on the pierced ear for almost every single night since I've gotten them. Not once did the conch give me problems 🙂.

@Packen: Yeah, so I've been thinking. Others have been telling me that it's possible to stretch cartilage (contrary to what I've been thinking), but I'm afraid of the hypertrophic scarring / keloid / nastiness formation that could happen if it were even possible.

 

[EllieGirl89]

@Packen: Yeah, so I've been thinking. Others have been telling me that it's possible to stretch cartilage (contrary to what I've been thinking), but I'm afraid of the hypertrophic scarring / keloid / nastiness formation that could happen if it were even possible.

It's possible. My girlfriend had her cartilage pierced with a 22G (the normal size you'd get to have your earlob pierced at, say, the mall) and guaged it up to a 14. A 16 to a 14 shouldn't be that bad. I know I can put 16Gs in my earlobe piercings (that were done with a 22) if I want. It burns a little and they're totally healed so I don't know what kind of difference that makes, but it is possible.

Anyway, I think it's crazy how different peoples' pain tolerances are. For instance, I didn't feel my cartilage piercing at ALL. Seriously, not even a pinch, nothing. Now my navel piercing, that was HELL. Hated it. I love the piercing and the way it looks, but if it closed, I would never ever do it again. However, most all of my friends who have had it done say they didn't feel it. So who knows. I think the experience is different for everybody, but the best part is it's just painful for a second and then it looks cool for a really long time =)

 

[Nissan]

It's possible. My girlfriend had her cartilage pierced with a 22G (the normal size you'd get to have your earlob pierced at, say, the mall) and guaged it up to a 14. A 16 to a 14 shouldn't be that bad. I know I can put 16Gs in my earlobe piercings (that were done with a 22) if I want. It burns a little and they're totally healed so I don't know what kind of difference that makes, but it is possible.

I think if I were to stretch cartilage, the waiting game would be a problem because it's supposed to be fully healed before I gauge up 🙁. Bah! Also, lobes are easier to stretch because no cartilage there.

 

[TrocarKarin]

I found a company that doesn't make you put in a wholesale order!

http://www.maelstromstudiolab.com/i...al-Lengths-Included--16gbioplastbarbells.html

I accept girlscout cookies as a finder's fee.

 

[168135]

How was getting the conch piercing? I've thought about getting it but I can't convince myself...I mean it's not like I've never done anything that hurts before. I got a microdermal on my chest a couple of years ago. Anyway, maybe you can swing me towards getting it

Haha, if you asked this question on a piercing forum, you would get attacked with "Pain is different for everyone!"

I'm not one to talk... I had a vertical lobe (http://gallery.piercingmap.com/cach...lobe-piercing/vertical-lobe-piercing2_595.jpg) and the conch was much worse. Then again, this is the first piercing that I sat up for. Watching him prepare the supplies really didn't help. I didn't realize that I 14 gauge was that big... sure, I have 14 gauge piercings... and I stabbed cows with thicker needles... but I truly believe that seeing that needle really messed with my brain. Also, I got it pierced with a ring. When he used the pliers to force the ring closed, I could FEEL HIM SHAKING. If he had lost his concentration for a second, I'm quite sure he would have taken my entire ear off.

I was afraid to get a tragus... thicker cartilage.

Loooovvvveee my conch though.

 

[Ehkehfemal]

Yay! Someone else who likes piercings! I have a nose ring, a rook, an industrial, and three lobe piercings on each side. In the past I've had to take my industrial out for things like band, and I would just get two clear retainers (for whatever). I know a lot of piercers like to pierce the industrial separately and then put the bar in once it's healed because it's such a brat of a piercing, so when I take mine out that's what I do. I've had it for six years and I haven't really had a problem with it FOR THIS REASON. But everything else that could have gone wrong? Yeah. it's a pain in the butt. So good luck!

To be really honest though, when I can get away with it, I just wear my hair down and no one notices. I think if you put a clear industrial in it it may just draw more attention to it as people try to figure out what's going on.

 

[Bigcatlover]

Maybe a stupid suggestion, but I just wore my hair down for my interview so my ears wouldn't show.....

lol, just realized someone else said this already ;P

 

[BClove21]

I just have my conch and my tragus pierced and they were two different pains but neither bad. The tragus was more like a needle piercing feeling and it was over as soon as it started and then no more pain ever again...literally ever, even when sleeping. My conch on the other hand, didn't hurt getting it done, but it felt like someone hit me in the ear the rest of the night and I couldnt sleep on it for at least a month and it acted up for a while after that and if I have a funny pillow (like my bf's 🙁) it can be a little achy when I wake up. That being said, my conch is by far my favorite piercing ever and I get so many complements on it, even from people who say they don't like piercings but love that one.

I have short hair so that you can definitely see my ears and I got into all the schools I interviewed for and a job with these ears.

I think people are beginning to be a little less intimidated by piercings these days.