General

I had one. I got it when I was 14 from a really reputable piercer in my city. It took 2 years to heal properly, and it messed up one of the veins in my ear. I took it out in my senior year of high school and I still have the holes. It's not a very pretty scar. Keeping it free from infection was easy because I had really short hair, so be sure to wear your hair up all of the time. Mine did not heal completely for so long because I was unable to keep off it while I slept and always knocked it while getting dress, but also just the way my body is. Be sure to soak it in a saline solution because that helps a lot. Feel free to ask me any questions you have, this is all I can think of right now since its late and I feel so slow lol.

Edit: above told you to clean your piercing 2-3 times a day. please don't do that. please don't clean it anymore than twice a day handling it too much makes it difficult to heal. once is enough, really with one salt soak after that and another salt soak before bed.

Just warning you if anyone posts that video of a chick with a really bad infection on her industrial piercing dont let that scare you. It was just unfortunate for her that the parlor she went to had this bacteria thing or something and it got into her ear when she got her piercing.

Anyway the healing period is very long itself (6 months to 1 year) but that does not mean it will be painful during that whole time. It will hurt for the first 2 weeks (and since this is your first piercing it will probably be a month since youre not used to it).
During the healing process you can actually still lay down on the side you pierced it on just keep your head elevated to avoid your piercing touching things (i did this for all 5 of my cartilage; they all turned out fine).
Avidly clean your piercing 2-3 times a day for the first couple of months. Then you can reduce the cleaning to maybe 1-2 times a day then after maybe another month more just clean it occasionally.
My piercer gave me a bar of gold dial soap and it worked fine for me. But when i felt my piercings were irritated i soaked it in a sea salt solution (1/4tsp sea salt in 1c of water). If you sweat around your piercing be sure to rinse the area. When you clean gently rotate the bar to get the soap in the piercing. Dont move it back and forth because it can lead to blowouts.
Keep your hair away from your piercing. When combing be very careful. When i first got my piercings my friend combed my hair and she got my comb snagged in the earring and it hurt like a total beotch.

Honestly its pretty depressing when you get your piercings. Youre miserable and annoyed because it hurts. But just endure it and youll be fine.

[quote=BroaxD]I've had an industrial. It hurt but it healed normally. Took a week or two to heal and I used the stuff they sell there to clean it. Like u can get the ear piercing solution at Claire's too. I def couldn't sleep on the side the ear is pierced on. But I slept on my stomach, back or other side. It's super cute. I had to take mine out for surgery and within the next day one of the holes closed so I just left it out. Even tho I had the piercing for over a year cartilage just heals fast >.<[/quote]

don't use the stuff from Claire's and definitely don't get pierced at Claire's, especially a cartilage piercing. Use H2Ocean or another sea salt solution, or make your own, to clean any piercing. And a cartilage piercing should take much longer than 2 weeks to heal. It may [i]feel[/i] healed after only a couple weeks, but it's certainly not going to be fully healed by then. But you are right about the last part, for some people a piercing can close up in just a few hours, even cartilage.

I've had an industrial. It hurt but it healed normally. Took a week or two to heal and I used the stuff they sell there to clean it. Like u can get the ear piercing solution at Claire's too. I def couldn't sleep on the side the ear is pierced on. But I slept on my stomach, back or other side. It's super cute. I had to take mine out for surgery and within the next day one of the holes closed so I just left it out. Even tho I had the piercing for over a year cartilage just heals fast >.<

I haven't had an industrial, but I do have other piercings and can tell you that an industrial will be a lot more complicated to take care of and will for a fact take longer to heal than earlobes or a septum (both of which I have). This is because the industrial is pierced through cartilage. And you're getting two piercings at once. It seems (just based on observation) that they reject pretty easily and it also seems like this is mainly because the piercer is no good at it. So if you get it make sure your piercer has done it before and knows how to do it.

If you get it make sure to do sea salt soaks. And it's not only suggested that you don't sleep on that side, it's strongly recommended. You won't [i]want[/i] to sleep on that side, and any sort of complication or trauma to it from sleeping will only cause more problems and a longer healing time.

But if you're considering getting one I'd really recommend it! They're cool piercings, just a little high maintenance during healing (I would guess at least).

[quote=BadgerDontCare]I agree, however this will be my first piercing.[/quote]

then you will look ok

[quote=Zoneflare4]I think that too many piercing can make a girl look trashy and nasty </3[/quote]

I agree, however this will be my first piercing.

I think that too many piercing can make a girl look trashy and nasty </3