I didn't go to the shop intending on getting an industrial piercing. I was just going to LeRoi with my friend to help her get new jewelry for her lip laret piercing. But, once I was at the shop I couldn't resist.

At first, I thought about getting a third eyebrow barbell – I have two currently and I've been wanting a third eyebrow barbell. I asked Pete, who is employed by LeRoi's and a piercer, how much an eyebrow piercing cost. Sixty dollars, he said. My initial reaction: ouch. That's twenty dollars more than an eyebrow piercing from Addiction Tattoos on St. Mark's Place. I didn't feel like spending the extra twenty bucks, though I knew the quality of LeRoi's was top notch and notably better quality than Addiction Tattoos being that LeRoi specializes in piercings.

After a few minutes of looking at the case of jewelry while my friend was being helped out with her selection, I was admiring all the cool ear piercings I saw.  So, I figured, why not get a cool ear piercing?

At first, I was only going to get one hole for a hoop on the back of my ear. I asked Pete how much it cost and I believe he said fifty dollars. I didn't feel like spending fifty dollars for one hole. I mean, it would be cool but it wasn't worth fifty dollars to me. I then asked how much an industrial piercing was, and he said seventy five dollars. By far, a more pricy piercing but the two holes were a bargain for seventy five compared to one hole for fifty. I thought about it. I had some money saved up and I wanted to spend it on a piercing. So, I bite the bullet and decided to get an industrial piercing done.

I told Pete I wanted an industrial piercing and he went to work and gave me paperwork. I did my job and he did his. He put the jewelry in the autoclave to clean it and I heard it clicking as it was working. He wore gloves and used a new set for every step of the way while setting up.

Once I finished the paper work, I was talking to my friend about the industrial piercing. My friend told me that she went with a buddy a while ago and they got their industrial pierced. When the needle went through the ear, there was an audible crunch. I was hoping I wouldn't hear my ear crunch.

A fear of hearing my ear crunch lingered in my mind when Pete asked me to sit in the piercing chair. I sat down and noticed that in the piercing room that there was a case of models of female and male genitals with various piercings on them. I thought, no matter how much this piercing hurt, it would not hurt as much as if I was getting my clitoris pierced.

Pete measured my ear and asked how I wanted the piercing to be placed. I wanted it at an angle to off-set my eyebrow piercings. He did a good job selection the placement of the jewelry and all was ready. I ready myself for the possible ear crunching and closed my eyes since I didn't want to see the needle.

It didn't take long. It HURT a bunch though. The needle went through fast for the first hole. No crunching. Needle went through fast for the second hole. No crunching. I was relieved by the lack of crunching but the trauma to my ear made me a little pale. Pete put in the jewelry and it hurt. My ear was throbbing but it was done.

I sat in the chair for sometime after the piercing was done to regain composure. I was fine after I had a glass of water. I went over to the mirror and checked out my new piercing. It looked awesome but was still hurting.

My ear kept hurting for a couple of days after the piercing. I couldn't lay on it. I was just in a lot of pain. I tried leaving my ear alone as much as I could. I cleaned it with anti-bacterial soap but I didn't dare try to do sea soaks to it. It was too tender.

After about a week, my ear was doing better though if my piercing got caught on my t-shirt in the morning while I was getting dressed it would still provoke profanity from the pain. It was healing well but just hurt a lot.

It took about two to three weeks before I was able to sleep on it. Now, the piercing is doing just fine and not hurting anymore. I think if I knew how much it would hurt after getting the industrial done I might not have done it in the first place.