How long should you wait to gauge your cartilage piercings so you can put in an industrial?

Answer 1

Changing an Industrial Piercing

There are only a few things that I know about piercings, but some of them that I have experienced myself. Most piercings, it is recommended that you wait at least 3 weeks. Operative phrase is "AT LEAST". The Cartalidge takes on average 9 months to heal, and can take up to a year in a half to fully heal. That will be your indicator that you are safe to change the jewelry. You want the piercing to be fully healed to avoid irritations from Machine Oils, possible irritation from the threads from the new jewelry, or any similar situations. The best suggestion is to talk to the Professional Piercer that did the piercing and see what they recommend, since every shop is different.

Answer

Wait until it doesnt hurt at all. You should be able to move it back and forth and apply pressure without it hurting. Usually a few months. I had to wait 7 months.

Answer

Usually the recommended healing time with proper care is 1-2 months. Everyone heals different though. If you still feel pain when you move it up and down then changing it will cause irritation and make the healing process a lot longer. Wait until you can play around with it freely without any pain at all. I currently have 3. The first two took about 1 to a month in a half as far the 3rd on goes. I've had it roughly a little over a month and it still hasn't healed completely. Just make sure to take care of it the WA the piercer told you and the healing process shouldn't take took long.

B&TB

Answer

you should wait at least three months. the industrial usually takes three to nine months to heal. don't change it if it still bothers you, like pain wise. if you're still not sure call a piercing place and they'd be happy to change it for you.

Answer 2

You cannot stretch cartilage piercings. You would need to have it pierced at a 14 or 16 gauge and insert an industrial bar. you cannot wear an industrial bar in 2 existing piercing openings unless they are done at the proper angles to accommodate the bar.

Answer

I actually got my cartilage pierced about almost a year ago with a regular earring. I had been dying to get a 16guage due to cuter earrings to choose from. a regular earring is about an 20g-18g. Remember, the lower the number the bigger the gage. Well, I was with a friend of mine about 2 weeks ago and I told her I wanted a bigger hole/earring but the pain is in bearrible. We bought some earrings, had a few drinks, and she put a numbing cream on my cartilage earring called LMX (5%) You can get it at any CVS(a little expensive tho) and after it was numb, she took out my regular earring, and just put it very spoftly the other one. it went right thru. didnt feel a thing. I have now a small curved bar with two screw balls at the end. super cute. It got a little infected at first but didnt hurt, slept on it and everything, and i just put rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide everyday and now its awsome. :)

AnswerI turned two normal cartilage piercings into 14 gauge piercings, then put an industrial in. It look beautiful. Answerthis is not a answer. but can i still get it done with a barbell, without gauging it??? AnswerYou know I also want to say that you cant stretch your cartilage. And yes the barbell is an OK way to do it. If you don't like pain, stretch the ear out first, and then put the bar in. But as mentioned before, make sure they are at the appropriate angles. AnswerIt is very dangerous to gage a cartilage at the time of piercing because it can shatter the cartilage.

View from a professional body piercer.

Cartilage is a nonelastic tissue structure that will not stretch, it will tear when any large amount is force is applied to it. Now there are postings above saying this and that about stretching cartilage.

The bottom line is you may be able to go up one gauge from the size the cartilage was originally pierced at without it tearing, but you need to know that the body will not repair torn cartilage.

So if you choose to stretch your cartilage you need to know that once it's torn, "it's torn" and disfigurement of the tissue is permanent without a costly surgical repair. I am posting this so it is clear that this is how the body handles things, if you choose to go down a path you need to know the facts.