Types of ear piercings

Ear Piercings and their Healing Time

Ear piercings will never go out of style. Are you contemplating an ear piercing (or two) but have questions about the process, pain, and healing times? Perhaps you feel a little apprehension, which is totally normal. With a professional piercer, the right tools (always opt for a sterilized needle, not a piercing gun), quality jewelry, and diligent aftercare, there’s nothing to fear. Ear piercings are fun, and the best part is the process is quick! Most piercings take less than 5 minutes with minimal discomfort.     With so many options, it can be difficult to decide what to get pierced. Also, you might wonder how long ear piercings take to heal; well here we will discuss the healing time for all types of ear piercings.  We hope our ear piercing chart provides some guidance and inspiration to make your piercing journey a little easier and a lot of fun!    

Let’s delve into the ear piercing options and their healing times, to help you make an informed decision. 

  • Industrial piercing: Refers to two or more piercings using a single barbell. These piercings should be done at 90 degrees to the tissue, to avoid stress. Stress can cause scarring and migration. Two separate pieces of jewelry can be used during the healing process, if one piece of jewelry puts too much strain on either of the piercings. This piercing is also called a scaffold piercing.
    • Healing Time: 8-12 months
  • Forward helix piercing: This is made through or around the front rim edge of the ear. This piercing is sometimes done in multiples of 2 or 3. In this case, it's popular to wear jewelry that goes from small to large. Keep in mind this is harder to heal than a single forward helix.
    • Healing Time: 8-12 months
  • Daith Piercing: This piercing can be painful because of the cartilage thickness. It goes through the soft cartilage behind the hard innermost ridge above the ear canal.
    • Healing Time: 8-12 months
  • Tragus piercing: This piercing is on the triangular bump of cartilage in front of the ear canal. It sometimes makes a “popping” sound when pierced.
    • Healing Time: 8-12 months
  • Lobe Piercing and 2nd Lobe Piercing: Like all piercings, we highly recommend this to be done by a needle rather than a gun. This is due to issues with piercing gun malfunctions, blunt force trauma, contamination, and inappropriate jewelry used. It's popular and easy to stretch lobes once healed. They're often pierced at a higher gauge for those interested in stretching them.
    • Healing Time: 6-8 weeks

Remember to choose high-quality body jewelry and a clean, sanitize place to get pierced to prevent any infection or complication. Ok lets continue! 

  • Anti-Tragus Piercing: This piercing goes through the cartilage opposite of the tragus. It’s prone to swelling and is one of the most painful piercings.
    • Healing Time: 8-12 months
  • Conch Piercing: This piercing is made through the bowl shape of the ear. Conch piercings are "lower" or "upper" depending on where in the “shell” of the ear they sit.
    • Healing Time: 8-12 months
  • Orbital Piercing: Refers to two piercings through which a single ring is worn. Common orbital combinations include Conch + Lobe, Lobe + Lobe, Conch + Conch, Flat + Flat. These piercings should be done at 90 degrees to the tissue, to avoid stress. Stress can cause scarring and migration.
    • Healing Time: 8-12 months
  • Snug Piercing: This is a horizontal piercing of the anti-helix. It can be difficult to heal, especially if you sleep on your ear. This is one of the most painful piercings.
    • Healing Time: 8-12 months
  • Rook piercing: This is a piercing made vertically through the fold of cartilage just below the forward helix. Due to the placement, these piercings are difficult to clean.
    • Healing time: 8-12 months
  • Helix piercing: This is a piercing made through or around the upper edge of the ear. If the curl on the ear is large, going through the top of the curl and parallel to the side of the head may be more comfortable.
    • Healing Time: 8-12 months

It should be noted that not all piercings can be performed on everyone, due to anatomy. It’s always best to visit a BodyMods location and speak with one of our piercing professionals.  


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