# Is piercing the top part of the ear more or less painful than.. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 16, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640 "2011-06-16T01:09:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/1 "2011-06-16T01:09:30Z")
Is piercing the top part of the ear more or less painful, or about the same, than the bottom, or lobe? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/2 "2011-06-16T01:45:38Z")
It’s cartilage so it is going to be way more painful. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/3 "2011-06-16T01:57:41Z")
Yep, with a piercing gun it’s kinda like a bee sting and lasts for a while. And you have to be careful answering the phone for a few days because you will notice if you answer on that ear. 😉 And it’s a lot more painful if you try to do it with a needle and a potato ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/4 "2011-06-16T02:09:03Z")
You definitely should be going to a real piercer for a cartilage piercing. Don’t even use the word “gun”. It does hurt more than just the lobes, but (to answer a common question when I used to still have my rook and helix piercings) there is no crunching sound. It isn’t at all bad. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/5 "2011-06-16T02:21:00Z")
Yes, yes it is. I did all my piercings myself (NOT recommended) with the old needle and, er, Jack Daniels, and while I never suffered any ill effects, I don’t recommend it. It’s gonna hurt either way, but not so much that it should deter you if it’s something you really want to have done. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/6 "2011-06-16T02:26:47Z")
Mine hurt less. I had it done professionally with a needle, while the lobes were done with a gun. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/7 "2011-06-16T02:39:52Z")
I don’t remember if the act of piercing hurt more (I did get it done with a gun, twice) but the healing was more painful because it was more painful to sleep on. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/8 "2011-06-16T03:09:24Z")
I’ve had both ears, cartilage on one, tongue and navel done. Cartilige was the wlest, then lobes. I barely felt the tongue or navel. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/9 "2011-06-16T03:30:35Z")
Extremely painful. I got my upper ear pierced in college and it took near to a year to heal. My earlobes, on the other hand, I got pierced when I was eleven. The actual piercing was barely painful at all and they healed quickly. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/10 "2011-06-16T03:45:17Z")
Get it done with a needle at a real piercer’s. It’ll hurt less and heal faster. I had all four holes in the lobe done with a gun. They were fine, but my own impatience made the healing process worse. Having a real piercer do the cartilage with a needle hurt less, since he did it properly and quickly. The gun’s explosive force doesn’t do the cartilage in your ears any favours, and the blunt force of the earring is not fun. Or so I hear. Anyway, a reputable piercer is the way to go for all piercings. A disposable needle is easier to endure (and safer) than a gun in just about every circumstance. It’ll hurt, but less than it would with a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/11 "2011-06-16T03:55:21Z")
The only piercing I’ve had done was my cartridge. Done with one of those cheapo kits you could get at Walgreens for $6.99. My friend did it for me, it didn’t break the back and she had to push it the rest of the way through by hand. It really wasn’t that bad. What _was_ bad was three days later when I decided to, on my own, push a 14g hoop through the hole. It took me about 45 minutes, but I did eventually get it in. And like others said, cartridge does take a long time to heal. It was several months before I could accidentally touch it and not wince in pain and about a year before I sleep on it. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/12 "2011-06-16T04:00:23Z")
Cartilage is more prone to infection than the lobe, so keep it well cleaned ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/13 "2011-06-16T04:15:32Z")
Go to a real piercer. The piercing itself, in my experience of having had 6 holes in each ear at one point in time, is no more painful than the lobe. The healing is a different story. If you go to a real piercer and get a hoop put in, it will heal better and faster, plus it looks good. If you go to a crap place that does the gun, you’ll get a stupid post with a backing. Those always look dumb on cartilage because other people can see the backing, plus your hair can get caught in it more easily. Backing style posts look OK on the lobe because usually the backing is between your head and lobe and is not easily seen. A hoop can be soaped and rotated through the piercing, leading to a cleaner heal and a faster heal. Still expect anywhere from 2-6 months healing time. Everyone’s different. I took my cartilage piercings out after a few years. The way I sleep, the rings would cause soreness if I slept with my head on the pillow the wrong way. Since I couldn’t stop myself from shifting in my sleep and got tired of waking up with sore ears and having to change position in the middle of the night, I removed the jewelry and they healed over. I still have a tongue barbell and two hoops in my left nostril, though. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/14 "2011-06-16T04:19:02Z")
Some years ago there was an ask-the-doctor show on the radio warning strongly against piercing of cartilage because if it got infected, it would never ever heal. And I remember walking by some pierce-a-torium in the mall with a hand-lettered sign in the window: “we now pierce cardelege”. (((shudder))) ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/15 "2011-06-16T05:38:17Z")
Also echoing the “go to a pro” for that kind of piercing. I got my helix a couple years ago while in Canada and it healed up nicely, just a little bit of pain and a lot of bleeding. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/16 "2011-06-17T02:48:03Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > And it’s a lot more painful if you try to do it with a needle and a potato Or in a Denny’s. :eek: Hurt like hell, but once it healed, never a moment’s trouble in over 27 years! Wow- I can’t believe I just typed that… 27 years… _Damn_… ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/17 "2011-06-17T03:15:13Z")
Upper ear was painful for me. I let it heal. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/18 "2011-06-17T14:38:34Z")
I had the actual piercing done with a needle and it didn’t hurt at all. But… > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > the healing was more painful because it was more painful to sleep on. This. Also, it was very sensitive to cold for quite some time. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-piercing-the-top-part-of-the-ear-more-or-less-painful-than/585640/19 "2011-06-17T16:42:12Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Some years ago there was an ask-the-doctor show on the radio warning strongly against piercing of cartilage because if it got infected, it would never ever heal. And I remember walking by some pierce-a-torium in the mall with a hand-lettered sign in the window: “we now pierce cardelege”. (((shudder))) Not true. Mine got infected, so I took it out. It healed up just fine.