(If you are only in this thread to tell me not to get them because they’re ugly or you hate them or you think that all piercings and body modifications are mutiliations, please don’t.)
I have two piercings in each ear, in the “normal” place, and I have my nose pierced, so it’s not exactly like I’m unfamiliar with piercings. I’ve always been wary of cartilage piercings, though. The thing I have been told:
it hurts much more
it takes much longer to heal
the cartilage might shatter and then something terrible will happen
something something
I really do want them, though. Looking at myself in the mirror, there’s a place on my ears that juts out just a little which would look lovely with a little gold in them. I will go to the woman who did my tattoo if I do it; she was very competent and I liked her a lot.
I used to have them (I had to take them out for an MRI and never put them back in.) They don’t really hurt so bad, although they do take a while to fully heal. The one issue I had is that they’re prone to scarring.
I’m a guy. I have my tragus pierced as well as piercings up on my ear cartilage. I didn’t recognize any “extra” pain. (my nipple piercing was another story)
Go to a good piercer, using word of mouth. Follow their advice for after care. Piece of cake!!!
This was going to be my main advice. Professional piercer over a Claire’s Boutique type place that uses a gun. The piercer’s needles are designed to essentially slice through, which makes healing easier. They may even use a dermal punch that actually removes a small hole of skin and cartilage, which reduces the chances of developing keloid scarring from pressure of the cartilage still existing. Either needle or punch will make it unlikely the cartilage will “shatter,” unlike the guns used by lesser places.
Healing actually doesn’t take too much longer than a normal piercing, though you’ll probably not want to sleep with the side of your head on a pillow for a while. Your piercer will give you cleaning advice (and probably a little bottle of benzalkonium chloride); whatever you do, don’t rotate the piercing in the hole while it’s healing unless it’s been soaked and softened up. That hurts.
I didn’t think mine hurt more than my lobe piercing (and no where nearly as bad as my tongue piercing). Shame I don’t have them anymore… (and they closed up nicely when I did remove them, if that’s a concern).
Yeah, done by a real piercer, it’s not a big deal. I’ve had five cartilage piercings, and they did take a little longer to heal. Not unreasonably long, but I think it’s partly to do with sleeping. I did find them to cause a little soreness if I slept too directly on them, between my head and the pillow. I cleaned them in the shower during healing, they always rotated nicely after I washed my hair. Mine were all little hoops, called captive bead rings.
Ok, all sound advice! I am going this Friday, then. And yes, she is a professional - I don’t want to go to a Claire’s and get the gun either. I had my nose pierced by a gun (long story!) and it took eons to heal right. No scarring though; I can still remove my nose ring and you can barely see the hole. It did HURT like a mother, but they didn’t even numb the area a little, unlike my earrings which my mom (a nurse) pierced with a needle.
I had my cartilage (top of right ear) pierced by a gun as a old teenager. (I did it when I was what? 19? Something like that.) Yeah, totally not ideal, but I wanted one and I guess I wanted it right then.
I generally wore one of those gold neverending hoop type things - you know, the ones where the bit that goes through your ear slides into the cylinder of the earring? Yeah, those. Probably due to the gun (and maybe the curvature of the earring), my piercing always seemed to have a little bit of a bump on top. I was pretty scrupulous about keeping it clean, but it did flare up every now and again (again, probably due to the gun) and be sore for a bit. I eventually took it out - maybe three years later? - and it’s all closed up and healed over now.
I really liked it, when I had it (and it wasn’t hurting). I do recommend a hoop as soon as you can get one - the few times I had a stud in there, I was far more liable to get hair or crud wrapped around the back quickly, which generally sucked. Just my experience, but something I didn’t think of at all until it happened. The shop did advice me not to get the piercing in my right ear - if you’re right handed, apparently you hold the phone to that ear more, and it can hurt while it’s healing - but I insisted. So that might be something to think about.
I’ve often thought about seeing a piercer again and having it done right…maybe I’ll have to revisit that.
I’ve often thought about having them redone but I suppose they probably couldn’t use exactly the same spot. I liked the captive bead ring a lot better than the barbells. (I used to have two helixes and one rook. The rook always got a lot of attention.)
I prefer hoops, too. I hate studs, I think they are stupid and guaranteed to infect when new. The first thing in my nose was a stud, and when I changed it to a hoop, it healed much faster. Now I wear a stud in it, or actually, a stud with a corkscrew shaped back. (There are normal studs for the nose. I have no idea how people twist the backs on. I can get a finger in there, barely, but I certainly don’t have the manual dexterity to twist it on.)
At her request, I pierced my former roommate/f-buddy’s ear cartilage many years ago, with a standard piercing stud. After a couple shots of tequila (for her, 1 for me) and numbing it with an ice cube, I poked it through. She said it hurt like a mother. It was a little unsettling for me too- it was tough to pierce. But as far as I know, she still has it.
The benefit of going to an experienced piercer and paying for their service, is getting someone trained for the task. A good piercer has done thousands of piercings and knows how to do it as painlessly as possible. If the OP were local to me, I would refer her to my guy in a heartbeat. He’s pierced me several times, and it’s never been painful. He gives you focus on your breathing, a spot to look at, uses purposeful movements, and it’s done before you know he’s doing it.
I had my tragus pierced, and the advice about a good piercer is correct - you want a decent gauge piercing, done using equipment which can be fully sterilised (a gun is a complete no no).
The other thing to be aware of is that cartilage is kind of honeycomby - which means there is likely to be more blood. I burst the clot on my tragus an hour or so later and had blood streaming down my neck - looked frightening but wasn’t that serious. Just go easy and expect a little more bleeding than you might think.
I liked my tattoo artist a lot, which is why I’m going back to her. A lot of tattoo parlors around here have this attitude of “If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” Some of them have “no whining” signs on the door, and mean bitchy commentary. Whenever I went in there I didn’t feel comfortable.
This woman was a wonderfully simple, nice girl, who warned me about what kind of pain it would be, and how much it would hurt. I was pleased to find it didn’t hurt anywhere near as much as I was afraid it would, and the tattoo itself was quick.
So of course I want to give her my business again!
I had my cartilage at the top of my ear pierced 15? or so years ago, and it was miserable. I went to the kiosk place in the mall, I forget the name. It hurt like a mother, got infected and there is a big lump of a scar. It was a slap year before it quit hurting.
I talked to the piercer who did my daughter’s nose at a tattoo/piercing place a few months ago, and he told me pretty much what everyone has said above. I wish I’d known all than then! My daughter’s nose piercing didn’t hurt her a bit (she says).
I was thinking of getting another one in my ear somewhere (since apparently five isn’t enough) and thought the tragus seemed funky and fun. I haven’t decided yet if I’m too much of an old lady or not to do it.
I had my upper ear cartilage pierced a good 12 years ago. I had originally had it done via some Claire’s-like place via gun during my late teens, and it never healed, got infected, and formed a keyloid. I took it out after giving up on it and it healed shut very quickly. I then went to a professional piercing place and had zero problems. She did recommend I use tea tree oil on it to encourage healing and discourage the growth of a keyloid–worked fine and all these years later, I don’t even notice it anymore.
I still want a second one. Oh, and I just turned 40.
When I got my tragus pierced my mother was furious - that I hadn’t told her as she was keen to get it done too. She did a year or so later, and she’s in her 60s.
