I have always loved piercings! They look different on everyone who gets them, especially when people get a unique collage of different ones. I got my singles pierced when I was fourteen years old, and immediately fell in love with them. So far, I have gotten six piercings in total: both my singles, my cartilage, my Daith, my tragus, and my conch. While everyone’s experience with piercings, placements, and healing is different, I will be sharing my personal experience with each of my piercings.
Cartilage Piercing
(Photo courtesy of Body Piercing Magazine)
My cartilage piercing was the second piercing I ever got. Minors need an adult’s permission to get a piercing but my mom had told me no, no matter how many times I asked. So, I waited and I got it exactly on my eighteenth birthday. It hurt a considerable amount more than my singles did. However, it was worth the pain as it is still my most complimented piercing. It looks great as a simple edition to my singles but can still get blinged-up.
I’ve switched the small stud out to various small hoops, larger colored studs, and even wore earring backs that connected a chain from my cartilage piercing to the back of one of my singles. While it is one of my favorite piercings, it is also one people need to be careful with. Because of the placement on the ear, this piercing is prone to getting tangled in hair, getting hit by a brush, and becoming sore after sleeping on it. I have had multiple infections on this piercing alone and I have not even had it two years. Still, this is a beautiful, common piercing that I will recommend highly as a beginner piercing and looks very good on most people.
Daith Piercing
(Photo courtesy of Piercing Mania)
After I got my cartilage piercing, I thought I would be done getting piercings and upsetting my mother. However, when scrolling through Instagram’s explore page, I ran across the Daith piercing. I was immediately intrigued by this unique piercing. The jewelry I saw online was a gold tribal-like pattern and was beautiful. I also learned that it is supposed to help migraines. I personally have never experienced migraines, but I read through different sources that said either this claim is true or false.
Nonetheless, I went to the piercing parlor to get a Daith piercing of my own. Leading up to the piercing was terrifying, especially when I felt the clamp hold down the area of my ear about to be pierced. While the piercing did make a rather loud crunch (at least it was loud to me – it was basically inside my ear) the pain level was surprisingly low. I even asked the piercer if it had happened yet because I expected the pain to be much worse than it was. The jewelry I got was a silver ring with a purple ball in the middle. The jewelry was nothing like the ornate jewelry I saw on Instagram and I had to wait several months to change the jewelry to one more my style. Because of the placement, it is rare to get an infection as it does not come into contact with many things. On that note, it is also easy to sleep with as it won’t be pressed up against the pillow. Overall, the Daith piercing is a unique, hidden piercing that shows the wearer has thought outside of the box when it comes to jewelry.
Tragus Piercing
(Photo courtesy of AuthorityTattoo)
After I got my Daith piercing, I had three piercings on one ear, and one piercing on the other. It felt off-balanced and didn’t fit the aesthetic I was going for. So, after one of my friends showed off her new tragus piercing, I decided to get one as well. I went to the piercing parlor again and expected a similar pain to that of my cartilage piercing. However, the pain was a lot worse than the previous piercings’. One variable that added to the pain was the way it was pierced. The piercer put in the needle halfway into my tragus, paused to get a better view of the inside of my ear, adjusted my tragus, then finished the piercing, taking longer than I had expected.
The piercing got infected about a month after I got it, however infections in it have been rare since. The jewelry I had got wasn’t exactly what I wanted, so once the piercing was healed I decided to switch the jewelry. This was very difficult to do because of the placement, and I had to secure the earring back by putting it on with tweezers. Personally, I feel that few earrings look good in this piercing because the tragus is so small. Overall however, I do like this piercing, but it is one I have considered taking out.
Conch Piercing
(Photo courtesy of AuthorityTattoo)
The last piercing I got was a conch piercing. This allowed me to have an even number of piercings on each ear. I first saw the conch piercing on a picture of Debby Ryan who was rocking a snug gold hoop. I immediately wanted it too, so I went to get the piercing. I wasn’t nervous leading up to the piercing because my ears had already been poked by needles five times. However, I wasn’t prepared for the conch to be my most painful piercing. I felt slightly dizzy afterward, and while it did fade a bit, the pain lasted a little over two months. The jewelry I got was a thick silver ring that I have not been able to change yet due to the swelling. It has been about eight months since I got this piercing, and it is still painful and swollen. According to H2Ocean, “On an average, it takes about six months to a year for conch piercings to heal.” The piercing has not become infected yet, but it is prone to being exposed to germs due to its placement. It is difficult to sleep on, and if I had known about the healing process, I probably would not have gotten this piercing. However, it is inarguable that it can be a beautiful piercing on the right person with the right jewelry.