I don’t remember getting my first ear piercing. From what I was told, it was a sunny day like any other in Karachi, Pakistan. I was four years old when my family took me to get my ears pierced, as it’s a Southeast Asian tradition to get your child’s ear pierced at this age. Little did I know that that was the start of my life long, piercing journey.
For religious reasons, the photos of ear piercings throughout this article are not my own.
Lobes
My lobes were definitely my easiest piercing by far. I don’t have any recollection of my first lobe piercing but I do remember my second. I was 14 and I had been begging my mom for years to let me get a second piercing. Finally, she gave in.
I then went on to get my third lobe piercing when I was 16. They were all pierced with a gun, which I personally haven’t had a problem with. They weren’t too painful and didn’t have a very long healing time either.
Sara Marsetti’s Lobe Piercings (Her Campus/ Duaa Rizvi)
Cartilage/Helix
I got my first cartilage piercing on vacation when I was 16. I was in Pakistan visiting family when my cousins and I convinced our parents to let us get our cartilage pierced. We all piled up in a car that was way too small for everyone and drove to our jewellers. In Pakistan, getting your ears pierced at the jewellers is similar to getting it pierced at a kiosk in the mall, except more sterile and the gold is real.
I had this piercing done with a gun, which I don’t recommend. It hurt, though not as much as I thought it would. The actual piercing was just a pinch, but the real pain came during the healing process. The sore feeling can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to months. Personally, my first cartilage piercing hurt for a number of months, but when I got my second at 18, the pain was gone in a few weeks.
Katia Korkis’s Cartilidge Piercing (Her Campus/ Duaa Rizvi)
Nose
My nose piercing is definitely my favourite out of all my piercings. While visiting family in New York last summer, we were driving around Long Island when we drove past a tattoo shop called Tony’s Tattoos. I decided then and there that I was going to get my nose pierced. It was almost midnight and I was sitting in a chair in front of a shredded tattoo artist named Tony. Tony, who spoke in a thick Italian accent, told me not to worry and that it would be over in a second.
The actual nose piercing healed relatively quickly and the pain was as easy to manage as my earlobe piercing. However, over the next few weeks I formed a terrible keloid, or kind of scar, on my nose. Thankfully, with a little water mixed and some non-iodized salt, it was gone in days.
Duaa Rizvi’s Nose Piercing (Her Campus/ Duaa Rizvi)
Rook
My rook piercing was a little more painful than my cartilage. It wasn’t the pain of the actual needle piercing my ear that hurt, but instead the jewelry being put in. It was a curved bar being placed in an open wound was more painful than the piercing itself.
I’m also terrible at remembering to clean my piercings and didn’t clean this area for the first couple weeks. My rook became very swollen and it hurt considerably, but with the same saltwater solution I used on my nose, I was able to nurse my ear back to health.
Neha Ali’s Rook Piercing (Her Campus/ Duaa Rizvi)
Industrial
I think industrial piercings intimidate a lot of people because of how they look, but they’re really just two cartilage piercings connected by one rod. Getting my industrial piercing was a fairly similar process to my cartilage, but the needle went through both parts of my ear in one go, and then a barbell was put in afterward.
I was told to wash this area four times a day and to make sure they stay clean. The pain and healing process were super similar to regular cartilage piercings, though there was double cleaning. Healing time for this piercing can be anywhere from six months to a year, but personally, mine healed in about eight months.
Neha Ali’s Industrial Piercing (Her Campus/ Duaa Rizvi)
It’s been a journey to collect the piercings I have today. Much to my mother’s dismay, I do plan on getting more in the future. Piercings are one of my favourite forms of self-expression and I’m definitely not done exploring all the options.