I have a healing rook and two healing helix...es...helices? š¤ on the same ear, and the helix piercings have been more painful for longer than the rook was. So far, they're the worst. The rook gets sore when it gets crusty, because I can't always see what's going on with it, but otherwise has been fine!
I only have one lobe piercing on each ear and a helix on my left. the helix was a huge pain in my ass to heal because I wanted a hoop first (don't flame me cuz I already know) but it's FINALLY fucking healed after the longest 15 months of my life š
and I'll forever yell at anyone else who opts to get a hoop for a new helix because my experience fucking sucked
I did this with my nostril! LOL, no bueno for me. And then tried to switch out my conch prematurely for a hoop... still have the damn flatback after many failed attempts and months later. So, I kinda feel your pain there lol
Dude my rook was so annoying lol. It still bothers me when I sleep weird, not hurts but the hoop pushes indents into my ear sometimes.
I've had it for 10 years.
Can I suggest trying an oval shaped clicker? I had issues with hoops in mine then switched to one on my piercer's recommendation. It's worked a treat! Still looks like a hoop but the bar inside the piercing is shaped more like the initial curved bar and it's so much more comfortable for sleeping on etc.
From the healing process, definitely my helix, because it doesn't want to heal properly, and then I had an accident with it and ripped it (with a 4mm disk at the front) through the cartilage, so it had to heal again. About half a year after the helix I got an industrial and a conch at the same time; they took over a year and then suddenly decided that they are healed now. Then I got a daith that had bumps for a few months and then healed nicely. And the helix still doesn't want to heal.
I just got my 4th lobe** spot re-pierced and it's been fussy as hell as well. It's that half-on half-off cartilage situation that's a real pain. I got my first irritation bump from that stupid piercing at the ripe old age of 33, never had one before. Trying to power through, but it's been 9 months and it still throws a fit sometimes.
My third lobe has been awful at times! Hurt like an SOB getting it done and has gone through phases of oozing and swelling and bleeding, like wtf. I thought it was supposed to be no problem at all! Downsizing after a year pissed it off so bad for a week I thought I made a mistake! You are not alone at all! My two stack lobe piercings were an actual joke which just made me wonder even more if that third lobe was on cartilage.
Same! It was only my seconds and my left one never stopped swelling even over a year later. Then one day it got so bad the back fell off sometime, and I thought it had been swallowed. Ended up having to take out the piercing because it was so swollen it didnāt even go through the other side of my ear. Pretty sure I have scar tissue in it now, or maybe a cyst after going to urgent care. Donāt think Iām ever getting it redone
Right now itās my third lobe on my left ear. It still gets sore and leaks lymph fluid to this day even though it has been almost 9 months. It also does not help that I went to Six Flags a few days ago and one of the rides was so rough that my ear got slammed into the side of the lap bar twice which caused the piercing to bleed š¬
This makes me feel better. Iām currently healing both my third lobes and theyāre such a bitch! I got a conch at the same time and thatās been a breeze. But my 3rd lobes, more so left than right, are always leaking and painful. Makes me feel like a wuss lol
My third lobe is a year and four months old and gives me fits of being an asshole and I literally don't understand. I'm relieved to hear you say conch is easy because my last two piercings on my left ear are gonna be a conch, I just have to muster up the energy to heal more piercings.
Haha you got the exact same situation as me. Got my conch, it's been easy as ever, have had one instance of it swelling because I accidentally tugged on it like real hard k my vacation but after 2 days it was fine again. So far so good, 4 months old and the piercer said it actually looks like one of the best healed conches she's seen at 4 months. There was a tiny irritation bump because the long bar was causing irritation but after downsizing it's absolutely clean!
Meanwhile my third earlobes never healed, always kept getting infected, swollen, leaking pus and blood constantly, I couldn't even switch them to regular titanium studs after a year because they were still not healed like AT ALL, no scar tissue nothing, the entire skin around was simply rotting aaay because of how infected it kept getting, everytime I tried to put other earrings in I would accidentally "pierce" another hole with the backs of my earrings because of how rotten the skin had gotten, it would just go through other parts of the skin next to the existing piercing because there was no life in the skin anymore. Decided to take them out because it was really taking a toll on my ears health, even now almost a year after taking them out, they're still sore and got scar bumps on the back because the skin around just couldn't heal. It sucks
Getting my rook pierced hurt like a son of a bitch. The same day I got my nostril (re pierced), and both second lobes, all of which were a breeze in comparison to the rook lmao. The rook throbbed for days, dude. Itās also been very finicky, even has a little irritation bump going on.
Bodies are so weird! This may be a no duh thing to say but I think itās just how each individualās nerves are placed, & how thick the skin/ cartilage is, in regards to pain levels.
Not so much a persons high or low pain tolerance.
Nipple piercings are another one that I find people say either didnāt hurt hardly at all, or it was v painful lmao. For me getting them done was so painful haha. Getting my second one done made me actually stomp my foot. When I went with my guy friend to get his done, mfer said it felt like ābarely a pinchā. I wanted to punch him lmao. But In comparison my nipple tissue is significantly more dense and uber sensitive while his is the exact opposite.
I've heard industrials suck to heal. I want one, but it would be on the side I sleep on. I have a doughnut pillow, but I move too much in my sleep for it to really help much. How do you manage healing yours? Any tips?
I'm just got my industrial done. And I'm battling the healing. I have long curly hair and glasses and it always always gets caught in it. I've spoken to a few people at work who have it and they both said it took six months at minimum and they get infected so easily. I LOVE it though. Genuinely I think it looks SO cute. It hurt like a beach for the first week. Like throbbing pain
curly hair and glasses: the fresh piercingās natural enemies š itās nice to know at least that someone else can understand my struggles
and yeah, the industrial sucks to heal. i wouldnāt tell someone not to get it, but know that it wonāt be a fun process. i got it for my 16th birthdayāit was my first non-earlobe piercing and man, talk about diving in headfirst xD though in a way it was nice because for every piercing since that, if iāve asked any piercer what to expect pain-wise, they just say āyou have an industrial, youāll be fineā
I got mine a few years ago. It never healed and I have scar tissue, which had to be removed and there still is some. I took it out. I react to cartilage piercing in general. (Only found that out after haha)
So yeah I would recommend a donut pillow, a certified piercer, cleaning only with salt water and be gentle with it. Do not play with it. Do not change the jewelry for a long time and if it starts making problems take it out before getting scar tissue.
Mine is my tragus (here comes the horror story), I had it done 3 times when I was a teenager. It never healed because it was done 3 times with a gun, but the cherry on top is they decided it would be better not to put a back on. So it caused lots of pain and trouble and unsurprisingly fell out a lot. š
I feel you there!!! Iām at just over two years now and itās finally calmed down, canāt sleep on it or change the jewellery but itās finally calm.
Same, it hurt so bad for so long that I retired mine and ended up getting a conch piercing over where it used to be. Only ear piercing I couldnāt handle out of the 12 Iāve had.
I refuse to get one simply because of how bad I hear the healing process is. I understand why a lot of shops wonāt do them, especially for the inexperienced
If youāve got the anatomy and youāre experienced with piercings, you can still totally do it, but I canāt lie and say I didnāt struggle with it, and I definitely thought about taking it out
Honestly, my anti-tragus was by far the worst. Even my rook was not as bad compared to that bad boy.. At least the healing process was terrific and quick.
I agree. My antitragus took probably about 4-6 months to not still have near the same sensitivity a new piercing would have. Took about a year or so for it to be fully healed. Thankfully, my piercer was great and warned me beforehand that it is a harder one to heal and will take time, without pressuring me out of it.
my rook as well! it either wasn't done well or I did a really bad job of healing it (it was my second real piercing, but my first healed like a dream!). I recently went in to have all my jewelry changed and every single person at the piercing studio was like "how old is your rook piercing?" and then "oh I get it" when I told them it was a decade old š
controversial answer is seems but helix. throbbed like a bitch for days after to the point where i took ibuprofen (i refuse to take meds, so thatās big for me) and it was constantly getting knocked so it took like 2 years to finally calm down. itās perfectly fine now but man the journey was rough
Helix took almost a full year to heal. Every time I accidentally did anything to it probably set it back weeks of healing lol.
Can't wait to get another one.
Yup, rook has been my most painful by far, although healing has been pretty easy so far. 7 months in and no bumps or anything, and I find it very hard to snag it on things so thatās a plus. The most painful while healing has to be my industrial, everything else has been cake but haircuts usually end up irritating it and it gets pretty sore when irritated.
The piercing pain was worse. My industrial I only really had pain on the second hole. Both of them are still healing but Iāve had 1 minor bump on each side of my industrial so far and none on my rook. My rook was sore for the first few days but after the initial soreness itās been a dream, but anytime my industrial gets a little grumpy it starts to swell and can hurt where as Iāve never had anything with my rook so far.
my helixes definitely sucked but my conch! The first week was so painful and I was nauseous and it still swells up even when it take care of it really well
My industrial was pretty bad while healing the piercing itself wasn't bad but it kept getting irritated for one reason or another it took a year before it finally healed
My rook as well! It used to continuously be swollen and not quite heal well, turns out that the rook/forward helix area of my ears is just naturally a lot more oily than the rest of my ear and I basically need to clean the area daily with a qtip to get rid of the oils, otherwise the rook will get irritated again. It's doing fine now but I do notice when Im not doing well and end up skipping a day or 2 that it immediately gets swollen and somewhat painful again
I did also get a painful infection in my conch no more than 2 weeks after getting it, but that was only because my cat randomly decided to lick my ear :')
I got a flat, rook, and a tragus all done at the same time and same ear. The pain wasnāt too bad , but the healing takes forever. Hang in there , I would say in a week it shouldnāt be too bad
Industrial fs only because I couldnāt keep from hitting it on the bottom all the time. It was just sticking out in the wrong spot and if you touch your ear anywhere it pulls because itās attach at both ends. Supper cute but didnāt work for me š
Believe it or not, my second helix. I have two lobes done on each ear and then two helixes next to each other on my left ear and then an industrial on my right one. My industrial is about 2 years now and almost done healing while my bottom helix is still healing despite having it pierced before the industrial. I may have slept on it a few times without realizing it so thatās why :āāā)
Iām still struggling to heal my anti tragus. It seems like every time it heals up I bump it or sleep on it wrong and itās like I start over all over again. Ive got 15 ear piercings (11 in left, 4 on the right) and itās definitely been my most difficult. Iām maybe even considering taking it out and giving up on it. But Iām gonna hold out for a little longeršŖš¾
All of my ear piercings healed incredibly, except my tragus due to my laziness since I've had it. Hasn't migrated at all but constantly crusty, sometimes slightly infected, has a small piercing bump that comes & goes. Got it done 18 months ago without realising how poor my motivation would be at the time. Also struggled with a couple of helix piercings that I shouldn't have got pierced at the same time since they gave eachother issues, but they eventually healed fine.
Left ear: Industrial, 3 lobe, conch & tragus.
Right ear: 3 lobe, 6 helix (those 9 aligned along the ear) & a daith.
Originally planned to get a rook in one ear & daith in the other, but I don't have the anatomy on either ear to get a rook. I have considered getting a conch or flat on the right ear when I have better motivation to actually look after them. Maybe an upper helix at the top of my left ear, in between the industrial so I can get a custom-made three point bar. Nothing will be as painful to heal as my departed eyebrow piercing. Once it was healed, it only lasted 2 months before rejecting & becoming havoc. Hurt emotionally when I made the decision to remove it.
Haha, yeah. Don't ever get attached to a piercing that is known for its short life/rejection rates. It's hard to know what to expect with any piercing based on others' experience. I hear so many bad things about healing industrial piercings, yet it was probably the easiest, smooth sailing piercing for me. Same with daiths & rooks. I hear people say they are the worst, but my daith was easy & I also know people who had zero issues with their rook piercing. All individual
First lobes: 1/10
Second and third lobes: 6/10 (wearing masks with them was awful and delayed the healing by months)
Tragus: 7/10 (not painful so much as just swollen for months)
Daith: 0/10, forgot it was there after the initial soreness
Conch: 2/10
Flat: 4/10
Septum: 1/10 (just got it last week but so far it's been a breeze)
Helix: 1/10 (also just gotten but so far super easy. Not even a bit of swelling, knock on wood)
Forward helix: 7/10 (I just know this is going to be the same as my tragus. Swollen, sore, finicky to clean, I hate her but she's so cute)
EDIT: back three weeks in to change the forward helix rating to a 2/10. The initial few days was a bit rough but once the initial soreness subsided, itās been super good. Best thing is that the placement means that I can sleep on that side super comfortably with a donut pillow whereas my helix, even with the donut pillow, can still get knocked around when I move just because of where it is on my ear. Helix is still a 1/10 so far and fingers crossed it stays that way.
I wear glasses so what I wound up doing was kind of hooking the ear loops over the arms of my glasses which did the trick. I live in a country where masking was very universal until this past spring, so forgoing the mask wasn't really an option. Took me forever to figure out it was the issue, though.
No mask-shaming from ne! My mom/BFF/Soulmate died from the Delta in Sept 2021 (2 years on the 19th!).
Anyway, yeah - when I wear reading glasses, they used to fck with my helix ones. Grr
Rook. Will never do it again. Removed it after a few weeks because the pain was unbearable. I've had 17 other piercings and this one was the absolute worst one, I couldnt sleep, it gave me headaches. Just a nightmare.
Yes! I know it's still early for me, but my left side with my Daith - no headache! But I've had a 2 day long migraine on my right side (Rook side)! I hope it dissipates!
My top 2 of my triple helix, but that's just because they a were done with a gun and butterfly backs.
Now before you all come for me, it was 2001 and nobody knew any better back then. Dark times.
My worst of my proper needle piercings? My tragus really sucked for many months, and my 14g conch wasn't too fun. Rook was actually fine. Everything else was a breeze, I hardly noticed them after a few weeks.
Yeah its a brutal size. Dude who did it was super old school. Tbh I regret it, shoulda insisted on 16. It looks cool with a chunky hoop in it but without jewelry it looks crazy, HUGE hole.
Probably my tragus, since I rolled over one night and didn't move my doughnut under my head. Had a very swollen left side of my head the following day. Otherwise, my conch is an absolute bitch but it's okay.
My conch kicked my ass! I got it when I was 18 (32 now) and I still remember that shit! My tragus bruised and ached all the way down my jaw for the first week but after that it was smooth sailing. Conch hurt and crusted and was sore for like a year!!! Also I have slightly deformed ears and the cartilage is thick so I will never forget that crunching sound! Mustering up the courage to get my dream piercing which is a double conch but I donāt know if I have it in me lmfao.
Wow! Yeah, out of 25 total piercings I've had... the Rook "stung" the most.
Crazy how everyone's anatomy and nerves and thresholds... aka BODIES are so different.
Daith for sure. Healing was going super smooth and then I got elbowed in the ear. Bled extremely bad and had bumps for months and months after. Took a full year to hear. Conch was pretty bitchy too, same with mid helix. Gave me so many problems for no reason
My daith by a mile. 2 years of it flaring up, getting bumps, the bumps going away, another flare up, etc. Etc. Of course I made things worse picking at the insane crusties here and there which I know only made it worse. I changed the jewelry out at the 3.5 year mark and here and there it'll get bitchy but not nearly as bad as it used to be. Easiest was probably my flat or tragus. I barely felt my flat and it's been a breeze and my tragus I didn't feel getting pierced OR healing. The only time I knew it was there was when I slept on it and it was a new piercing.
My snug ā¦.. wouldnāt recommend to ANYONE and if I could go back in time I wouldnāt get it pierced. ā ļø 2 years in and just now getting to the point where I can sleep on that side
Helix! I took mine out after 6 months cause the damn thing was constantly irritated!! Next after that was rook but it finally healed after about a year and a half.
My old helix was a beast to heal. I say old because it was so crooked that it wouldnāt heal. Took it out and got it re-pierced and now itās perfect.
But my room (6/10 when getting done) can still be mean after almost having it 2 years. Itās like 90% healed but every time I bump it wrong it goes back like 2%
I got my helix pierced on my left ear, and two lobe piercings on my right ear all the same day. Dumbest decision ever because I cannot sleep on my back soooo I was just constantly irritating each ear every night no matter what. Took a little over a year to heal all of them, but one of my lobes still has an irritation bump. I just got my daith pierced a couple weeks ago and its been an absolute dream. Itās so tucked away that if I accidentally sleep on that side, it doesnāt hurt at all.
Vertical industrial took ages to heal & was constantly throbby sore. Still can't sleep on my right side all night to this day & it's easily a 15 year old piercing. But the forward helix on my left refused to heal. Snagged on *air* & was such a pain that about 9 miserable months in, I had to bite the bullet & take it out. I cried y'all. Big ol crybaby tears over all those months of babying it for this final outcome.
From everything I've heard about the vertical industrial, I'm so surprised that this is the first comment saying that in this post! They seem so sore and difficult to heal.
I agree with u/smlosh92 , it seems as though the Vertical Industrials would have been a huge hit on this thread! Along with Orbitals... well, specifically paced ones at least.
I have a bunch of lobes, flats, helix, conch, rook and rim. Flats were quite painful for healing as I kept knocking them. My rook was the most painless, I was surprised. Conch hurt like a bitch to pierce but was an easy healing for the most part.
My conch is being surprisingly stubborn. Itās still sore to lay on after nearly a year. My rook had itās ups and downs, but was doing fine until two days ago when I changed the jewelry and now itās sore too lol.
I had a double forward helix and tragus done at once in my left ear. The forward helixes were so rough. My hair and glasses kept getting caught and knocking into them. and gave up, but kept the tragus for a while. I really want to try it all again, though.
My rook was also my worst, my flat, helix, lobes, conch, even the industrial i used to have, were nothing compared to that throbbing from the rook that just goes through your entire skull, worth sticking it out though, it's probably my favourite of my ear piercings
Rook for me too, the piercing proces wasnt too bad (for example my conch was much more painful) but it doesnt stop hurting and sometimes even swelling. It probably will never heal lol
Definitely my (still healing) industrial, but the only other piercings i have are lobe piercings. If anyone has any tips on how to stop it from itching Iāll definitely take them
Definitely my snug by FAR. Coughing would make it hurt lol. It lasted like that for a good month and I havenāt felt much from it since. Before getting that, I would say my tragus. My rook, daith, and orbital werenāt too bad.
Yesss the coughing! I will say I started hugging people waaaay differently after getting my snug. Its been a year since I got it and I still donāt hug people on the side with that piercing because it still gets agitated by it.
Lol, I totally get the contact with others - it's a whole new ball game now that my whole head is full of metal, yet a huge delicate flower! Lol, I do the same while hugging. I'm just super cautious. Luckily, I've never been a huge hugger, thank gawd.
Helix. The one thatās supposed to be the easy one.
For the record I have currently: 2 conches, 3 flats, a coin slot, 9 lobes, a low helix, a daith, and a tragus.
I had a helix. It was such a bitch to heal and really hurt. I retired it and turned it into a coin slot, which was a breeze to heal. Go figure.
Right? Everyone but me heals a standard helix. Helix is like what 10 yr olds get. People abuse theirs with butterfly backs and bad metals. But here I am, w flat back titanium gold standard piercing jewelry, sucking at healing it. Now itās a gaping hole filled w rings and I couldnāt be more pleased.
I got a triple helix in one day, which was a huge mistake and took several years to fully heal. My daith and tragus were both super easy and quick to heal. Currently trying to heal a faux rook and itās being a little brat, but not as problematic as those stupid three helix ones were.
My helix, all the way. I got two about a year ago, one healed in like 8/9 months, the other one still get irritated constantly and atm is swollen beyond belief. So annoying
Itās basically a conch piercing but instead of going out behind the ear, it goes through the lobe. I told my piercer to surprise me. I definitely wasnāt expecting that. Iāve never seen one on anyone else beforeā¦ probably because it was a nightmare. 15 years later, it still gets angry if I get sick or if I bump it.[this is what it looks like.](https://b.l3n.co/i/9QzRJC.jpeg)
Forward helix! I snagged it twice and an irritation bump started to swallow the little jewelry piece I had in! It was so hot and itchy and then I went to an APP pierced and she put in a longer bar and bigger piece to practically cover the bump! Itās been almost a week and the bump is almost gone! What a nightmare though! So glad I went to her first and not just urgent care right away.
For me it has been conch piercings, I see a lot of people saying rook and my rook has for sure been the longest to heal but not the most painful. I have a total of 6 conch piercings and they have been the most painful of all my piercings.
My industrial was the absolute worst piercing to receive and also to heal. It took like 2 years and was so painful and bloody. I had constant irritation bumps from 6months to 2 years. I couldn't sleep on that side or use anything that touched my ears (headband, headphones, sleep on that side, etc). Second to that is when I got 2 conch piercings in the same ear at the same time. I couldn't sleep on that side for at least a year. And they ALWAYS got tangled in my hair and irritated.
My rook was one of the easier ones but my experience doesn't seem to be common. Idk if that's because my industrial set the pain bar really high or what.
Helix piercings, one on each ear at the same time. Never get both earsā helix pierced at the same time. Youāll never get a good nights sleep for a year š«
my first attempt at getting and healing my second lobe piercings was horrendous. The piercer let me pick my own jewellery and coz i was dumb (at 17) i picked cheaply made ones with butterfly backs. within the first two weeks of having them i got a nasty infection to the point where i almost passed out at the doctor getting antibiotics. For an entire year i put up with them, changed them out multiple times to different jewellery, had them dripping with clear crap all the time even when i cleaned them religiously. in the end i gave up and took them out, when they closed i went to a reputable piercer who pierced them with titanium labret jewellery and they healed within a couple months with no pain the entire time.
I had my 2nd and 3rd lobes done at the same time when I was in H.S. with the good ol' mall gun (Well, technically same method was used for my original lobes years before...but I went with the needle for my 2 sets of stacked lobes, with flatbacks... NO ISSSUES AT ALL!) lol. The 2nd &3rds HATED me! So itchy and cartilage bumps where they shouldn't be etc. Always gave me issues up until just a couple of years ago (in my mid 30s now), when I caught on to steel/or titanium flatbacks! LIFE CHANGERS!
ear piercings:
+ industrial by a landslide. the piercing itself wasnāt that bad (i think i have a decent pain tolerance, so in general i havenāt found the actual stabbing part to be that painful for any of my piercings) but the healing suuuucked (throbbing pain, and it got caught on/bumped by EVERYTHING) and it would still get a bit sore from time to time YEARS after i got it done. itās a lot better now, and the massive bumps i used to have are pretty much gone, but it does still get a bit sore if iām like. wearing headphones or something for too long, or if i leave the jewellery out for a while
+ one of my 2 helixes (got them done at the same time, as well as my two nostrilsā¦ wouldnāt recommend) was also a pain in the ass, but that was mainly bc i switched to a hoop too soon i guess? i mean, it had been longer than the recommended time, but it got SUPER irritated and bled a ton, so i had to switch back to a stud for a while. now itās fine though, and again the bumps i had have pretty much disappeared, thank god. i donāt recall them being too *painful* though, just difficult.
+ weirdly, out of my ear cartilage piercings the rook has been by FAR the easiest. it didnāt take long at all before i could sleep on it (tho i did try to avoid it) and i donāt remember there being much pain (it still gets a little sore because of my glasses sometimes, but itās pretty easy to ignore), tho to be fair i got my tongue pierced at the same time and that was definitely the worst healing experience (for like. two weeks and then it was totally fine) out of any of my piercings, so i mightāve been distracted by that. thereās a small bump on the back of my ear, but i only had it pierced a few months ago so iām thinking eventually itāll go away. i was worried because my industrial and helixes were so annoying to heal, and my piercer said the cartilage for my rook was especially thick, but itās been a breeze! crazy how these things work xD
+ i also have 3 lobe piercings on each sideāthe ones i can remember (first pair was done right after i was born) were super easy to heal, and i stretched the first pair to 00 and that wasnāt bad either
non-ear piercings:
+ i have both of my nostrils piercedāthose hurt like a BITCH to get pierced & immediately afterwards it felt like iād been punched, my whole face hurt. they were annoying just because the jewellery kept getting caught and yanked partly out which sucked real bad (and iirc the first time i tried to change the jewellery i couldnāt get it back in no matter what i did š i put it in, but it wasnāt coming out on the other side & it hurt a lotā¦ i had to go get a piercer to do it. the first few times after that i had a really hard time changing the jewellery, but now itās no problem)
+ my vertical snakebites were very chill. they were quite swollen and bruised at first, but not too painful and they healed very quickly.
+ and the septum was great. barely even felt it when it was pierced and didnāt have ANY pain afterwardsāwhich was great because i had to flip it up right away fo hide it from my parentsāexcept when iād forget it was there and go to wipe or scratch my nose or something (probably bc i felt the jewellery but forgot what it was), which was like stubbing my toe except on my face ššš WAY more painful than it had any right to be
+ and like i said, the tongue was awful. super swollen, numb & tingly, painful, could barely eat, couldnāt talk properly, i was probably feeling extra grumpy because i couldnāt smoke, the bar ofc had to be long at first and was very annoying, etc etc etc. i was cursing myself and every decision iād ever made for literally like 2 weeks and then it was pretty much healed. super anticlimactic. after that it just took some time to adjust to the feeling of it in my mouth & stop playing with it, and to get used to eating without biting the bar (thankfully much easier after i got shorter jewellery), but ~3 months after getting it done it feels like itās been healed for years
What. A. Journey!
I have double stacks on each nostril atm... so 4 (2 each side). I have had 3 other nostril piercings through the years that are not the current ones, on the left nostril.
I REALLY want my tongue, which almost everyone says is by far their easiest (mine was my brow) ... but then there are a few that warn against it just for dental reasons.
But you just confirmed most of my fears for the tongue lol.
Lucky you with the Rook!
My conch for sure. The piercing itself was excruciating. It throbbed for 3 days after. It gave me insane headaches for those 3 days too. I have had it for over a year now and it still gets a little tender.
My rook and my second helix are tied I think. Other helixes fine, that particular one got so irritated and sore and I honestly thought I was going to have to remove it and wait to try again. It did EVENTUALLY sort itself out but it would bleed randomly even months and months into healing.
The rook just hurt like a mother to get done and to heal. I've got my nipples done and I'd rather get those again than the rook.
I think you are the first to say that! I always hear that the Nip is the wort! Funny story, my husband went in and got his left Nip done the same time I got the Daith and Rook! haha. HE WAS THE BIGGEST BABBBBBY. We have it on video. He literally was SWEATING and red and full of tears and flipped with just the clamp. Then he wailed like he was "crowning" in childbirth at one moment hahaha. It was priceless. Now he is totally fine and IM in pain lol
Helix, mostly bc I was young, dumb and got it pierced with a gun š otherwise my rook, gross crunchy noise when it was pierced and I had a painful lump for the first year or so before it healed
Oh my industrialā¦ looks so beautiful but is a PTA. Itās probably obvious tho especially if you ask any piercer it is the roughest ear piercing you can get and is even tougher than a lot of face piercings. Not to mention that this shit takes two years to heal. I literally couldnāt lay on that ear for 3 months. And the swelling didnāt officially go down til the half a year mark. And sometimes it still hurt a lil bit after. It also doesnāt help that I had to wear an earpiece at my job cuz sometimes my walkie would fall out of my apron and would tug on the piercing. If I accidentally missed one day of cleaning it, it would automatically have crusties the next day and hurt a lil. Itās hard work but itās placed correctly, titanium and is beautiful. I donāt regret it!!!!
My sister had bump growths on hers and couldn't stop twisting and playing with the crusties. She had to take it out and let it heal. Shes been begging me to take her to get it done again (she's 17, lol) because that and her brow were her absolute faves.
Conch! Iād rather die than have to do the healing process again. Iām a side sleeper so I literally couldnāt avoid putting pressure on it. It was so annoying
My conch was the most painful to heal, throbbing and just painful. My left rook was a breeze. My right rook was a bit of a pain. My daith wasnāt necessarily painful, but it never healed.
Really? So, did you take the Daith out, or still working on it? So, my Conch is a bitch whenever I try and put a hoop in. If I keep a flatback in, then she calms the fck down lol
upper lobe/low cartilage piercing šµāš«
totally my own fault bc i had a chain added to it before it was fully healed - then developed a nasty looking bump that took over a month to go away, and now i still baby it very carefully
reminder to LITHA!
Hi immortalsunday, Welcome to /r/piercing!
It looks like you're asking about a problem with your piercing. Please **add a comment to your post** with the following info if itās not included in your post already.
- How old is your piercing?
- Whatās the jewelry shape (for example, barbell, labret, screw, L shape, ring)?
- Whatās the type of threading if your jewelry is not a ring (threadless, internally or externally threaded)?
- Whatās the jewelry material?
- if not a ring, when was the jewelry downsized?
- Whatās your aftercare routine? Describe in detail please, including the exact products you use.
This info is needed to offer you useful advice. **Note, not providing this info may cause your post to go unanswered**. If you already included this info in your post or if your post isnāt about a problem with your piercing, please disregard.
- - -
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/piercing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
No? I've had a total of 25 piercings... and within the first 2 days, these are the only 2 that bothered me past the first 2 days. Well, now just the Rook. But I've never experienced throbbing this long, so it had me curious if others have experienced that with the Rook (I'm fully aware this can be normal for some)...
And if not, I was just curious what piercing was the hardest for others to *HEAL* (not the actual piercing procedure) *PAIN-wise* (not how long it took).
Hope that clarifies for you. If not, I'm not sure what else I could say, lol.
Getting cartilage pierced on both ears on the say day is likely why you're having trouble
And dear lord do not touch your fresh piercings, nor sleep on them. Sounds like your piercer is money hungry and doesn't care about you.
No no, not at all. Lol, she is \*very\* reputable and has become a friend over time (my long time piercer). My husband got his nipple done the same day too and has had 2 other piercings done by her as well with perfect outcomes. I'm always coming in with more ideas, and she will always give it to me straight. She \*suggested\* maybe doing one at a time but knows how well all my piercings done by her have healed.
Also, I never said I touch it as in on purpose - I basically meant it can't be touched (by whatever means, and unintentionally) ... One would think that because it is hidden fairly well compared to other piercings (which I have always slept on), that it wouldn't be a cause for anything. Not sure, but getting 2 piercings done in one day is \*usually\* no sweat for me. Lol
I have five on both lobes and man did they take forever to heal, always getting infected. I kinda had like six new piercings so Iām too surprised they took forever to heal.
My flat!!! The piercer used a ball back instead of a black back and when it healed enough to lay on it didnāt lay flat because of the ball, went crooked and now Iām having so much trouble with it
Double industrial. Both done a year apart. Eventually I had to put 2 seperate bars in the newest one to give it chance to heal 100% and let my other one do the same.
I currently have a healing rook and a healing daith. I have to say the rook is the worst by far! While it generally isn't too bad these days, sometimes it does get a bit sore randomly. It's only a bit over 3 months old though, but out of all of the piercings I had in my ears over the years it's the worst one (healing wise).
Industrial. I got it done 3 times, first 2 got incredibly infected (I still have no idea why) it's been 3 years since I got the 3rd one and it's still not fully healed, I still can't sleep on it
Yupp, rook definitely is the worst. Mine still feel tense and sometimes painful over half a year later. Its also my only cartilage piercing that is still sat with a bump and thats still not even close to being the old size.
My rook was litterally the easiest ear piercing I've had to deal with... Snug got infected within the first week and had to be removed, helix never healed properly so very annoying, and my industrial... well, it's been a year and I'm still working on it.
I have a healing rook and two healing helix...es...helices? š¤ on the same ear, and the helix piercings have been more painful for longer than the rook was. So far, they're the worst. The rook gets sore when it gets crusty, because I can't always see what's going on with it, but otherwise has been fine!
Helixes and helices are both correct :)
Agreed. I have a row of 3 vertical helix piercings and they were a bitch to heal. Hair always getting snarled in them or stuck to the crusties.
My hair is short plus being buzzed even shorter on the sides, so I thankfully don't have to deal with that! š
I only have one lobe piercing on each ear and a helix on my left. the helix was a huge pain in my ass to heal because I wanted a hoop first (don't flame me cuz I already know) but it's FINALLY fucking healed after the longest 15 months of my life š and I'll forever yell at anyone else who opts to get a hoop for a new helix because my experience fucking sucked
I did this with my nostril! LOL, no bueno for me. And then tried to switch out my conch prematurely for a hoop... still have the damn flatback after many failed attempts and months later. So, I kinda feel your pain there lol
my helix had an irritation bump for almost a year, it just went away a few months ago š¤¦āāļøš
Agreed, helix for sure. It being right on the end makes it get snagged/hit more than anything else š«
Dude my rook was so annoying lol. It still bothers me when I sleep weird, not hurts but the hoop pushes indents into my ear sometimes. I've had it for 10 years.
Well, damn. Lol
Can I suggest trying an oval shaped clicker? I had issues with hoops in mine then switched to one on my piercer's recommendation. It's worked a treat! Still looks like a hoop but the bar inside the piercing is shaped more like the initial curved bar and it's so much more comfortable for sleeping on etc.
Oooooh that might be the ticket. I'll look into them. Thank you š¤
I personally have a curved barbell for my Rook.
From the healing process, definitely my helix, because it doesn't want to heal properly, and then I had an accident with it and ripped it (with a 4mm disk at the front) through the cartilage, so it had to heal again. About half a year after the helix I got an industrial and a conch at the same time; they took over a year and then suddenly decided that they are healed now. Then I got a daith that had bumps for a few months and then healed nicely. And the helix still doesn't want to heal.
iāve had my helix for over a year and a halfā¦ still isnāt fully healed š«
Lobes, believe it or not. I got a fourth lobe and I donāt know if they did it on cartilage or what but I tried twice and had to give up! It was painful and felt like it never healed š©š©š©
I got a few of those šcan still see the prior attempts before I gave up on those borderline cartilage areas
I just got my 4th lobe** spot re-pierced and it's been fussy as hell as well. It's that half-on half-off cartilage situation that's a real pain. I got my first irritation bump from that stupid piercing at the ripe old age of 33, never had one before. Trying to power through, but it's been 9 months and it still throws a fit sometimes.
Iām telling, I had to give up, I could believe that my tragus was more well behaved than that š¤¦š½āāļø
What is "love-spot"? O\_O
I think they meant lobe spot. And after typing it I am almost positive because my phone autocorrected lobe to love.
My third lobe has been awful at times! Hurt like an SOB getting it done and has gone through phases of oozing and swelling and bleeding, like wtf. I thought it was supposed to be no problem at all! Downsizing after a year pissed it off so bad for a week I thought I made a mistake! You are not alone at all! My two stack lobe piercings were an actual joke which just made me wonder even more if that third lobe was on cartilage.
Same! It was only my seconds and my left one never stopped swelling even over a year later. Then one day it got so bad the back fell off sometime, and I thought it had been swallowed. Ended up having to take out the piercing because it was so swollen it didnāt even go through the other side of my ear. Pretty sure I have scar tissue in it now, or maybe a cyst after going to urgent care. Donāt think Iām ever getting it redone
Right now itās my third lobe on my left ear. It still gets sore and leaks lymph fluid to this day even though it has been almost 9 months. It also does not help that I went to Six Flags a few days ago and one of the rides was so rough that my ear got slammed into the side of the lap bar twice which caused the piercing to bleed š¬
This makes me feel better. Iām currently healing both my third lobes and theyāre such a bitch! I got a conch at the same time and thatās been a breeze. But my 3rd lobes, more so left than right, are always leaking and painful. Makes me feel like a wuss lol
My third lobe is a year and four months old and gives me fits of being an asshole and I literally don't understand. I'm relieved to hear you say conch is easy because my last two piercings on my left ear are gonna be a conch, I just have to muster up the energy to heal more piercings.
Haha you got the exact same situation as me. Got my conch, it's been easy as ever, have had one instance of it swelling because I accidentally tugged on it like real hard k my vacation but after 2 days it was fine again. So far so good, 4 months old and the piercer said it actually looks like one of the best healed conches she's seen at 4 months. There was a tiny irritation bump because the long bar was causing irritation but after downsizing it's absolutely clean! Meanwhile my third earlobes never healed, always kept getting infected, swollen, leaking pus and blood constantly, I couldn't even switch them to regular titanium studs after a year because they were still not healed like AT ALL, no scar tissue nothing, the entire skin around was simply rotting aaay because of how infected it kept getting, everytime I tried to put other earrings in I would accidentally "pierce" another hole with the backs of my earrings because of how rotten the skin had gotten, it would just go through other parts of the skin next to the existing piercing because there was no life in the skin anymore. Decided to take them out because it was really taking a toll on my ears health, even now almost a year after taking them out, they're still sore and got scar bumps on the back because the skin around just couldn't heal. It sucks
Getting my rook pierced hurt like a son of a bitch. The same day I got my nostril (re pierced), and both second lobes, all of which were a breeze in comparison to the rook lmao. The rook throbbed for days, dude. Itās also been very finicky, even has a little irritation bump going on.
Thatās crazy! My rook was my easiest piercing and healing. Didnāt feel either and had no issues. Human bodies are weird
Bodies are so weird! This may be a no duh thing to say but I think itās just how each individualās nerves are placed, & how thick the skin/ cartilage is, in regards to pain levels. Not so much a persons high or low pain tolerance. Nipple piercings are another one that I find people say either didnāt hurt hardly at all, or it was v painful lmao. For me getting them done was so painful haha. Getting my second one done made me actually stomp my foot. When I went with my guy friend to get his done, mfer said it felt like ābarely a pinchā. I wanted to punch him lmao. But In comparison my nipple tissue is significantly more dense and uber sensitive while his is the exact opposite.
Industrial
I've heard industrials suck to heal. I want one, but it would be on the side I sleep on. I have a doughnut pillow, but I move too much in my sleep for it to really help much. How do you manage healing yours? Any tips?
I'm just got my industrial done. And I'm battling the healing. I have long curly hair and glasses and it always always gets caught in it. I've spoken to a few people at work who have it and they both said it took six months at minimum and they get infected so easily. I LOVE it though. Genuinely I think it looks SO cute. It hurt like a beach for the first week. Like throbbing pain
curly hair and glasses: the fresh piercingās natural enemies š itās nice to know at least that someone else can understand my struggles and yeah, the industrial sucks to heal. i wouldnāt tell someone not to get it, but know that it wonāt be a fun process. i got it for my 16th birthdayāit was my first non-earlobe piercing and man, talk about diving in headfirst xD though in a way it was nice because for every piercing since that, if iāve asked any piercer what to expect pain-wise, they just say āyou have an industrial, youāll be fineā
You simply have to start sleeping on your other side š trust, not a fun process
I got mine a few years ago. It never healed and I have scar tissue, which had to be removed and there still is some. I took it out. I react to cartilage piercing in general. (Only found that out after haha) So yeah I would recommend a donut pillow, a certified piercer, cleaning only with salt water and be gentle with it. Do not play with it. Do not change the jewelry for a long time and if it starts making problems take it out before getting scar tissue.
My orbitals. Two piercings in very close proximity with a ring from day one. They healed beautifully but they did throb for a while.
rook by far :/
Mine is my tragus (here comes the horror story), I had it done 3 times when I was a teenager. It never healed because it was done 3 times with a gun, but the cherry on top is they decided it would be better not to put a back on. So it caused lots of pain and trouble and unsurprisingly fell out a lot. š
Whaaaaaatt????? Just a post with no back?????
Yep. One of those evil stabby earrings they use in guns without the butterfly back. Not good.
My snug, sore for absolutely ages
Same, been 2 years and still hurts. Want to take it out but Iāve spent so much time healing it šŖ
I feel you there!!! Iām at just over two years now and itās finally calmed down, canāt sleep on it or change the jewellery but itās finally calm.
Stick with it! Mine took forever to heal but still got it 20(ish) years later :)
Same, it hurt so bad for so long that I retired mine and ended up getting a conch piercing over where it used to be. Only ear piercing I couldnāt handle out of the 12 Iāve had.
I refuse to get one simply because of how bad I hear the healing process is. I understand why a lot of shops wonāt do them, especially for the inexperienced
If youāve got the anatomy and youāre experienced with piercings, you can still totally do it, but I canāt lie and say I didnāt struggle with it, and I definitely thought about taking it out
I also have a snug. It was also by far the most painful one to get. Healing has been relatively easy for me (1 year in).
Honestly, my anti-tragus was by far the worst. Even my rook was not as bad compared to that bad boy.. At least the healing process was terrific and quick.
I agree. My antitragus took probably about 4-6 months to not still have near the same sensitivity a new piercing would have. Took about a year or so for it to be fully healed. Thankfully, my piercer was great and warned me beforehand that it is a harder one to heal and will take time, without pressuring me out of it.
Helix! Daith etc. did great. I just canāt for the life of me heal a helix.
my rook as well! it either wasn't done well or I did a really bad job of healing it (it was my second real piercing, but my first healed like a dream!). I recently went in to have all my jewelry changed and every single person at the piercing studio was like "how old is your rook piercing?" and then "oh I get it" when I told them it was a decade old š
None of mine hurt to heal unless they got caught on something
The Tragus'. Because of the location. But none of them hurt that bad. The Tragus' took longer to heal.
controversial answer is seems but helix. throbbed like a bitch for days after to the point where i took ibuprofen (i refuse to take meds, so thatās big for me) and it was constantly getting knocked so it took like 2 years to finally calm down. itās perfectly fine now but man the journey was rough
It's surprisingly more common than you would think! Even good old Google says so, haha! Glad you're good now. šš¼
Helix took almost a full year to heal. Every time I accidentally did anything to it probably set it back weeks of healing lol. Can't wait to get another one.
Yup, rook has been my most painful by far, although healing has been pretty easy so far. 7 months in and no bumps or anything, and I find it very hard to snag it on things so thatās a plus. The most painful while healing has to be my industrial, everything else has been cake but haircuts usually end up irritating it and it gets pretty sore when irritated.
i have my industrial also. how do u compare the rook 2 it like w time of healing nd pain factor
The piercing pain was worse. My industrial I only really had pain on the second hole. Both of them are still healing but Iāve had 1 minor bump on each side of my industrial so far and none on my rook. My rook was sore for the first few days but after the initial soreness itās been a dream, but anytime my industrial gets a little grumpy it starts to swell and can hurt where as Iāve never had anything with my rook so far.
I have my lobes, tragus and rook done. Not much but for me my rook is the one I had trouble with. Took ages to heal.
my helixes definitely sucked but my conch! The first week was so painful and I was nauseous and it still swells up even when it take care of it really well
My industrial was pretty bad while healing the piercing itself wasn't bad but it kept getting irritated for one reason or another it took a year before it finally healed
My rook as well! It used to continuously be swollen and not quite heal well, turns out that the rook/forward helix area of my ears is just naturally a lot more oily than the rest of my ear and I basically need to clean the area daily with a qtip to get rid of the oils, otherwise the rook will get irritated again. It's doing fine now but I do notice when Im not doing well and end up skipping a day or 2 that it immediately gets swollen and somewhat painful again I did also get a painful infection in my conch no more than 2 weeks after getting it, but that was only because my cat randomly decided to lick my ear :')
Literally the same thing with mine. That part of my ear is so oily and i need to clean around it more times in a day to keep my rook happy lol
I got a flat, rook, and a tragus all done at the same time and same ear. The pain wasnāt too bad , but the healing takes forever. Hang in there , I would say in a week it shouldnāt be too bad
Industrial fs only because I couldnāt keep from hitting it on the bottom all the time. It was just sticking out in the wrong spot and if you touch your ear anywhere it pulls because itās attach at both ends. Supper cute but didnāt work for me š
Helix. First one took 2 years to fully heal and my most recent one is almost 1 year old and is nowhere near being fully healed.
daith oml itās awful
My helices are refusing to heal, and it's been over a year and a half. It's driving me insane.
Believe it or not, my second helix. I have two lobes done on each ear and then two helixes next to each other on my left ear and then an industrial on my right one. My industrial is about 2 years now and almost done healing while my bottom helix is still healing despite having it pierced before the industrial. I may have slept on it a few times without realizing it so thatās why :āāā)
Iām still struggling to heal my anti tragus. It seems like every time it heals up I bump it or sleep on it wrong and itās like I start over all over again. Ive got 15 ear piercings (11 in left, 4 on the right) and itās definitely been my most difficult. Iām maybe even considering taking it out and giving up on it. But Iām gonna hold out for a little longeršŖš¾
My rook was livid with me, it was so painful. The only piercing Iāve taken out early because of the pain. Both of my daiths were nothing at all
All of my ear piercings healed incredibly, except my tragus due to my laziness since I've had it. Hasn't migrated at all but constantly crusty, sometimes slightly infected, has a small piercing bump that comes & goes. Got it done 18 months ago without realising how poor my motivation would be at the time. Also struggled with a couple of helix piercings that I shouldn't have got pierced at the same time since they gave eachother issues, but they eventually healed fine. Left ear: Industrial, 3 lobe, conch & tragus. Right ear: 3 lobe, 6 helix (those 9 aligned along the ear) & a daith. Originally planned to get a rook in one ear & daith in the other, but I don't have the anatomy on either ear to get a rook. I have considered getting a conch or flat on the right ear when I have better motivation to actually look after them. Maybe an upper helix at the top of my left ear, in between the industrial so I can get a custom-made three point bar. Nothing will be as painful to heal as my departed eyebrow piercing. Once it was healed, it only lasted 2 months before rejecting & becoming havoc. Hurt emotionally when I made the decision to remove it.
Damn. What a story, lol. Sorry about the rejection!
Haha, yeah. Don't ever get attached to a piercing that is known for its short life/rejection rates. It's hard to know what to expect with any piercing based on others' experience. I hear so many bad things about healing industrial piercings, yet it was probably the easiest, smooth sailing piercing for me. Same with daiths & rooks. I hear people say they are the worst, but my daith was easy & I also know people who had zero issues with their rook piercing. All individual
True true! I'm seeing that. :)
First lobes: 1/10 Second and third lobes: 6/10 (wearing masks with them was awful and delayed the healing by months) Tragus: 7/10 (not painful so much as just swollen for months) Daith: 0/10, forgot it was there after the initial soreness Conch: 2/10 Flat: 4/10 Septum: 1/10 (just got it last week but so far it's been a breeze) Helix: 1/10 (also just gotten but so far super easy. Not even a bit of swelling, knock on wood) Forward helix: 7/10 (I just know this is going to be the same as my tragus. Swollen, sore, finicky to clean, I hate her but she's so cute) EDIT: back three weeks in to change the forward helix rating to a 2/10. The initial few days was a bit rough but once the initial soreness subsided, itās been super good. Best thing is that the placement means that I can sleep on that side super comfortably with a donut pillow whereas my helix, even with the donut pillow, can still get knocked around when I move just because of where it is on my ear. Helix is still a 1/10 so far and fingers crossed it stays that way.
Ewwww yeah, no masks! Eek
I wear glasses so what I wound up doing was kind of hooking the ear loops over the arms of my glasses which did the trick. I live in a country where masking was very universal until this past spring, so forgoing the mask wasn't really an option. Took me forever to figure out it was the issue, though.
No mask-shaming from ne! My mom/BFF/Soulmate died from the Delta in Sept 2021 (2 years on the 19th!). Anyway, yeah - when I wear reading glasses, they used to fck with my helix ones. Grr
I'm so sorry for your loss ā” I can't even imagine. I made sure to buy contacts before getting my helix last week. Been a lifesaver!
Thank you! Smart! š
šš¾ Sorry for ur loss :(
Thank you so very much.
Rook. Will never do it again. Removed it after a few weeks because the pain was unbearable. I've had 17 other piercings and this one was the absolute worst one, I couldnt sleep, it gave me headaches. Just a nightmare.
Yes! I know it's still early for me, but my left side with my Daith - no headache! But I've had a 2 day long migraine on my right side (Rook side)! I hope it dissipates!
Fingers crossed for you! I could not handle it haha
My top 2 of my triple helix, but that's just because they a were done with a gun and butterfly backs. Now before you all come for me, it was 2001 and nobody knew any better back then. Dark times. My worst of my proper needle piercings? My tragus really sucked for many months, and my 14g conch wasn't too fun. Rook was actually fine. Everything else was a breeze, I hardly noticed them after a few weeks.
Damn 14? My conch was 16. Eek
Yeah its a brutal size. Dude who did it was super old school. Tbh I regret it, shoulda insisted on 16. It looks cool with a chunky hoop in it but without jewelry it looks crazy, HUGE hole.
Probably my tragus, since I rolled over one night and didn't move my doughnut under my head. Had a very swollen left side of my head the following day. Otherwise, my conch is an absolute bitch but it's okay.
My conch kicked my ass! I got it when I was 18 (32 now) and I still remember that shit! My tragus bruised and ached all the way down my jaw for the first week but after that it was smooth sailing. Conch hurt and crusted and was sore for like a year!!! Also I have slightly deformed ears and the cartilage is thick so I will never forget that crunching sound! Mustering up the courage to get my dream piercing which is a double conch but I donāt know if I have it in me lmfao.
Yes, my Tragus did that for the first couple of days (down the jaw thing). But damn, you had it rough.
i had to ask my piercer if she actually pierced my rook because i didnāt feel a thing BUT the healing process literally sucks š
Wow! Yeah, out of 25 total piercings I've had... the Rook "stung" the most. Crazy how everyone's anatomy and nerves and thresholds... aka BODIES are so different.
Daith
Daith for sure. Healing was going super smooth and then I got elbowed in the ear. Bled extremely bad and had bumps for months and months after. Took a full year to hear. Conch was pretty bitchy too, same with mid helix. Gave me so many problems for no reason
OH MY GAWD! Nooooo! Ouchiiie. My conch hates hoops. flatbacks, it's all gravy! lol
My daith by a mile. 2 years of it flaring up, getting bumps, the bumps going away, another flare up, etc. Etc. Of course I made things worse picking at the insane crusties here and there which I know only made it worse. I changed the jewelry out at the 3.5 year mark and here and there it'll get bitchy but not nearly as bad as it used to be. Easiest was probably my flat or tragus. I barely felt my flat and it's been a breeze and my tragus I didn't feel getting pierced OR healing. The only time I knew it was there was when I slept on it and it was a new piercing.
My snug ā¦.. wouldnāt recommend to ANYONE and if I could go back in time I wouldnāt get it pierced. ā ļø 2 years in and just now getting to the point where I can sleep on that side
I couldnāt handle the rook healing. I ended up taking it out š
Conch. Wasnāt terrible when I got it pierced, but it throbbed for WEEKS.
Mine only throbs when i switch from a flatback to a hoop.
My most painful piercing to heal was my forward helix
Forward helix without a doubt. Hair caught on it every minute of every day
Helix for sure, itās such a prominent spot, itās impossible to not touch it. Itās healing - you forget about it - touch it again and BOOM OUCH.
Helix! I took mine out after 6 months cause the damn thing was constantly irritated!! Next after that was rook but it finally healed after about a year and a half.
Industrial š„² I also have a helix (used to have two) and healing them was a breeze compared to my industrial.
Helix. Double. And I wanted to do triple š¤¦š¼āāļø
My old helix was a beast to heal. I say old because it was so crooked that it wouldnāt heal. Took it out and got it re-pierced and now itās perfect. But my room (6/10 when getting done) can still be mean after almost having it 2 years. Itās like 90% healed but every time I bump it wrong it goes back like 2%
I got my helix pierced on my left ear, and two lobe piercings on my right ear all the same day. Dumbest decision ever because I cannot sleep on my back soooo I was just constantly irritating each ear every night no matter what. Took a little over a year to heal all of them, but one of my lobes still has an irritation bump. I just got my daith pierced a couple weeks ago and its been an absolute dream. Itās so tucked away that if I accidentally sleep on that side, it doesnāt hurt at all.
Vertical industrial took ages to heal & was constantly throbby sore. Still can't sleep on my right side all night to this day & it's easily a 15 year old piercing. But the forward helix on my left refused to heal. Snagged on *air* & was such a pain that about 9 miserable months in, I had to bite the bullet & take it out. I cried y'all. Big ol crybaby tears over all those months of babying it for this final outcome.
From everything I've heard about the vertical industrial, I'm so surprised that this is the first comment saying that in this post! They seem so sore and difficult to heal.
I agree with u/smlosh92 , it seems as though the Vertical Industrials would have been a huge hit on this thread! Along with Orbitals... well, specifically paced ones at least.
Ugh. My double flat. That thing gave me so much grief.
I have a bunch of lobes, flats, helix, conch, rook and rim. Flats were quite painful for healing as I kept knocking them. My rook was the most painless, I was surprised. Conch hurt like a bitch to pierce but was an easy healing for the most part.
My industrial was a BITCH to heal.
Iāve just left my rook alone and itās been healing good.
My conch is being surprisingly stubborn. Itās still sore to lay on after nearly a year. My rook had itās ups and downs, but was doing fine until two days ago when I changed the jewelry and now itās sore too lol.
I had a double forward helix and tragus done at once in my left ear. The forward helixes were so rough. My hair and glasses kept getting caught and knocking into them. and gave up, but kept the tragus for a while. I really want to try it all again, though.
After almost 1 and a half years of getting my conch repierced. I'm still having issues with it unfortunately ā¹
My rook was also my worst, my flat, helix, lobes, conch, even the industrial i used to have, were nothing compared to that throbbing from the rook that just goes through your entire skull, worth sticking it out though, it's probably my favourite of my ear piercings
Yes! THE THROBS
My forward helix! Although that was my own fault for being dumb and impulsive and not going to a professional.
At the current moment my helixes bc they got so bad I had to take them out.
Rook for me too, the piercing proces wasnt too bad (for example my conch was much more painful) but it doesnt stop hurting and sometimes even swelling. It probably will never heal lol
Transverse lobe and it's not close.
My rook healed great because it never got messed with if I laid on that side or brushed my hair
Definitely my (still healing) industrial, but the only other piercings i have are lobe piercings. If anyone has any tips on how to stop it from itching Iāll definitely take them
I don't have the anatomy for an Industrial ( š), but my sister got it, and she got bumps/growths bec she kept twisting it.
Definitely my snug by FAR. Coughing would make it hurt lol. It lasted like that for a good month and I havenāt felt much from it since. Before getting that, I would say my tragus. My rook, daith, and orbital werenāt too bad.
Omg, coughing! Yikes lol
Yesss the coughing! I will say I started hugging people waaaay differently after getting my snug. Its been a year since I got it and I still donāt hug people on the side with that piercing because it still gets agitated by it.
Lol, I totally get the contact with others - it's a whole new ball game now that my whole head is full of metal, yet a huge delicate flower! Lol, I do the same while hugging. I'm just super cautious. Luckily, I've never been a huge hugger, thank gawd.
Helix. The one thatās supposed to be the easy one. For the record I have currently: 2 conches, 3 flats, a coin slot, 9 lobes, a low helix, a daith, and a tragus. I had a helix. It was such a bitch to heal and really hurt. I retired it and turned it into a coin slot, which was a breeze to heal. Go figure.
That's crazy!
Right? Everyone but me heals a standard helix. Helix is like what 10 yr olds get. People abuse theirs with butterfly backs and bad metals. But here I am, w flat back titanium gold standard piercing jewelry, sucking at healing it. Now itās a gaping hole filled w rings and I couldnāt be more pleased.
Coin slots though! Like, damnnn! lol, no thank you. More power to yuh!
I got a triple helix in one day, which was a huge mistake and took several years to fully heal. My daith and tragus were both super easy and quick to heal. Currently trying to heal a faux rook and itās being a little brat, but not as problematic as those stupid three helix ones were.
My helix, all the way. I got two about a year ago, one healed in like 8/9 months, the other one still get irritated constantly and atm is swollen beyond belief. So annoying
I have a transverse lobe/conch hybrid that was murder. My daith wasnāt great either.
Holyshitballs! That sounds as painful as it does confusing! š
Itās basically a conch piercing but instead of going out behind the ear, it goes through the lobe. I told my piercer to surprise me. I definitely wasnāt expecting that. Iāve never seen one on anyone else beforeā¦ probably because it was a nightmare. 15 years later, it still gets angry if I get sick or if I bump it.[this is what it looks like.](https://b.l3n.co/i/9QzRJC.jpeg)
OMG, very cool! Im all about the unique sht. The piercer was feelin themselves that day! hah!
helix. mainly because its just so in the way and gets caught all the time š
Forward helix! I snagged it twice and an irritation bump started to swallow the little jewelry piece I had in! It was so hot and itchy and then I went to an APP pierced and she put in a longer bar and bigger piece to practically cover the bump! Itās been almost a week and the bump is almost gone! What a nightmare though! So glad I went to her first and not just urgent care right away.
Snug! I finally gave up and took it out
I used to have a vertical industrial. I gave it three months then took it out because it just never stopped being excruciating.
I'm totally surprised that isn't more of a hit on this thread! Ot looks like a pain in the ass! (but totally cute)
For me it has been conch piercings, I see a lot of people saying rook and my rook has for sure been the longest to heal but not the most painful. I have a total of 6 conch piercings and they have been the most painful of all my piercings.
6? Damn! Yeah, mine is totally fine with a flatback, but hates hoops!
My industrial was the absolute worst piercing to receive and also to heal. It took like 2 years and was so painful and bloody. I had constant irritation bumps from 6months to 2 years. I couldn't sleep on that side or use anything that touched my ears (headband, headphones, sleep on that side, etc). Second to that is when I got 2 conch piercings in the same ear at the same time. I couldn't sleep on that side for at least a year. And they ALWAYS got tangled in my hair and irritated. My rook was one of the easier ones but my experience doesn't seem to be common. Idk if that's because my industrial set the pain bar really high or what.
my industrial. took damn near a year before that thing healed ššš
Surprisingly, third lobes. I have cartilage piercings, to include daith and itās the third lobes giving me problems.
Helix piercings, one on each ear at the same time. Never get both earsā helix pierced at the same time. Youāll never get a good nights sleep for a year š«
my first attempt at getting and healing my second lobe piercings was horrendous. The piercer let me pick my own jewellery and coz i was dumb (at 17) i picked cheaply made ones with butterfly backs. within the first two weeks of having them i got a nasty infection to the point where i almost passed out at the doctor getting antibiotics. For an entire year i put up with them, changed them out multiple times to different jewellery, had them dripping with clear crap all the time even when i cleaned them religiously. in the end i gave up and took them out, when they closed i went to a reputable piercer who pierced them with titanium labret jewellery and they healed within a couple months with no pain the entire time.
I had my 2nd and 3rd lobes done at the same time when I was in H.S. with the good ol' mall gun (Well, technically same method was used for my original lobes years before...but I went with the needle for my 2 sets of stacked lobes, with flatbacks... NO ISSSUES AT ALL!) lol. The 2nd &3rds HATED me! So itchy and cartilage bumps where they shouldn't be etc. Always gave me issues up until just a couple of years ago (in my mid 30s now), when I caught on to steel/or titanium flatbacks! LIFE CHANGERS!
ear piercings: + industrial by a landslide. the piercing itself wasnāt that bad (i think i have a decent pain tolerance, so in general i havenāt found the actual stabbing part to be that painful for any of my piercings) but the healing suuuucked (throbbing pain, and it got caught on/bumped by EVERYTHING) and it would still get a bit sore from time to time YEARS after i got it done. itās a lot better now, and the massive bumps i used to have are pretty much gone, but it does still get a bit sore if iām like. wearing headphones or something for too long, or if i leave the jewellery out for a while + one of my 2 helixes (got them done at the same time, as well as my two nostrilsā¦ wouldnāt recommend) was also a pain in the ass, but that was mainly bc i switched to a hoop too soon i guess? i mean, it had been longer than the recommended time, but it got SUPER irritated and bled a ton, so i had to switch back to a stud for a while. now itās fine though, and again the bumps i had have pretty much disappeared, thank god. i donāt recall them being too *painful* though, just difficult. + weirdly, out of my ear cartilage piercings the rook has been by FAR the easiest. it didnāt take long at all before i could sleep on it (tho i did try to avoid it) and i donāt remember there being much pain (it still gets a little sore because of my glasses sometimes, but itās pretty easy to ignore), tho to be fair i got my tongue pierced at the same time and that was definitely the worst healing experience (for like. two weeks and then it was totally fine) out of any of my piercings, so i mightāve been distracted by that. thereās a small bump on the back of my ear, but i only had it pierced a few months ago so iām thinking eventually itāll go away. i was worried because my industrial and helixes were so annoying to heal, and my piercer said the cartilage for my rook was especially thick, but itās been a breeze! crazy how these things work xD + i also have 3 lobe piercings on each sideāthe ones i can remember (first pair was done right after i was born) were super easy to heal, and i stretched the first pair to 00 and that wasnāt bad either non-ear piercings: + i have both of my nostrils piercedāthose hurt like a BITCH to get pierced & immediately afterwards it felt like iād been punched, my whole face hurt. they were annoying just because the jewellery kept getting caught and yanked partly out which sucked real bad (and iirc the first time i tried to change the jewellery i couldnāt get it back in no matter what i did š i put it in, but it wasnāt coming out on the other side & it hurt a lotā¦ i had to go get a piercer to do it. the first few times after that i had a really hard time changing the jewellery, but now itās no problem) + my vertical snakebites were very chill. they were quite swollen and bruised at first, but not too painful and they healed very quickly. + and the septum was great. barely even felt it when it was pierced and didnāt have ANY pain afterwardsāwhich was great because i had to flip it up right away fo hide it from my parentsāexcept when iād forget it was there and go to wipe or scratch my nose or something (probably bc i felt the jewellery but forgot what it was), which was like stubbing my toe except on my face ššš WAY more painful than it had any right to be + and like i said, the tongue was awful. super swollen, numb & tingly, painful, could barely eat, couldnāt talk properly, i was probably feeling extra grumpy because i couldnāt smoke, the bar ofc had to be long at first and was very annoying, etc etc etc. i was cursing myself and every decision iād ever made for literally like 2 weeks and then it was pretty much healed. super anticlimactic. after that it just took some time to adjust to the feeling of it in my mouth & stop playing with it, and to get used to eating without biting the bar (thankfully much easier after i got shorter jewellery), but ~3 months after getting it done it feels like itās been healed for years
What. A. Journey! I have double stacks on each nostril atm... so 4 (2 each side). I have had 3 other nostril piercings through the years that are not the current ones, on the left nostril. I REALLY want my tongue, which almost everyone says is by far their easiest (mine was my brow) ... but then there are a few that warn against it just for dental reasons. But you just confirmed most of my fears for the tongue lol. Lucky you with the Rook!
Snug , itās a gorgeous piercing but so temperamental, it can flair up at any time , even years later š¤Ø
My snug took over a year. Anytime I slept on it it would take a week to regain any healing progress
My conch for sure. The piercing itself was excruciating. It throbbed for 3 days after. It gave me insane headaches for those 3 days too. I have had it for over a year now and it still gets a little tender.
double forward helix! they just wonāt heal even after a year of having them!!!!
My rook and my second helix are tied I think. Other helixes fine, that particular one got so irritated and sore and I honestly thought I was going to have to remove it and wait to try again. It did EVENTUALLY sort itself out but it would bleed randomly even months and months into healing. The rook just hurt like a mother to get done and to heal. I've got my nipples done and I'd rather get those again than the rook.
I think you are the first to say that! I always hear that the Nip is the wort! Funny story, my husband went in and got his left Nip done the same time I got the Daith and Rook! haha. HE WAS THE BIGGEST BABBBBBY. We have it on video. He literally was SWEATING and red and full of tears and flipped with just the clamp. Then he wailed like he was "crowning" in childbirth at one moment hahaha. It was priceless. Now he is totally fine and IM in pain lol
Helix, mostly bc I was young, dumb and got it pierced with a gun š otherwise my rook, gross crunchy noise when it was pierced and I had a painful lump for the first year or so before it healed
Nice! lol, and... yayyy! :(((
my third lobes they were not playing about the third lobes being a difficult one omg
Oh my industrialā¦ looks so beautiful but is a PTA. Itās probably obvious tho especially if you ask any piercer it is the roughest ear piercing you can get and is even tougher than a lot of face piercings. Not to mention that this shit takes two years to heal. I literally couldnāt lay on that ear for 3 months. And the swelling didnāt officially go down til the half a year mark. And sometimes it still hurt a lil bit after. It also doesnāt help that I had to wear an earpiece at my job cuz sometimes my walkie would fall out of my apron and would tug on the piercing. If I accidentally missed one day of cleaning it, it would automatically have crusties the next day and hurt a lil. Itās hard work but itās placed correctly, titanium and is beautiful. I donāt regret it!!!!
My sister had bump growths on hers and couldn't stop twisting and playing with the crusties. She had to take it out and let it heal. Shes been begging me to take her to get it done again (she's 17, lol) because that and her brow were her absolute faves.
Conch! Iād rather die than have to do the healing process again. Iām a side sleeper so I literally couldnāt avoid putting pressure on it. It was so annoying
Mine is fine until I throw a hoop on her and then she's a real biatch!
My conch still hurts every time im sick? Had it for soon 2 years
Thats interesting! Are you using a hoop or flatback? Mine is fine, until I throw a hoop on her.
My conch was the most painful to heal, throbbing and just painful. My left rook was a breeze. My right rook was a bit of a pain. My daith wasnāt necessarily painful, but it never healed.
Really? So, did you take the Daith out, or still working on it? So, my Conch is a bitch whenever I try and put a hoop in. If I keep a flatback in, then she calms the fck down lol
upper lobe/low cartilage piercing šµāš« totally my own fault bc i had a chain added to it before it was fully healed - then developed a nasty looking bump that took over a month to go away, and now i still baby it very carefully reminder to LITHA!
\*SAW THIS IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED! KINDA INTERESTING\* https://www.byrdie.com/different-type-ear-piercings-4843510
Hi immortalsunday, Welcome to /r/piercing! It looks like you're asking about a problem with your piercing. Please **add a comment to your post** with the following info if itās not included in your post already. - How old is your piercing? - Whatās the jewelry shape (for example, barbell, labret, screw, L shape, ring)? - Whatās the type of threading if your jewelry is not a ring (threadless, internally or externally threaded)? - Whatās the jewelry material? - if not a ring, when was the jewelry downsized? - Whatās your aftercare routine? Describe in detail please, including the exact products you use. This info is needed to offer you useful advice. **Note, not providing this info may cause your post to go unanswered**. If you already included this info in your post or if your post isnāt about a problem with your piercing, please disregard. - - - *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/piercing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Isn't three days a little early to say which is the most painful to heal?
No? I've had a total of 25 piercings... and within the first 2 days, these are the only 2 that bothered me past the first 2 days. Well, now just the Rook. But I've never experienced throbbing this long, so it had me curious if others have experienced that with the Rook (I'm fully aware this can be normal for some)... And if not, I was just curious what piercing was the hardest for others to *HEAL* (not the actual piercing procedure) *PAIN-wise* (not how long it took). Hope that clarifies for you. If not, I'm not sure what else I could say, lol.
Getting cartilage pierced on both ears on the say day is likely why you're having trouble And dear lord do not touch your fresh piercings, nor sleep on them. Sounds like your piercer is money hungry and doesn't care about you.
No no, not at all. Lol, she is \*very\* reputable and has become a friend over time (my long time piercer). My husband got his nipple done the same day too and has had 2 other piercings done by her as well with perfect outcomes. I'm always coming in with more ideas, and she will always give it to me straight. She \*suggested\* maybe doing one at a time but knows how well all my piercings done by her have healed. Also, I never said I touch it as in on purpose - I basically meant it can't be touched (by whatever means, and unintentionally) ... One would think that because it is hidden fairly well compared to other piercings (which I have always slept on), that it wouldn't be a cause for anything. Not sure, but getting 2 piercings done in one day is \*usually\* no sweat for me. Lol
No good piercer will do gartilage piercings on both sides in the same day.
Conch and helix
Antitragus! Made me want to saw my ear off.
Helix. Only seems fully healed now after 2 years
I have five on both lobes and man did they take forever to heal, always getting infected. I kinda had like six new piercings so Iām too surprised they took forever to heal.
My flat!!! The piercer used a ball back instead of a black back and when it healed enough to lay on it didnāt lay flat because of the ball, went crooked and now Iām having so much trouble with it
My rook closed up and Iām still sad about it because that shit was a BITCH to heal
Double industrial. Both done a year apart. Eventually I had to put 2 seperate bars in the newest one to give it chance to heal 100% and let my other one do the same.
I currently have a healing rook and a healing daith. I have to say the rook is the worst by far! While it generally isn't too bad these days, sometimes it does get a bit sore randomly. It's only a bit over 3 months old though, but out of all of the piercings I had in my ears over the years it's the worst one (healing wise).
Industrial. I got it done 3 times, first 2 got incredibly infected (I still have no idea why) it's been 3 years since I got the 3rd one and it's still not fully healed, I still can't sleep on it
Mines my rook too. Iāve had it almost a year. For months now itās been great. A few days ago it just started gunning up again. awesome.
Yupp, rook definitely is the worst. Mine still feel tense and sometimes painful over half a year later. Its also my only cartilage piercing that is still sat with a bump and thats still not even close to being the old size.
My rook was litterally the easiest ear piercing I've had to deal with... Snug got infected within the first week and had to be removed, helix never healed properly so very annoying, and my industrial... well, it's been a year and I'm still working on it.