What Is Cartilage Piercing? Everything We Know

By: Sayani Hazra

Published on:

What is cartilage piercing? Everything we know

A sort of body alteration known as cartilage piercings. Ear cartilage piercings are the most common. Nose piercings may go through cartilage as well. You must learn how to care for your piercing to heal correctly. Here’s all you need to know about how it affects your health.

What Are Cartilage Piercings?

A cartilage piercing is a decorative hole made in one of your body’s cartilage-filled areas. A cartilage piercing is any piercing of the stiff section of your ears or nose. Cartilage piercings heal slower than soft-tissue piercings in the earlobes or eyebrows.

Your Guide To Cartilage Piercing Jewelry – Pierced

It might take anything from four to twelve months to recover. Because the jewelry cuts through cartilage rather than soft tissue, your body will have to work harder to mend the new hole. These piercings will heal from the inside out. As a result, you may believe your piercing has healed before it is.

What Kinds of Cartilage Piercings Are There?

The helix, positioned on the outer rim of the ear, is one of the most common forms of cartilage piercings. The tragus, daith, and conch are other frequent cartilage piercings. It will just be a matter of time until they are also the names of 2042 kindergarten students.

Helix

The upper helix piercing is what most people think of when they think of cartilage piercings. It often begins with a stud, although it may include a little hoop. Many individuals choose a single helix (one piercing), but you may also stack two or three piercings in this spot. Your table is set, a three-person party! Tonight’s crab cakes are fantastic.

Snug Piercings

All ear cartilage piercings should be done by a professional, regardless of the piercing, and piercing guns should never be used to finish these piercings. They lack the requisite precision and may infect or harm these locations.

Tragus

The tragus piercing is done on the flap of the skin where your ear canal opens. Because the tissue is so thick, they are a little more uncomfortable. And not everyone is eligible for this piercing; some people’s tragus is too tiny to accommodate jewelry. Your best chance of having it done is to hire a professional piercer (as with all piercings).

Industrial Piercing

A scaffold piercing, also known as an industrial piercing in the United States, connects two holes performed using a hollow piercing needle to form a single straight piece of jewelry. The most popular industrial piercing jewelry is a 14G 1-inch industrial barbell. However, a 16G is sometimes utilized.

It’s pretty uncommon to start with cartilage studs, which will be replaced with a barbell after complete healing. Industrial piercings with cartilage studs heal more quickly, but it’s more challenging to align the piercings using this approach.

Don't Jump the Gun When It Comes To Getting a Cartilage Piercings

A hole in the helix and anti-helix is referred to as an industrial piercing. The most common location ranges from the forward helix, closer to the head, to the lower region of the helix, next to the auricle. The barbell is entered diagonally from behind the ear to the front of the upper cartilage and through the second piercing. A screw-on bead is attached just beneath the second hole to secure the barbell.

Rook

A rook piercing is a piercing that goes through the cartilage ridge in the top inner ear. Again, getting this cartilage piercing may be difficult because if your rook portion is too tiny or shallow, your piercing may not be able to get the angle correctly.

Lobe

The lobe is the most significant and softest region of the ear, and it is undeniably the most popular location to be pierced. Because of its size, the lobe may accommodate up to three or four piercings.

Lobe piercings are often performed with an excellent gauge. Earring studs, hoops, dangles, and open hoop dangles are all options. Gold earrings are the perfect jewelry for your ear piercing since many individuals with metal sensitivities may handle nickel-free 14k gold.

Forward Helix

The forward helix piercing is a version of the helix piercing that involves piercing the section of the upper ear cartilage closest to the head. When producing a forward helix piercing, a piercer usually uses a free-hand approach to penetrate the ear. For a double- or triple-forward helix, it’s also customary to puncture the forward helix many times.

CBRs, seamless hoops and tiny helix studs with flat disc backing are typical body jewelry types for the forward helix piercing. The most common hole size is 18G. Any piercing between the peak of the helix and where the helix enters the head is referred to as the forward helix.

Conch

The conch has two components that create two types of piercings: an inner conch and an outer conch. Both are punctured through the thickest section of cartilage on that area of the body, the middle shell of the ear. An inner conch puncture is located near the ear canal in the top section of the middle shell. On the other hand, the bottom half is traversed by an outer conch. The center shell, which resembles a conch seashell, gives the piercing name.

A conch piercing should cost roughly $70, according to Amanda Robone, a piercer at Clear Vision Tattoo, since you have to put in a needle charge and the cost of jewelry. “It’s more expensive than the mall, but it’s a night and day difference in jewelry quality, healing time, and customer care,” Robone adds. “You get exactly what you paid for!”

Orbital

The orbital piercing is a less frequent option than cartilage piercing (the most popular being in the lobes, with a helix piercing coming in second). Still, it provides a distinctive aesthetic for those seeking something unusual.

This piercing is similar to an industrial piercing in that it joins two piercings together. On the other hand, an orbital is pierced with a ring rather than a barbell. The piercing provides the impression of hovering and circling the ear, thus its name.

On a pain scale of one to five, a cartilage orbital is believed to be less painful. However, you could anticipate paying between $60 and $80 in pricing.

Before You Pierce Your Cartilage, Here Are Some Things To Consider:

Before having a cartilage piercing, be sure you know what to anticipate. We have made a list of the most critical things to help you get ready for your new piercing.

Visit A Professional Piercing Service

Going to a professional piercing business for your cartilage piercing reduces the risk of infection and problems while the piercing heals. A piercing business will utilize sanitized instruments and provide high-quality jewelry, ensuring that your piercing heals properly. Avoid visiting someplace that employs a piercing gun since they can’t be sanitized and may harm your ear cartilage.

Ask All Of Your Concerns

“Your piercer is there to make you feel at ease and knowledgeable, so don’t be shy about asking questions,” Collins adds. If you have metal sensitivity, inquire about the procedure, what they’re doing, and what jewelry they’ll put in. Stainless steel, titanium, or other APP-compliant jewelry is the way to go.

11 Cartilage Piercing Truths To Know Before You Go Under The Needle

Also, please inquire about the earring type they want to wear. “Most piercings, particularly in the helix, heal faster with a bar,” Collins notes, “and maybe exchanged out to a hoop once healed.” “However, certain piercings, such as rooks, heal faster with rings or curved bars,” says the author.

The Price

Ear cartilage piercings, such as the helix piercing, may cost anywhere from $40 to $80. The price is determined by the pricing range of the business, the quality of the cartilage jewelry, and the kind of piercing.

Drink Plenty Of Water And Stay Hydrated

If you are nervous, it’s tempting to skip meals on the big day or try to calm your anxieties with a bottle of wine. However, it’s critical to maintain your body in peak form to prepare for the treatment. Get plenty of rest the night before your appointment and eat something before leaving. Authority Tattoo suggests going for vitamin C-rich food (orange, anyone?)

If you want to bleed more, prolong the healing process, and pass out during the treatment, choose water over alcohol. Alcohol slows blood circulation because it dehydrates you. Bring plenty of water and an extra bottle just in case.

An Earlobe Piercing Takes Longer To Heal

Cartilage piercings (such as helix, conch, and industrial piercings) might take up to a year to heal, depending on the piercing location. Because cartilage piercings heal from the outside, they may seem to be healed before.

You Might Be Surprised By The Lack Of Initial Pain

“This varies from person to person since everyone’s pain level is different, but they’re all comparable in our piercers’ experience in the ear,” Collins explains. You’ll probably be OK with a cartilage piercing if you’ve already had your lobes pierced. Consider it the initial line of a tattoo or the clawing sensation of your cat’s claws when they leap off your lap. It’s a tiny pinch, but the first sting isn’t that bad.

Best Cartilage Earrings Guide (With Images) | Jewelry Guide

However, a few hours after your ear has been pierced, it may begin to swell, and you may have a dull discomfort or a little throbbing feeling. “Piercing is, at the end of the day, a minor medical operation that may be uncomfortable and should be handled as such,” Bubbers explains. After your surgery, use pain medication such as ibuprofen to help decrease inflammation.

If The Jewelry Is Infected, Do Not Take It Out

Soft tissue piercings are not the same as cartilage piercings. Remove the jewelry if your cartilage piercing becomes infected. Taking away the jewelry can trap the infection within your ear, perhaps causing cartilage damage. Keep the jewelry in place until the infection has cleared up and can be treated.

What You Shouldn’t Do While Your Cartilage Piercing Heals

There are a few things to avoid and understand what to do to keep your piercing clean and healing properly.

Do Not Immediately Go Swimming

Before entering any body of water, be sure your cartilage piercing is no longer an open wound (other than a shower). It’s best to wait approximately a month after getting a cartilage piercing before swimming with it to avoid infection from microorganisms in the water. Don’t go swimming until your piercing is no longer bleeding, bloated, or oozing pus.

Do Not Touch The Jewellery

Some piercers recommend rotating or twisting earrings to help the piercing heal properly. This is not recommended anymore. To avoid bacterial infection, keep your hands away from your earrings.

This includes twisting or repositioning the earring. On the other hand, moving the jewelry is more likely to harm your cartilage piercing and prevent it from healing properly.

Don’t Pick At Any Formed Crust

Your cartilage piercings are likely to leak a clear to the yellowish fluid that forms a crust around the site. The presence of fluid is a distinctive aspect of the healing process and does not indicate infection. Do not attempt to remove the crust with your fingertips or fingernails. Instead, use a cotton swab soaked in saline to clean it away.

Cartilage Piercings: How to Look After Them

After the operation, you should discuss aftercare with your piercer. They could provide you with a piece of paper or direct you to a website to look at when you get home. Along with q-tips and cotton balls, the only thing you truly need is saline solution.

Use the saline solution twice a day to care for your piercings and speed up the healing process, once in the morning and once before bed. Swab the piercing region with a salinated q-tip and then apply a saturated cotton ball to the area for a few minutes.

Which Cartilage Piercing Should I Get?

This is all up to you. What sort of cartilage piercing you receive is determined by your preferences and style. While some individuals like to keep it safe with helix or auricle piercings, others may prefer the look of an industrial bar.

Consider getting an easy-to-access piercing initially if you’re new to piercing. You may go to more intricate piercings such as snugs or rooks if you like the aesthetic. You may also speak with a piercer about the procedure and seek their advice on what would be best for you.

It is that simple. Keep your piercing clean by avoiding touching it and rinsing it with saltwater. Harsh cleaners like alcohol or peroxide, which may dry up the surrounding skin, are unnecessary. You should have a gorgeous, perfect-looking cartilage piercing for years if you follow the easy methods above.

Leave a Comment