Question Question for those with peircings

Peircings through the upper curve of the ear: more or less painful/risky then through the lobe? Asking for a story.

Piercings that go through the skin of the upper ear, are equally as painful as getting the lobe pierced.

Piercings that go through the cartilaginous part of the ear are way more painful, and take a lot longer to heal.

An ex-girlfriend had this as a problem.

Also for nipple piercings, or body-piercings in general, you want to make sure that you sluice out the hole regularly with saline solution, so as to reduce the chances of infection, but also to reduce the build-up of scar tissue in the hole.

NB. By regularly, i mean 2-3 times a day minimum while it is healing.

This thickening of the skin/tissue around the hole will reduce the sensitivity of the nipple, which reduces one of the main reasons for getting the piercings.

One other friend had both nipples pierced. The piercings were done by different people, with very different levels of experience. The first was done by someone inexperienced, and lost sensitivity. The second was done by someone with a lot more experience, and was treated with the appropriate follow-up treatment. This nipple gained a lot more sensitivity.

As she said, it was more painful to run salt-water through the wound when it was healing, but the short-term pain was worth the longer-term pleasure that she now gets from the increased sensation.

One excellent source of advice can be found here, http://www.ekmpowershop3.com/ekmps/shops/metalmorphosis/index.asp

Hope that this helps.

Mister D wrote: Piercings that go through the skin of the upper ear, are equally as painful as getting the lobe pierced.

It's going to be a cartilage piercing even in the upper helix.



It can also be more painful, as there is going to be inflammation. Not shown in the chart below, but I have an orbital piercing (captive bead ring, going through two holes) placed in my right helix: the piercing holes have to be spaced to match the closed ring, no allowance for swelling, and steel doesn't give way that easily. An industrial (or scaffold) doesn't have that problem, because of the geometry of the ear.

A vertical industrial (also not shown, because it's very dependent on the shape of the ear) doesn't have that problem at all (the opposing holes had better be in line with each other!)

Common ear piercings:

Mister D wrote: Piercings that go through the cartilaginous part of the ear are way more painful, and take a lot longer to heal.

The pain doesn't last long, but you do need to be aware of it. Figure nine months to a year for complete healing, IF after-care and maintenance are carried out properly. That doesn't mean the holes won't close back up fairly quickly if there isn't something in place to prevent that.

It will take a few months before you can sleep on that side.

Mister D wrote: Also for nipple piercings, or body-piercings in general, you want to make sure that you sluice out the hole regularly with saline solution, so as to reduce the chances of infection, but also to reduce the build-up of scar tissue in the hole.

NB. By regularly, i mean 2-3 times a day minimum while it is healing.

Also, no one touches the jewelry without cleaned hands. Until the piercing heals, it IS an open wound.

Ever wonder why the applicable specialist is an "ear, nose & throat" specialist? Let an ear cartilage piercing get infected and that mystery will rapidly be solved.

Mister D wrote: As she said, it was more painful to run salt-water through the wound when it was healing, but the short-term pain was worth the longer-term pleasure that she now gets from the increased sensation.

She might have managed to use too much salt? Warm salt water felt good for my ear piercings, even if was awkward to manage.

You can buy saline solution in the correct concentration in most drugstores -- it's used for lots of things, including washing some types of contact lenses. It's not expensive, but it's only really sterile until you open the flask; afterwards, you should keep it in the refrigerator -- and, if you want to make it really sure, discard the bottle and open a new one every few days. Although, in my experience, it will keep for a considerable longer time -- saline may be friendly to microorganisms, but in the absence of nutrients and energy, it's really hard for anything to grow.

Note: cartilage infections are very, very bad. Bad as in "you could lose the whole ear." You DON'T want to get one of those. So follow those aftercare instructions VERY carefully, and see a doctor at the first sign of anything going wrong.

The piercing I was gonna give the character would fall in the in the flat area. Not sure this will work for every one, but here is the jewlry that inspired my question: www.pinterest.com/pin/262756959489973583 /upper left, the elf girl with the silver ear tips
pintrist is a pain.