It’s the Right Time to Stand Out: How About Ear Piercings?

Piercings and tattoos have played a huge and important role in many cultures throughout history. Both men and women have been piercing their ears and noses for years and their piercings served as an identification, a sign of social status or wealth or simply as body decoration. However, over the years this tradition of piercing ears has transitioned into a style statement. Today, people are piercing literally every inch of their bodies even though ear piercings remained as the most popular type of piercing in the world.

Most Popular Types of Ear Piercings

There are many types of ear piercings, but the most common of them is the earlobe piercing. This is also the oldest form of body modification. An earlobe piercing is done with a piercing gun and involves making a hole in the center of each earlobe. Earlobe piercings usually take four to six weeks to completely heal.

Other common types of ear piercings include industrial, cartilage, gauging or stretching, conch, rook, tragus, daith, and helix piercing.

An industrial or scaffold piercing involves two holes that which are connected by a piece of jewelry which is usually a long barbell. Industrial piercing can be carried out both vertically and horizontally and a very attractive and catchy look. However, the entire process can be painful, so it is very important to get the piercing done by an experienced piercer. Healing time for this type of piercing usually takes anywhere from three months to one year.

Cartilage piercing is also one of the most common ear piercings that can be seen today. This type of piercing involves a hole in the upper part of the ear which is usually done with a piercing gun. However, this type of piercing takes longer to heal (eight to twelve weeks).

Gauging is a form od body modification that involves stretching of the earlobes with a 20- or 18-gauge needle. Gauging is done by slowly upgrading the size of the earring, coaxing the hole to fit larger and larger earrings until one has achieved the desired size.

A conch piercing involves a hole in the large area of cartilage above the earlobe and the anti-tragus of the inner ear. A barbell or ring can be worn on this type of piercing and healing time is usually from eight to sixteen weeks.

Rook piercing involves a hole in the thick fold of the cartilage which is located on the anti-helix. This type of piercing is quite painful and healing time can be from two months to one year.
Tragus piercing involves making a hole in the thick fold of the cartilage with a needle. The thickness of the tragus varies from individual to individual, but the healing usually takes anywhere from eight months to one year.

Daith piercing involves a hole in the small fold of the cartilage just above the ear canal. This is a unique type of piercing which can be done only if the person has a well-developed innermost cartilage fold. Healing time is from two months to one year.

A helix piercing is one of the most popular and coolest types of ear piercings right now. This type of piercing involves a hole in the upper cartilage of the ear. A double helix piercing is two piercings under one another. Cartilage ear piercings can take up to one year to properly heal, but generally, they take three to six months.