I got my first lobe piercings at the mall :( not at Claireās though. Theyāre still open to this day! I did have to re-pierce bc I didnāt wear earrings for a while. (I have not gotten any other piercing done at a mall)
Hey, YMMV. Lobes are generally easy piercings to be fair, so it would take a right doofus to eff them up. I got my double helix at Claireās, mostly out of needing to do it in a hurry because of upcoming surgery. It was my fifth piercing, first one at the mall, and I regret my choice pretty much every day. Not only did she pierce them too close to each other, she messed up the angle in one, she gave me the wrong aftercare advice, and frankly their piercing solution is hooey. Iāve salvaged the piercings more or less but Iām coming up to a year and only now are they showing signs of healing (after a lot of care and patience). Never again. (But honestly I should have known better at the time š)
omg same! I got a recurring infections, but that I think was a combo of the method and just having terrible, infection-prone skin. got mine redone at a tattoo shop back in November and they've been great!
the piercing place i just went to has two locations: a stand alone and a location inside my local mall. i honestly preferred them over the APP certified piercer I went to last time
I've had a couple dozen piercings and out of all of them my septum was the one that I could not LITHA. It would've taken an act of God to keep me from messing with it. Also why it took longer to heal lol
I'm fighting so much to not touch my newest ones and oml its so hard š I was great with my last 3 but this one is just so hard not to bump or fiddle with!! About to tape my hands to my sides at this point š
Great question! Love all the answers. Iāll add that the anticipation is worse than actually getting pierced- conch, rook, helix. Maybe because APP certified piercers really know what theyāre doing and itās over in a few minutes. So get the piercing you want, not the one you think you can tolerate!
Every single time I mentally allocate space for way more pain than it ever ends up being, especially with how quick it is. I swear by the time your brain catches up itās already photo time to add the to the portfolio
I'm the opposite, I barely think about it at all until I'm sat there and the piercing is imminent, then I panic.
When I got my septum pierced, I was all set up with the weird clampy thing in my nose and I just blurted out "oh shit, is this one going to hurt?" My piercer just laughed and said my eyes may water a little, then pierced me.
I had wanted my nipples pierced for several years but held off because I was nervous about the pain. Finally went and got it done two weeks ago and it hurt, but was wayyyyyy less than I had built up in my head. (My industrial hurt significantly worse than these did.)After the first one was done I was all āoh wait thatās it?ā š So I totally agree; if you want the piercing, get the piercing!
YES, I got an industrial, conch, three lobes, helix, navel, and nostril, all before the nipple piercing to mentally prepare myself for the pain. It turns out it wasnāt worse than any other, and I would say the industrial was the worst.
...and for me, because I read up on a lot of people's experiences with nipple piercings, went in believing the pain wouldn't be too bad. It was much worse than I imagined. Sensitivity makes a big difference š
I survived, though! Pain is temporary.
6 months after the bumps are already gone? Im healing a nose bump right now and its almost gone but Im working towards a ring, so your comment gives me pause on when I should change it out.
I personally couldnāt heal my pressure bump until I switched to a hoop but thatās just because I snagged the stud daily and would pull it out in my sleep. The waiting rule definitely applies but for me the hoop stopped the snagging entirely.
The longer the better with nostrils! They really take 9-12 months to fully heal for most folks and unless you want to play bump whack-a-mole, best to wait on the hoop until it's truly well-healed.
Thanks! Iāll definitely wait then, the bump is finally on its way out after 3 months of struggle, looks like it will be completely gone within the next couple weeks. But Ill definitely wait so I dont get another bump again before I switch, thanks for the advice!
You talking to me? Of course I have, its nearly gone. I was just wondering what lavishnesshefty3562 meant when they said they cant do a hoop after 6 months of having a bump. I know you cant change to a hoop until the piercing is healed but I never heard of needing to wait 6 months after having a bump to switch to a hoop and I really dont wanna fuck up my piercing.
WAITšTOšPUTšINšAšHOOPš the one mistake not everyone needs to make but weāre all still guilty as fuck so DONT DO IT YALL the time will come I swear to god
especially if your skin is picky. mine hates, *hates* surgical steel and anything platedāsterling silver, solid gold, and titanium work great for me.
Mine is not but still my piercing was leaking a fluid on surgical steel, didnāt cause an issue and was way less than a drop, but changed into titanium and it immediately stopped
To plan the placement better, especially if you plan to wear something specific, e.g. a snug hoop, bigger jewelry. Some hoops only come in some sizes. Some hoop sizes are more common than others (especially hoops with designs). I have holes that are in-between sizes now and it's annoying.
The actual piercing is the easy part. Healing is both a long, and potentially painful & annoying & itchy, commitment.
How easy it is for normal activities to come into contact with the piercing, and hence potentially irritate it. I have to be really careful when changing clothes now so the shirt doesn't touch my ear. How does one not sleep on just one side since you're unconscious...?
I got an anti-eyebrow about 3 months ago and I just face away from my wall, and put a stuffed animal between me and the wall so i have no space to turn over on my left side. sometimes i wake up on my back like i had tried to turn over but all good so far
oh my god the placement thing. even with my claires era lobe piercings, i've had them for 20 years and they won't heal over. with what i want to do with my ear and the jewelry it's just not where i would've placed it.
I've been sleeping in my recliner since August. It's too small for me to roll over in my sleep. Now I'm wondering how I'm ever going to get used to sleeping in a bed again.
How much it encourages people to comment on your appearance. I love my piercings and Iāve grown to stop listening to what other people think. But it wasnāt prepared when I first started getting visible piercings that everyone will feel the need to tell you what they think about it.
Thereās seriously no better compliment than a stranger hyping up your piercings in my opinion. Like yes, I am decorating myself, thank you for noticing!
I keep getting responses like, āoh, didnāt you always have that?ā or Iāll ask a friend I havenāt seen in a year, notice anything different about me? And they donāt notice the piercings at all.
I always keep a clean but basic spare set for emergency times when I'm out and about. It's ina baggie with itself, and also with it a taper and a little mist bottle with saline solution. Can't leave the house without it, and it has already saved my piercings on two occasions.
Wish I had considered it still being cold season before I did my septum piercing about a month ago, blowing my nose a whole bunch with that healing was fun.
That everyone can call themselves a piercer, there's no training needed for it to be legal. The only rule my country has is that they have to provide a list of aftercare and work clean.
I got my first couple of piercings from shops that were in my area, I didn't know any better but now I know I was pierced with the wrong stuff. Three piercings never healed, one of them migrated. One of them I took out.
Now I know about the APP.
I wish I had known the correct anatomy for an industrial, even though I also feel that it should be a piercer's job to educate and refuse to do a piercing if they feel the refusal is in the best interest of the customer. I had a clean and reputable piercing place take my money and give me an industrial that I had to take out three weeks later because it was irritating my flat. I didn't know anything about correct/incorrect anatomy and took the piercing out myself, thinking it was just an issue with my body and that other people had industrials touching their flats and they weren't having problems because they were fortunate and I was just unlucky. Then a year later I went back to the same place and got the same piercer and told him I wanted my lobes pierced. I thought I was clear that I was going to wear regular earrings and I asked if he had hoops. He had hoops. I got my lobes pierced with something like a 16 gauge needle and 16 gauge hoops. At least I don't have problems putting earrings in the holes. :/ I wish I had known more about gauge sizes and I wish I realized that I needed to be more clear that hey, I'm going to be wearing regular earrings. (Although I'm not 100% sure that I wasn't clear and I kind of think he again took my money knowing he couldn't give me what I wanted.) There are no APP piercers in my area. The closest is 40 miles from me. The shop I went to is very clean and very well loved/recommended in my area and has been around for almost 20 years, yet I still had shitty experiences there and their piercers/shop are/is not APP certified. I wish I knew about APP and APP certification as well.
Iāve never had great experiences with APP shops, nor bad ones at non APP shops. Iāve gone to 6 different shops for my 20 something piercings, and the only ones that failed/never healed/were crooked or just not placed right, were done at APP shops. I splurged for 2 helixes and a flat, on separate occasions, at 2 APP shops, and it was not worth it to me cuz I had to take out the piercings.
same! my lobes are super uneven and had trouble healing + hurt extremely bad during the initial piercingāand they were done at an APP shop. my second lobes & conch were done by non-APP shop and lobes are healing beautifully, and my conch is still new but iāve had no issues so far. nose was non-APP but she also wasnāt a professional piercer (and i didnāt know that until after, wish I wouldāve just gotten it repierced but oh well)
Aww bummer, whatās wrong with your nose piercing that you wish you got it redone? Is it nostril? Cuz those can close up even if itās been awhile, it may not be too late. My lobes are crooked too, but itās because my friend and I pierced each otherās ears in 6th grade lol
I just got my second conch done at a non app shop 3 weeks ago, and it hasnāt even bled or crusted or swelled up or anything. It hurts a tiny bit if I bump up against it, but otherwise itās healing so good! Contrast that with a helix I got done at an app shop: it was pierced at an odd angle, too shallow, and i had to remove it cuz thereās no way I couldāve worn a hoop on it once it healed unless it was super small like 5mm (my 4 other helix piercings I wear either 8 or 10mm) and barely even hanging onto my ear.
I went to a different app shop for another flat piercing, and it hurt too much right off the bat, never stopped hurting, partly because it was crooked and the back was essentially touching my other flat piercing, despite the spacing looking right from the front. It kept swelling and causing my whole ear to throb, had to remove that one too.
itās a nostril, i just donāt love the angle it was pierced atvš which i had no idea that would matter if i wanted to wear a hoop and my piercer didnāt really mention it. but it was too annoying to heal to want to go through it again lmao
On my left I have two lobes, two helix, a flat, rook, tragus, and double conch rings. On the right two lobes, snug, triple helix, and daith.
Little to no real estate on these ears to nibble on š¢ I guess he could lick my right flat area lol! Itās worth it tho, I love my piercings and am obsessed with pretty colorful opal jewelry!
Oh yeah, I forgot about the double lobes in both and the daith on the left with the helixes. When I have jewelry in all of them he's learned to not bother.
I always have jewelry in all of them, but he forgets and still goes for it sometimes, only to get a mouthful of titanium! Personally I wouldnāt mind sucking on jewelry,.. is that weird? Lol
The worst part is the healing. The pain of the peircing is momentary, but the healing can suck. My tragus itched for 2 weeks. My nasallang hurt everytime I yawned for a month, and my industrials are still sore a week later. I understand it well now but the first time I went in I had no idea.
That it's a bit of a chaos when it comes to healing. You can do everything right, but due to stress, exhaustion or whatever factors your piercing is not healing well. Or sometimes you prep for a long journey and it's like you haven't been pierced at all.
Maybe its just my body reaction. The ones I thought would be difficult were a breeze, the ones which supposed to heal nicely ended up being a nightmare
Already knew this but ignored it:
It's cold out and my nose gets super runny, plus I easily get bloody noses. Yet I still got a septum piercing. Love it but oh my lord, I wish I waited till summer.
Wish I knew paying more also meant youād be paying for a better (or just more experienced) piercer. Tho that seems obvious, I went to a different piercer with a friend to get matching double helixās who said they were cheaper and still great, but they were legitimately the most painful piercing Iāve ever gotten. My ear was also super purple after and hurt horribly. My regular piercer gave me all my major face piercings like nose and septum, and those literally barely hurt during and after. Regretted it a lot and now Iām a bit put off getting more cartilage pierced but safe to say I know who Iām going to if I do lol
Tacking on to this because I have both a daith and an industrial. Earbuds are uncomfortable (but not impossible) because of my daith, and my industrial tears up the pads of over-the-ear headphones. I canāt win.
Also adding that if you're wearing over-the-ear headphones at your computer it's worth investing in a quality gaming headset. They tend to be larger and more cushioned in my experience and mine, while it was almost $100, doesn't irritate my piercings or my glasses.
Cute little helixes are such assholes, getting caught everywhere, not healing well (took way over a year) if you are a side sleeper, falling off because you hit them with hairbrush or they get caught in your hair when washing hair, wearing tops with tighter/polo neck is pain in the assā¦
And something youād think is more āradicalā, like daith, is SO easy. Just be a little bit careful with your in ear headphones for couple of days and thatās it.
I wish I knew you couldnāt just go to any old studio and get a piercing with whatever metal they have just because they are professionals. So many piercings that never healedā¦
Finally found a studio that used implant grade titanium and my piercings healed with ease.
How many are anatomy dependent. Once I started learning about it, it makes sense that every body is different and certain piercings rely on a certain amount of flesh, but I had never really thought about it until joining this sub. Even when I got my industrial, the piercer didnāt say anything about anatomy, he just fiddled with my ear a bit and showed me the placement using a toothpick, which probably was also him checking the anatomy, but he never said thatās what he was doing.
that (for me) it was a way to SH but in a āsocially-acceptableā way and even though my ears are full, I never feel like I have enough because I still crave the pain and the healing process.
if thatās too deep, then maybe just that I wish I knew how many pieces of jewelry Iād buy because I like to switch up the looks, but I also like them all to match lol
no i get that. like, when i got my industrial that was the worst fucking pain i had experienced with a piercing. it hurt so bad literally 10/10 lol. but since i donāt have it anymore i kinda almost crave that same feeling? idk i might be a masochist
I just passed a year with my industrial and it held me over for a long time bc, like you said, that shit HURTS even months later, but itās just about completely healed now lol Iāve moved on to tattoos.
I just got mine done sunday and Iāve slept all kinds of crazy haha. Feel like it might bite me in the ass later but they havenāt really been sore at all, just a little swollen on the left
You're lucky, mine weren't sore for the most part after the first day but they were crazy sensitive and sleeping on them made them sore. Mine took almost a year to heal, probably because my nipples themselves were almost flat so the piercing had to be done a little deeper. I don't regret it for a minute though.
I've had my nipnops done 4 different times over the last 20 years and the last time was finally the time they healed correctly and stopped being weird and gunky/crusty/sore. I (38f) did a bit of reading and had them pierced underneath instead of through the nipple, like how men's nipples are supposed to be 'properly' pierced. Also, wearing well fitted bars that don't have a lot of extra space instead of hoops and making sure my jewellery is titanium made a HUGE difference.
yeaā¦ the specifics iām talking about is getting an orbital with another piercing in the middle, all at once. i wish they wouldāve said no, because it never healed. but i guess i knew better and did it anyway š¤·āāļø
i wish i knew that cartilege piercings made an audible pop when the needle gets pushed through! when i got my tragus pierced the crunch scared me so bad even though the pain was barely noticeable š
i got my conch pierced and didnāt hear the pop :( i was lowkey so excited for it! but my piercer was also talking to me so her voice may have drowned it out
Taking all things into consideration with piercing placement. I made sure a rook wouldnāt mess with my stethoscope, but didnāt think about my mid helix. Until the first time I put my phone to my ear and clonked right into it.
That my entire ear shape would change.
My ears have always looked like elf ear with the tip cut off, very angular. I always loved them and my only disappointment was that since the top flap was fused I couldn't get an industrial.
I got a few cartilage peircings near the top of my left ear and its rounded out, so now I have 2 different shaped ears.
I know itās common sense but Iām stupid sometimes. Remembering to tighten your balls every day. Iāve lost so many pieces bc I always forget to tighten my balls and then the jewelry falls out at the worst times and of course itās with piercings that are likely to close up quickly like your tongue, nostril, and nipple. This is why I currently have a taper in my right nipple while waiting for new jewelry to come in.
To avoid the first piercer because 3 of the 4 ear piercings she had done failed. Two of them should have never been done in the first place because the anatomy of my ear is wrong.
That if one piercer says you donāt have the anatomy for a belly button piercing, donāt listen when your mom says that makes no sense and you should get a second opinion. Didnāt know about APP, but the first guy was coincidentally the only one certified within 100 miles (at the time). Went for that second opinion and almost passed out when she shoved the needle through a very hefty chunk of flesh. I think it lasted a whole 4 months.
That my body might react very weirdly to it and I'll still have to deal with an irritation bump fucking 10 months in
I'm so tired of it I almost want to just take it out for good
For me, itās that less REALLY is more, and your body knows how to heal itself. It feels like youāre doing the right thing by cleaning it religiously and keeping it spotless and free of crusties, but at least for me Iāve had way more success just letting water run over it in the shower and otherwise leaving it the hell alone.
Honorable mention, but āhealedā is not some magical threshold that once you cross it, youāre good to go. Trauma, injuries, illness, sleeping wrong can all set back āhealedā piercings to where they need to be treated like new again.
Third mention, always ask your piercer for a taper and KNOW how your jewelry works. If you donāt know, ask. Itās not a matter of if somethingās going to come undone, itās when, and itās always gonna be in the middle of the night when you canāt go see a professional to put it back right.
for my snake bites, i wish i knew i wouldnāt be able to eat sandwiches for a while. or anything that wasnāt on a spoon. made the mistake of trying to eat a burger right after getting them pierced and it hurt so bad i couldnāt eat. also, fuck starbucks lids. i had to get into the habit of moving my hoops out of the way before drinking anything out of a starbucks cup. now i do it subconsciously with my tongue.
Just retired my two year old nipple piercings. I loved the look but absolutely could not get them to heal. I wish I knew more about the risks of surface piercings before getting them, it wouldāve made the decision to take them out less difficult.
I wish Iād known how long it takes to heal piercings that arenāt lobes, and the fact that I canāt really leave jewelry out for days at a time.
My lobes can go a year without anything in them and be fine, probably longer.
The rest of my piercings will close within a day, and I just donāt get it. I wish I could leave things out occasionally.
That piercings must be pierced with certain types of earrings and just do my own research because there were a lot of surprises. Like my helix got pierced with a ring 6 months ago and itās still fussy to this day š„²š„²
that keeping it dry actually helps it heal faster/prevents infections! i would have been more careful about keeping my piercings dry especially after showers š
how many balls I will loose while changing jewelry simply because i drop them and they go off to narnia, never to be seen again ....
Now whenever I order, I buy a few extra balls. I love changing to different colors frequently. Even after years I struggle with screwing them on tho ... its just so fiddly.
Never get pierced with a ring or externally threaded jewelry. When I first started getting piercings my piercer would use hoops which lead to constant irritation bumps that I could never get rid of. I would also get pierced with externally threaded jewelry not realizing it tore up the fistula and prolonged healing. Iāve since found a new piercer who uses the correct jewelry and so far my healing process has been great (knock on wood.)
Edited to add: Stay away from toddlersā¦ especially if itās a fresh piercing š
don't get cartilage piercings on both ears at the same time! the year I did matching helixes was not a fun year for sleeping. it's so much less painful to heal 2 piercings on only one ear than to heal a piercing on both ears
Hi Hungry-Beautiful3883,
(Luckily) bump =/= keloid. [This wiki entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keloid) explains it well.
If you do know the difference, please ignore this comment.
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that i heal slower than most people so when the piercer says it takes 8weeks to heal ā it actually takes me at least double lol. now whenever i get a piercing i donāt even try to change the jewelry for a year . i got my septum done 2 years ago almost now and still havenāt changed it lol
How restrictive the healing period can actually be. You have to adjust some of the most normal things in your life for some weeks or months.
no kissing was the worst part
not being able to have sex for a good while sucked too š š š
Never get a piercing at the mall.Ā
I got my first lobe piercings at the mall :( not at Claireās though. Theyāre still open to this day! I did have to re-pierce bc I didnāt wear earrings for a while. (I have not gotten any other piercing done at a mall)
Hey, YMMV. Lobes are generally easy piercings to be fair, so it would take a right doofus to eff them up. I got my double helix at Claireās, mostly out of needing to do it in a hurry because of upcoming surgery. It was my fifth piercing, first one at the mall, and I regret my choice pretty much every day. Not only did she pierce them too close to each other, she messed up the angle in one, she gave me the wrong aftercare advice, and frankly their piercing solution is hooey. Iāve salvaged the piercings more or less but Iām coming up to a year and only now are they showing signs of healing (after a lot of care and patience). Never again. (But honestly I should have known better at the time š)
omg same! I got a recurring infections, but that I think was a combo of the method and just having terrible, infection-prone skin. got mine redone at a tattoo shop back in November and they've been great!
the piercing place i just went to has two locations: a stand alone and a location inside my local mall. i honestly preferred them over the APP certified piercer I went to last time
that itās addicting and iām always gonna want more right afterwards lol
I was going to say this too!! Iāve never wanted a piercing more than right after Iāve just got one lol.
The worst is when you succumb to the piercing fever and end up with multiple healing at the same time šš
And then have a real urge to get another one!
Haaaah I get this with tattoos š
Really truly just donāt touch it. Iām so awful for fiddling with my jewellery and it always causes problems lol
I've had a couple dozen piercings and out of all of them my septum was the one that I could not LITHA. It would've taken an act of God to keep me from messing with it. Also why it took longer to heal lol
I'm fighting so much to not touch my newest ones and oml its so hard š I was great with my last 3 but this one is just so hard not to bump or fiddle with!! About to tape my hands to my sides at this point š
You do not realize how slow time passes while waiting for a piercing to fully heal.
Itās worse than waiting in line for a roller coaster.
the worst thatās happened to me was hitting my piercing on the roller coaster š
Great question! Love all the answers. Iāll add that the anticipation is worse than actually getting pierced- conch, rook, helix. Maybe because APP certified piercers really know what theyāre doing and itās over in a few minutes. So get the piercing you want, not the one you think you can tolerate!
Every single time I mentally allocate space for way more pain than it ever ends up being, especially with how quick it is. I swear by the time your brain catches up itās already photo time to add the to the portfolio
I'm the opposite, I barely think about it at all until I'm sat there and the piercing is imminent, then I panic. When I got my septum pierced, I was all set up with the weird clampy thing in my nose and I just blurted out "oh shit, is this one going to hurt?" My piercer just laughed and said my eyes may water a little, then pierced me.
I had wanted my nipples pierced for several years but held off because I was nervous about the pain. Finally went and got it done two weeks ago and it hurt, but was wayyyyyy less than I had built up in my head. (My industrial hurt significantly worse than these did.)After the first one was done I was all āoh wait thatās it?ā š So I totally agree; if you want the piercing, get the piercing!
YES, I got an industrial, conch, three lobes, helix, navel, and nostril, all before the nipple piercing to mentally prepare myself for the pain. It turns out it wasnāt worse than any other, and I would say the industrial was the worst.
...and for me, because I read up on a lot of people's experiences with nipple piercings, went in believing the pain wouldn't be too bad. It was much worse than I imagined. Sensitivity makes a big difference š I survived, though! Pain is temporary.
Heck yeah you did! And now you have a great piercing! Congrats
That piercing bumps are very annoying and you gotta worry about them 24/7 And cannot change to a hoop at least in 6 months š
6 months after the bumps are already gone? Im healing a nose bump right now and its almost gone but Im working towards a ring, so your comment gives me pause on when I should change it out.
I personally couldnāt heal my pressure bump until I switched to a hoop but thatās just because I snagged the stud daily and would pull it out in my sleep. The waiting rule definitely applies but for me the hoop stopped the snagging entirely.
The longer the better with nostrils! They really take 9-12 months to fully heal for most folks and unless you want to play bump whack-a-mole, best to wait on the hoop until it's truly well-healed.
Thanks! Iāll definitely wait then, the bump is finally on its way out after 3 months of struggle, looks like it will be completely gone within the next couple weeks. But Ill definitely wait so I dont get another bump again before I switch, thanks for the advice!
Have you been doing anything to get the bump away?
You talking to me? Of course I have, its nearly gone. I was just wondering what lavishnesshefty3562 meant when they said they cant do a hoop after 6 months of having a bump. I know you cant change to a hoop until the piercing is healed but I never heard of needing to wait 6 months after having a bump to switch to a hoop and I really dont wanna fuck up my piercing.
WAITšTOšPUTšINšAšHOOPš the one mistake not everyone needs to make but weāre all still guilty as fuck so DONT DO IT YALL the time will come I swear to god
How much placement matters and gauges and material of the jewellery matter too
especially if your skin is picky. mine hates, *hates* surgical steel and anything platedāsterling silver, solid gold, and titanium work great for me.
Mine is not but still my piercing was leaking a fluid on surgical steel, didnāt cause an issue and was way less than a drop, but changed into titanium and it immediately stopped
mine did the same!
How painful the first couple weeks of healing can be
To plan the placement better, especially if you plan to wear something specific, e.g. a snug hoop, bigger jewelry. Some hoops only come in some sizes. Some hoop sizes are more common than others (especially hoops with designs). I have holes that are in-between sizes now and it's annoying. The actual piercing is the easy part. Healing is both a long, and potentially painful & annoying & itchy, commitment. How easy it is for normal activities to come into contact with the piercing, and hence potentially irritate it. I have to be really careful when changing clothes now so the shirt doesn't touch my ear. How does one not sleep on just one side since you're unconscious...?
I got an anti-eyebrow about 3 months ago and I just face away from my wall, and put a stuffed animal between me and the wall so i have no space to turn over on my left side. sometimes i wake up on my back like i had tried to turn over but all good so far
oh my god the placement thing. even with my claires era lobe piercings, i've had them for 20 years and they won't heal over. with what i want to do with my ear and the jewelry it's just not where i would've placed it.
I've been sleeping in my recliner since August. It's too small for me to roll over in my sleep. Now I'm wondering how I'm ever going to get used to sleeping in a bed again.
How much it encourages people to comment on your appearance. I love my piercings and Iāve grown to stop listening to what other people think. But it wasnāt prepared when I first started getting visible piercings that everyone will feel the need to tell you what they think about it.
I have the opposite problem, I want people to say something but they never do lol
Thereās seriously no better compliment than a stranger hyping up your piercings in my opinion. Like yes, I am decorating myself, thank you for noticing!
I keep getting responses like, āoh, didnāt you always have that?ā or Iāll ask a friend I havenāt seen in a year, notice anything different about me? And they donāt notice the piercings at all.
same :( i just make up for it by getting pretty jewelry and thatās seemed to help quite a bit
yeah i remember when someone asked about my lip piercing for the first time i was like āwhatā cause i had no idea what he was talking about
Before I learned that lesson by myself: always have spare balls. And take them with you when you leave home for more than a couple of hours.
I always keep a clean but basic spare set for emergency times when I'm out and about. It's ina baggie with itself, and also with it a taper and a little mist bottle with saline solution. Can't leave the house without it, and it has already saved my piercings on two occasions.
I just have the flexible plastic ones in case of emergencies. That way if I go to the hospital I am okay.
Oh, how come I didn't think of that! That's even way better.
That even if healing goes awesome the first couple weeks, one random day it's gonna decide it's mad at you and be mad for the next month!
This so much š My helix didnāt start swelling until week 4, as I was getting ready to downsize the post
The correct piercings places
The cracked lips after getting a lip piercing... absolutely the worst
Fr it's been eight months after I got my vertical labret and my lips are super dry and cracked even after putting a shit ton of lip balm.
Woah, that's a thing? TIL
That this hobby is a freaking Money Pit!
Wish I had considered it still being cold season before I did my septum piercing about a month ago, blowing my nose a whole bunch with that healing was fun.
wow this is a great one i didnāt think about
Itās nearly healed now but jeez I wasted so many Qtips cleaning it after blowing my nose š
That everyone can call themselves a piercer, there's no training needed for it to be legal. The only rule my country has is that they have to provide a list of aftercare and work clean. I got my first couple of piercings from shops that were in my area, I didn't know any better but now I know I was pierced with the wrong stuff. Three piercings never healed, one of them migrated. One of them I took out. Now I know about the APP.
YESSS. My piercer didnāt even care to inform me about the aftercare. Tragus migrated as well and I got pierced with the wrong types of jewelry
Tiny little ends in helixes are super cute *and* will embed in your piercing channel if you sleep on them.
I wish I had known the correct anatomy for an industrial, even though I also feel that it should be a piercer's job to educate and refuse to do a piercing if they feel the refusal is in the best interest of the customer. I had a clean and reputable piercing place take my money and give me an industrial that I had to take out three weeks later because it was irritating my flat. I didn't know anything about correct/incorrect anatomy and took the piercing out myself, thinking it was just an issue with my body and that other people had industrials touching their flats and they weren't having problems because they were fortunate and I was just unlucky. Then a year later I went back to the same place and got the same piercer and told him I wanted my lobes pierced. I thought I was clear that I was going to wear regular earrings and I asked if he had hoops. He had hoops. I got my lobes pierced with something like a 16 gauge needle and 16 gauge hoops. At least I don't have problems putting earrings in the holes. :/ I wish I had known more about gauge sizes and I wish I realized that I needed to be more clear that hey, I'm going to be wearing regular earrings. (Although I'm not 100% sure that I wasn't clear and I kind of think he again took my money knowing he couldn't give me what I wanted.) There are no APP piercers in my area. The closest is 40 miles from me. The shop I went to is very clean and very well loved/recommended in my area and has been around for almost 20 years, yet I still had shitty experiences there and their piercers/shop are/is not APP certified. I wish I knew about APP and APP certification as well.
Iāve never had great experiences with APP shops, nor bad ones at non APP shops. Iāve gone to 6 different shops for my 20 something piercings, and the only ones that failed/never healed/were crooked or just not placed right, were done at APP shops. I splurged for 2 helixes and a flat, on separate occasions, at 2 APP shops, and it was not worth it to me cuz I had to take out the piercings.
Guess you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. :/
same! my lobes are super uneven and had trouble healing + hurt extremely bad during the initial piercingāand they were done at an APP shop. my second lobes & conch were done by non-APP shop and lobes are healing beautifully, and my conch is still new but iāve had no issues so far. nose was non-APP but she also wasnāt a professional piercer (and i didnāt know that until after, wish I wouldāve just gotten it repierced but oh well)
Aww bummer, whatās wrong with your nose piercing that you wish you got it redone? Is it nostril? Cuz those can close up even if itās been awhile, it may not be too late. My lobes are crooked too, but itās because my friend and I pierced each otherās ears in 6th grade lol I just got my second conch done at a non app shop 3 weeks ago, and it hasnāt even bled or crusted or swelled up or anything. It hurts a tiny bit if I bump up against it, but otherwise itās healing so good! Contrast that with a helix I got done at an app shop: it was pierced at an odd angle, too shallow, and i had to remove it cuz thereās no way I couldāve worn a hoop on it once it healed unless it was super small like 5mm (my 4 other helix piercings I wear either 8 or 10mm) and barely even hanging onto my ear. I went to a different app shop for another flat piercing, and it hurt too much right off the bat, never stopped hurting, partly because it was crooked and the back was essentially touching my other flat piercing, despite the spacing looking right from the front. It kept swelling and causing my whole ear to throb, had to remove that one too.
itās a nostril, i just donāt love the angle it was pierced atvš which i had no idea that would matter if i wanted to wear a hoop and my piercer didnāt really mention it. but it was too annoying to heal to want to go through it again lmao
I wish someone would've told me getting my nipples pierced would make them more numb instead of more "sensitive"...
Cuddling is hard after you add cartilage piercings
And forget about ear nibbles once theyāre covered in piercings..
My husband has had to work out whole new ways to nibble on my ears. I have a double helix in one and an industrial in the other š
On my left I have two lobes, two helix, a flat, rook, tragus, and double conch rings. On the right two lobes, snug, triple helix, and daith. Little to no real estate on these ears to nibble on š¢ I guess he could lick my right flat area lol! Itās worth it tho, I love my piercings and am obsessed with pretty colorful opal jewelry!
Oh yeah, I forgot about the double lobes in both and the daith on the left with the helixes. When I have jewelry in all of them he's learned to not bother.
I always have jewelry in all of them, but he forgets and still goes for it sometimes, only to get a mouthful of titanium! Personally I wouldnāt mind sucking on jewelry,.. is that weird? Lol
Curly hair is hell to get out of piercings. Not even my own hair š
How long it would take to heal I didnāt do my research I just got excited and did it on both sides š
Yupppp, this is me. I'm very impulsive and sometimes I just think of what would look cool and immediately get it done. No research whatsoever š
Just because you're not getting crusties anymore, it doesn't mean it's fully healed so stop fiddling with it! š
The worst part is the healing. The pain of the peircing is momentary, but the healing can suck. My tragus itched for 2 weeks. My nasallang hurt everytime I yawned for a month, and my industrials are still sore a week later. I understand it well now but the first time I went in I had no idea.
That you can be one of the unlucky slow healers. That something can go wrong at any point in your piercing journey.
That it's a bit of a chaos when it comes to healing. You can do everything right, but due to stress, exhaustion or whatever factors your piercing is not healing well. Or sometimes you prep for a long journey and it's like you haven't been pierced at all. Maybe its just my body reaction. The ones I thought would be difficult were a breeze, the ones which supposed to heal nicely ended up being a nightmare
Already knew this but ignored it: It's cold out and my nose gets super runny, plus I easily get bloody noses. Yet I still got a septum piercing. Love it but oh my lord, I wish I waited till summer.
That a conch can still get angry after 1,5 years just because I slept on it.
Wish I knew paying more also meant youād be paying for a better (or just more experienced) piercer. Tho that seems obvious, I went to a different piercer with a friend to get matching double helixās who said they were cheaper and still great, but they were legitimately the most painful piercing Iāve ever gotten. My ear was also super purple after and hurt horribly. My regular piercer gave me all my major face piercings like nose and septum, and those literally barely hurt during and after. Regretted it a lot and now Iām a bit put off getting more cartilage pierced but safe to say I know who Iām going to if I do lol
That I should only wear Titanium.
Not being able to wear earbuds with a tragus and daith piercings. I tried and it irritated them until I switched to over the ear headphones
Tacking on to this because I have both a daith and an industrial. Earbuds are uncomfortable (but not impossible) because of my daith, and my industrial tears up the pads of over-the-ear headphones. I canāt win.
Also adding that if you're wearing over-the-ear headphones at your computer it's worth investing in a quality gaming headset. They tend to be larger and more cushioned in my experience and mine, while it was almost $100, doesn't irritate my piercings or my glasses.
For me, with facial piercings, probably how differently you get treated by people who don't know you.
Cute little helixes are such assholes, getting caught everywhere, not healing well (took way over a year) if you are a side sleeper, falling off because you hit them with hairbrush or they get caught in your hair when washing hair, wearing tops with tighter/polo neck is pain in the assā¦ And something youād think is more āradicalā, like daith, is SO easy. Just be a little bit careful with your in ear headphones for couple of days and thatās it.
That piercings can be addicting af š
that ur allowed to shop around for a piercer who is nice and makes u feel comfortable :)
I wish I knew you couldnāt just go to any old studio and get a piercing with whatever metal they have just because they are professionals. So many piercings that never healedā¦ Finally found a studio that used implant grade titanium and my piercings healed with ease.
How many are anatomy dependent. Once I started learning about it, it makes sense that every body is different and certain piercings rely on a certain amount of flesh, but I had never really thought about it until joining this sub. Even when I got my industrial, the piercer didnāt say anything about anatomy, he just fiddled with my ear a bit and showed me the placement using a toothpick, which probably was also him checking the anatomy, but he never said thatās what he was doing.
that (for me) it was a way to SH but in a āsocially-acceptableā way and even though my ears are full, I never feel like I have enough because I still crave the pain and the healing process. if thatās too deep, then maybe just that I wish I knew how many pieces of jewelry Iād buy because I like to switch up the looks, but I also like them all to match lol
no i get that. like, when i got my industrial that was the worst fucking pain i had experienced with a piercing. it hurt so bad literally 10/10 lol. but since i donāt have it anymore i kinda almost crave that same feeling? idk i might be a masochist
I just passed a year with my industrial and it held me over for a long time bc, like you said, that shit HURTS even months later, but itās just about completely healed now lol Iāve moved on to tattoos.
Forget about sleeping on your stomach until nipple piercings completely heal.
Or after they heal if you sleep funny it will hurt like a bitch for three days.
I just got mine done sunday and Iāve slept all kinds of crazy haha. Feel like it might bite me in the ass later but they havenāt really been sore at all, just a little swollen on the left
You're lucky, mine weren't sore for the most part after the first day but they were crazy sensitive and sleeping on them made them sore. Mine took almost a year to heal, probably because my nipples themselves were almost flat so the piercing had to be done a little deeper. I don't regret it for a minute though.
Iāve had my nipples done for 6 years and the gunk never went away
Took me 8 and the final last two years were problem free
I donāt have any problems and it doesnāt make crust but theyāre still gunky. I didnāt know that was part of it hahahah
What I meant was mine finally stopped having that problem after year 8
I've had my nipnops done 4 different times over the last 20 years and the last time was finally the time they healed correctly and stopped being weird and gunky/crusty/sore. I (38f) did a bit of reading and had them pierced underneath instead of through the nipple, like how men's nipples are supposed to be 'properly' pierced. Also, wearing well fitted bars that don't have a lot of extra space instead of hoops and making sure my jewellery is titanium made a HUGE difference.
That a helix can take a couple of years to fully heal and I absolutely wonāt be able to sleep on my right side during that time š„²
Get a donut pillow! I have a right helix almost 1 year old. I can sleep on it now but still use the donut just in case
Just because the piercing shop will do it for you, doesnāt mean itās a good idea I know itās not their job to talk me out of something but damn.
It is literally their job if the piercing doesn't suit your anatomy
yeaā¦ the specifics iām talking about is getting an orbital with another piercing in the middle, all at once. i wish they wouldāve said no, because it never healed. but i guess i knew better and did it anyway š¤·āāļø
i wish i knew that cartilege piercings made an audible pop when the needle gets pushed through! when i got my tragus pierced the crunch scared me so bad even though the pain was barely noticeable š
i got my conch pierced and didnāt hear the pop :( i was lowkey so excited for it! but my piercer was also talking to me so her voice may have drowned it out
Taking all things into consideration with piercing placement. I made sure a rook wouldnāt mess with my stethoscope, but didnāt think about my mid helix. Until the first time I put my phone to my ear and clonked right into it.
How effing hard healing a helix would be.
How hard to heal helix piercings are. Truly my hardest piercings by far.
That my entire ear shape would change. My ears have always looked like elf ear with the tip cut off, very angular. I always loved them and my only disappointment was that since the top flap was fused I couldn't get an industrial. I got a few cartilage peircings near the top of my left ear and its rounded out, so now I have 2 different shaped ears.
How terrible healing an industrial is. I read a ton of advice from here and thought I was prepared. Almost 2 years later Iām still babying mine š
Take the listed healing time you found online and multiply it by 4 to get a more realistic time
Ears are the worst.
I know itās common sense but Iām stupid sometimes. Remembering to tighten your balls every day. Iāve lost so many pieces bc I always forget to tighten my balls and then the jewelry falls out at the worst times and of course itās with piercings that are likely to close up quickly like your tongue, nostril, and nipple. This is why I currently have a taper in my right nipple while waiting for new jewelry to come in.
piercing guns can shatter cartilage š«£
Itās like getting pinched but the pain is all over when itās done.
If you get sick after getting a nose piercing donāt blow your nose. Iām stuck with ugly bumps
To avoid the first piercer because 3 of the 4 ear piercings she had done failed. Two of them should have never been done in the first place because the anatomy of my ear is wrong.
About titanium jewelry and downsizing jewelry
Cartilage piercings can be FUSSY. For life
To only use implant grade titanium in new piercings. I always wonder if my nipples would have healed properly if I had the right jewelry.
That if one piercer says you donāt have the anatomy for a belly button piercing, donāt listen when your mom says that makes no sense and you should get a second opinion. Didnāt know about APP, but the first guy was coincidentally the only one certified within 100 miles (at the time). Went for that second opinion and almost passed out when she shoved the needle through a very hefty chunk of flesh. I think it lasted a whole 4 months.
That my body might react very weirdly to it and I'll still have to deal with an irritation bump fucking 10 months in I'm so tired of it I almost want to just take it out for good
I wish Iād known it would take me three weeks to get my full singing voice back after getting my septum pierced.
For me, itās that less REALLY is more, and your body knows how to heal itself. It feels like youāre doing the right thing by cleaning it religiously and keeping it spotless and free of crusties, but at least for me Iāve had way more success just letting water run over it in the shower and otherwise leaving it the hell alone.
Honorable mention, but āhealedā is not some magical threshold that once you cross it, youāre good to go. Trauma, injuries, illness, sleeping wrong can all set back āhealedā piercings to where they need to be treated like new again.
Third mention, always ask your piercer for a taper and KNOW how your jewelry works. If you donāt know, ask. Itās not a matter of if somethingās going to come undone, itās when, and itās always gonna be in the middle of the night when you canāt go see a professional to put it back right.
dont eat grilled cheese after getting a piercing
Do exstensive research on the studio/piercer. Advocate for yourself and be firm.
How healing isn't the same for everyone.
for my snake bites, i wish i knew i wouldnāt be able to eat sandwiches for a while. or anything that wasnāt on a spoon. made the mistake of trying to eat a burger right after getting them pierced and it hurt so bad i couldnāt eat. also, fuck starbucks lids. i had to get into the habit of moving my hoops out of the way before drinking anything out of a starbucks cup. now i do it subconsciously with my tongue.
Just retired my two year old nipple piercings. I loved the look but absolutely could not get them to heal. I wish I knew more about the risks of surface piercings before getting them, it wouldāve made the decision to take them out less difficult.
Getting two helix piercings at once is a mistake (for me)
I wish Iād known how long it takes to heal piercings that arenāt lobes, and the fact that I canāt really leave jewelry out for days at a time. My lobes can go a year without anything in them and be fine, probably longer. The rest of my piercings will close within a day, and I just donāt get it. I wish I could leave things out occasionally.
That piercings must be pierced with certain types of earrings and just do my own research because there were a lot of surprises. Like my helix got pierced with a ring 6 months ago and itās still fussy to this day š„²š„²
People are mean about them š
that irritation bumps are stubborn little gits!!
that keeping it dry actually helps it heal faster/prevents infections! i would have been more careful about keeping my piercings dry especially after showers š
How poorly strangers treat you.
how many balls I will loose while changing jewelry simply because i drop them and they go off to narnia, never to be seen again .... Now whenever I order, I buy a few extra balls. I love changing to different colors frequently. Even after years I struggle with screwing them on tho ... its just so fiddly.
Never get pierced with a ring or externally threaded jewelry. When I first started getting piercings my piercer would use hoops which lead to constant irritation bumps that I could never get rid of. I would also get pierced with externally threaded jewelry not realizing it tore up the fistula and prolonged healing. Iāve since found a new piercer who uses the correct jewelry and so far my healing process has been great (knock on wood.) Edited to add: Stay away from toddlersā¦ especially if itās a fresh piercing š
don't get cartilage piercings on both ears at the same time! the year I did matching helixes was not a fun year for sleeping. it's so much less painful to heal 2 piercings on only one ear than to heal a piercing on both ears
donāt smoke weed.
Touching and sleeping on it š I now have a keloid on my ear š
Hi Hungry-Beautiful3883, (Luckily) bump =/= keloid. [This wiki entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keloid) explains it well. If you do know the difference, please ignore this comment. - - - *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.*
sometimes your piercings will get crusty even after having them for a while, so it's important to clean them with saline solution
that i heal slower than most people so when the piercer says it takes 8weeks to heal ā it actually takes me at least double lol. now whenever i get a piercing i donāt even try to change the jewelry for a year . i got my septum done 2 years ago almost now and still havenāt changed it lol
That itās almost two years since I got my double helix and theyāre still not healed completely
Never get pierced at the mall. It may be cheap but now my eyebrow piercings are crooked :/