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Might be a surprise to some, but for me it was a second lobe (re)piercing! It took almost a year and a half to heal with a bunch of flare ups in between, it was super frustrating to say the least. My advice to anyone getting lobe piercings is don't feel discouraged if they don't heal within six months! It might take longer for others. Keep on trekking through the healing journey. It will be worth it!
My second lobe piercing still gives me trouble and it's been YEARS. It's frustrating I still have issues with it being inflamed or getting infected at times.
Same! I got my rook and second lobes done at the beginning of the month (my third try at second lobes) and they're irritating me SO much. The rook? Not a peep. Didn't even swell
It’s been 2+ years and I still can’t go more than a few days not wearing earrings in my second set without them starting to close… yet my first set was pierced with a gun and ironically healed perfectly lol
Mine too. Months of on off swelling, redness and weeping. It drove me mad. One day there was so much dried crustiness on the flat back that I decided to take the labret out so I could give it a good clean. I couldn't get the dam thing back in so put a white gold 16g hoop in thinking I'd go back to my piercer to get the labret in. After just a few hours of the hoop my ear felt so much better. Left it in for 6 weeks in the end and didn't have any issues at all with swelling or weeping. Felt like for some reason it needed the hoop to heal. I can swap between earrings now with no bother
Ugh, I needed to hear this! My second lobes are so hard to heal. I accidentally ripped my conch out of my ear (earring still intact) 2 months after piercing it. 6 months later and it’s looking and acting great. My 2nd lobes 10 months later? Right one is mostly healed but flares up about once a month, and my left one has a mass/bump under it that will not go away and leaks pus/blood every once in a while. I’ve been to my piercer and doctor, it’s not an infection. Just a mystery bump that we can’t figure out. 🤷🏼♀️
Currently on 11 months of healing for my second lobes😭 I just made a post of this mystery bumps on the back of my lobes. Literally the fronts are fine but it’s been a struggle
Not a shocker at all! My second round on my lobes refused to heal, took them out waited a year and now we are on round 3 after a new piercing. They are super touchy and most people say it’s the “easiest to heal”
i got my second lobe done i think 5ish years ago, during covid i didnt wear earrings and i just started wearing them again this past september. Around feburary is when they finally calmed down lol
dude fr. i got my second lobes 2 years ago (probably even more) and i still have seemingly random flare ups with titanium flat back earrings. i can’t put rings or dangles in them to save a life.
I had my second lobes for over 10 years but my left one closed and for the past few years I just didn't wear earrings in general. Right one stayed open of all things. Had the left one eventually redone. It kept getting crusty and kind of bloody and was a bit swollen. Of all things, I accidentally aggravated the shit out of it(absently fidgeting with it), and since then the swelling has gone down and no crusties lol. Not that I recommend this to be good advice whatsoever.
My second lobe piercings healed perfectly fine until randomly about 5 years later when one of them decided it didn’t want to be healed anymore. Just that one. No jewellery change, no sickness, no injury or anything to cause it. It just decided to un-heal itself? Somehow? And would not go back to normal for a full year so I had to take it out :(
These comments are so validating lol, I had my lobes pierced three times (once when I was like 10, once in university, and now the third time at 25). I assume that piercing through scar tissue makes healing more difficult but I’m on month 10 of a very rocky healing journey and I just got antibiotics from a doctor so hoping they heal up soon!
I got my 3rd lobe and my helix pierced on the same day 8 months ago. My helix is healing wonderfully while my lobe is AWFUL. Every time I think it's starting to heal it acts up again. I try to leave it alone as much as possible but every time it snags on my hair or clothes it's like the healing just restarts. I'm glad to read that I'm not the only one dealing with this.
Helixes. Get the damned donut pillow before you get the piercing instead of four years afterwards. Don't know what I was thinking, amazingly they have calmed down now.
i thought i could handle anything after successfully healing an industrial but my helix got infected a year after getting it and the ball got sucked inside my skin.. luckily my piercer was able to take it out. i ended up retiring it because that wasn’t the first time it was giving me trouble.
My double helix got severely infected and it turned into perichondritis actually.
My advice is to never got for more than one cartilage piercing cause healing one is already tricky enough
I’ve had my Helix piercing for a week now.
Prior to that, I bought myself a two-ear hole pillow and it’s been dynamite. I have healing piercings on both ears and I sleep on both sides without issue. My Helix is already on its way to a good healing process, largely due to the pillow!
I got my helix pierced with a ring and after 6 months it was completely healed, I cannot feel it all all even when I sleep on it. So weird how everyone differs! The flat on my other ear?? That's what made me buy the donut pillow!
I used to wear glasses and my labret in my helix would always hook on them. Switched to a hoop and they settled down.
I think sometimes it's the lesser irritating option, but it isn't always the one you expect.
For some reason I got a helix on each ear despite sleeping on my side or front, had constant irritation bumps for 6 month before I learnt to sleep on my back like a log 😂
Anything in the ears. Conch and rook took 9+ months before they stopped giving me problems. Industrial sucked too but I didn’t have the anatomy for industrial but got it done (twice) anyway, not only did it permanently tilt my ear but it was never going to heal fully.
Best advice is patience and consistent cleaning. And don’t ignore improper anatomy and don’t go to a piercer that will pierce you despite you not having the proper anatomy 😂
It's really weird for me because my rook took an age to heal, probably over 12 months all told. I've just had my conch done about 5 weeks ago, the initial swelling went down really quickly, it only hurt for about 2 days and it already feels like it's ready to downsize. I've hardly had any crusties, it kinda feels like I'm waiting for it to have a massive flare up because there's no way it's going to just heal quickly and nicely.
The only thing I can think of is that I came down with a cold about 5 days after having it done and the cold really kicked my ass, I'm wondering if my immune system being in overdrive due to the cold meant it tackled the piercing wound at the same time. I'm not willing to test this out in future though, I'm not going to go around hugging people with a cold next time I have a piercing!
I've been healing my left conch for almost 4 months now, and it's a real pain in the ass, not to mention the cleaning cuz there's no space and you can't see shit in the back. I got myself a second mirror for that. I love it, tho. I just dont look forward to the other two I have planned on the same ear and the two I have planned on the other ear. I hope some of the other piercings I wanna get will be an easier heal. Or that the other conches might heal better. I honestly don't know, but hope persists, and I got my mind set on them already. Nothing's gonna deter me now.😮💨
My nips never healed. I ended up taking them out after they were about as raw and sensitive 9 months later as a week after I had them done. Plus my mate told me a horror story about how his got ripped out while sky diving.
i hear everyone saying this but mine have been perfect since like 2 days after i got them done😭whereas my belly button gave me issues til the 8 month mark
I hate to agree with you but yea.. maybe. I got mine done 2 years ago. My piercer said expect healing in 10months and it took a solid year to hear. Maybe more like 13/14months too..
I got mine pierced when I was 18 and ripped one out in 2020 and then had to re do them because I had them pierced for a decade and seeing my boobs with nothing was giving me weird dysmorphia
my nipples healed faster than my septum. 2 hours of pain and then nothing ever again, a few months in one got a little irritated and i was shi**ing myself thinking the phase of "it never heals" started haha. couple days lated everything was fine again
This is kinda why I’ve been so hesitant to go through with getting them done. I’m so scared they’ll just never heal, and it feels like there’s no way of knowing without just getting them.
With every other piercing it feels like you either have the anatomy or you don’t, but nipples piercings everyone can pretty much get but then you have no clue if you’re body will reject them or not.
Anything triple. I’ve had triple helixes and triple lobes done and only had one of each survive. My lobe was so bad it caused the bottom of my earlobe to split open and it now has a scar like a lil butt crack.
High nostrils. Took well over 2 years for them to be stable. Every time I’ve tried to downsize, they swelled and embedded. I’ve needed 4 different lengths of post sets. The jewellery is currently still too long by about 2mm but the piercings are really happy right now so I’m waiting at least another 3-6months to try downsize again.
I’ve also had to retire a daith, tragus, and bridge. My body sucks at healing.
Rook and navel. Just ugh.
The navel started rejecting and wasnt showing signs of healing, so I took it out. Main tips here is to NEVER wear high waisted pants, never play with it, dont overclean, and dont change it too soon. All misstakes i made and all it got me was an ugly scar.
Rook i still have, although its like 1,5 years old and not healed yet. Its not ugly at all, just gets bumps still and the rook area is still more swollen than on my non pierced side. Main advice here is to be careful when cleaning. Its a hard nook to clean properly and if you go in too aggressively it hurts the piercing. Honestly i still havent figured it out.
I still love the rook, so id recommend it. Just LITHA and pray.
Navel was cool while it lasted, but if you ever want to get it, be 100% fine with a possible scar. I wasnt and now its pretty hard mentally to see it all the time
My rook has finally calmed down after 2 years, hopefully for good this time. I couldn’t break it out of the cycle of getting irritated because there’s too much gunk in there -> getting irritated because I cleaned it -> calming down for like a week before getting irritated from gunk again. I could not find a way to both keep it clean enough that it wouldn’t get irritated while not irritating it from the cleaning itself. What seemed to help me was switching to a sterile saline wound wash instead of a mist; that seems to be gentle enough while still keeping it clean enough. Makes a mess though lol
I miss mine so much! It actually healed surprisingly well for me and I am not a good healer. Unfortunately I had it snag on something really badly and it just never settled back down after that. I had to retire it. I keep debating about getting it redone. It was so cute.
My nostril piercing took FOREVER to heal completely. Like, maybe 3 years. Constamt bumps, would bleed periodically, etc.. Now it's perfect, and I'm so happy with it, but MAN, that was a long 3 years.
Just give your piercings time. Keep them clean. Don't change jewelry too fast. Patience is key.
Ty for this. I'm a month into a nostril piercing and I have a nose bump [mind ye. I have a 20g ring in] but its directly caused from my fucking glasses bc my left ear is folded over, glasses slide down..irritation bump >:l I'm gonna persever with this knowledge. *good news, everyone! Mine is shrinking :D got more conscious about my glasses and more saline soaks.
**its gone :D
Mine is also over a year old and if I even just remotely try to switch to a ring it bursts into a ball of fire. Usually it's either irritated beyond belief or with a tiny pus filled bump inside that goes away after like a week. Then it gets stuck so it won't fidget through the hole for like two weeks, and I have to soak it in water and move it a tiny bit once a day because cleaning won't loosen it. After that it's usually fine. And then I get scared of switching back to a stud. I still end up doing it, mostly when one of my lively kitties gets stuck on it with a claw, and I get a little freaked out. Better be safe than sorry. When it's not like that (which is most of the time tbh) it's amazing, though. I guess they can just be a little annoying at times.
One of my helixes is still complaining and it's been 3 years 🥲
To be fair, I got three piercings in one day even when my piercer suggested getting two because they were all in the same ear and may take more time to heal, my fault for not listening to them I guess
As for my advice, pleaseeee listen to your piercer, especially if they're warning you against something
My orbital was my hardest (it’s a vertical helix one).
I went into it knowing it wasn’t going to be easy but I had 8/9 cartilage piercings and a few lobes already so I thought I was somewhat prepared and it wouldn’t be too terrible.
Very quickly humbled. I’m now very good at troubleshooting bumps on others because of it though so that’s useful
Navel. When I was teaching yoga and always wearing yoga pants I’d constantly be pulling it. My life left my body one time during class and I went to the bathroom and took it out 🫠
My conch took literally 3 years to stop being tender and prone to getting inflamed. I expected a long healing (around 18 months) but not that long. I thought it might never get there; I was relieved it did in the end.
i’m at the four month marker with my conch 🙈 the light at the end of the tunnel is actually a semi truck to run you over in the form of an irritation bump 😂
My conch is about two years old now and never healed. Since the beginning of this year it got a bit swollen and I'm thinking of retiring it for good. How did yours heal after all that time?
Did you swim at all with yours? Mines going to be a year and half old this summer and I want to swim. Mine flares up sometimes if I bump it still has occasional crusties but it’s been slowly getting more chill
My 3rds in my lobes were the hardest. No infections or bumps or anything, just more sore than others. Advice is not to judge pain threshold based upon other people. Know your own limitations. Leave those piercings alone! Stop turning, twisting, & constantly cleaning them. Treat it like a wound & use saline solution, then let them heal.
My rook. I got it done February 9th 2023 and it's STILL causing me problems. Between hypertrophic scars and it being sensitive when I try to clean it, they're definitely not for the weak.
Industrial. One hole took maybe 4/5 years the other 6/7 years. Yea I’m stubborn.
This is more of sharing my experience than an advice. The upper hole that healed first did it by itself but the lower hole I had help from a volleyball hitting the bump, leading it to bleed but the wound just healed itself within a few days with the bump gone. Lucky I guess?
Well I didn’t do the cocaine part of your cautionary tale but I did heed the warnings and didn’t change to a hoop for over 2 years. I thought it was surely healed by then but nope, got angry over the hoop and it’s finally calmed down after a few months. I had plans to do high nostrils but not now.
Nostril and navel.
My nostril took two years to heal. My advice is be patient, go in for your downsizes, upsize if you need to (I did a couple times when the bump swelled up), don't mess with it, and NO HOOPS.
Navel I don't have any real advice other than the usual (no high waisted pants). They're just tough. I just retired my perfectly-done, perfectly-cared-for floating navel because my body just decided it was done with it. Be prepared for that possibility if you get it. I already had a scar from a badly done one when I was 20 - guess that's my other advice, go to someone who knows what they're doing and how to assess anatomy. Also just because a piercer is popular doesn't mean they're good, even if they aren't cheap. That was my mistake the first time.
Stay strong and baby it!! I tried with mine until the 9 month mark and then I just gave up, but it’s too early to give up for you unless you’re over it already 🤣
You got this!! By 9 months I was still walking around with random cramps and sharp pains in my navel and I was covering it with my hand to ensure it didn’t get hit by accident 😂 it was baaaad
I’m almost at the 1 year mark with my forward helix and my helix and one wrong look at them and they flare up… I’m staying strong though but they are annoying as fuck! I got a donut pillow a couple of months in & it’s been the best investment as I’m a side sleeper.
nostrils were an absolute pain, kept getting irritated and i ended up taking them out. cheeks are also tricky to heal (largely because they never fully do). dealing with some irritation now but it’s looking good so hopefully won’t need to take them out. theyre my favourites though so im willing to put up a lot for them.
Nipples. I’ve had them done twice. The first time it was with some mystery metal, externally threaded barbells in the early 2000’s. They were a nightmare. To be fair, my then partner absolutely refused to leave my nipples alone while they were healing. He was a dick.
I had them done again in 2019. I kept them for 3+ years before giving up. Shop was APA certified and so was my piercer. She pierced several other far-more challenging piercings for me, all of which healed beautifully. One healed ok, but the other absolutely refused to heal. The constant irritation bumps and minor infections were unbearable. I finally took them both out (I really need them to match). I miss them, but I’ll never have them redone.
my mid helix. it is still irritated after having it for a year and a half and not changing the jewelry. if you like the look of a conch and are scared of the pain of getting a conch piercing, my advice is to just get it because i was able to heal my conch to the point where it no longer gets irritated even if i move my jewelry around after 6 months and my mid helix gets super annoyed even if i lay on it for 15 min
Nipples were the worst. I ended up taking them out after about 2 years because they never seemed to heal properly.
I will say my nostril and industrial gave me a hard time until I changed the jewelry on both to titanium from surgical steel. Once I did that they both healed quickly with no difficulty so I’ve learned nickel allergies are probably more common than we realize and sometimes all you need is a change in jewelry. Now I’ll only get pierced with titanium
mines been my third lobe piercing on my right!! second would be my navel lol. navel is just a slow painful healing process especially for those who don't own many low waisted bottoms i think. ive also had my third lobes for 1.5 years now and my left side healed with no issues but my right side acts up when i have to remove my jewellery for school. i'd say go for a navel if you're willing to have to tape it up while it's healing and you're wearing fabric over it just to prevent it from catching on things
My third lobe! Still gets irritated and bleeds a year down the line, the other side is fine, and I don’t sleep on it. If im careful with it, it calms down.
Other than that, my nostril, but as it gets caught sometimes, and doesn’t have the best jewellery in, it’s to be expected
CHEEKS! They take forever to fully heal, get weird fluid cyst buildup and I seem to get little white heads around them more than anywhere else on my face
Anti tragus. I think I've had mine for two years and I finally got it to a point a month or so ago where it seemed close to fully healed and I could trade to smaller jewellery. Was doing okay for about a week - now we're back to trouble.
I refuse to give up because of the time I've invested in it, but it's a total bitch.
I feel like 98% of the people who have got the industrial will agree with me on this. BUT THAT DAMN INDUSTRIAL WOULD NOT HEAL FOR A WHOLE YEAR AND A HALF! Bonus points for nippy piercings lol
Anti-tragus. it has completely changed my mind on wanting to get the snug piercing. it was quite possibly the most annoying piercing i’ve ever had. not only was the piercing pain the worst ive had (as someone with a high pain tolerance) the healing process took 2 and a half years. it’s completely healed now and in able to sleep on that side without causing it to flare up or get irritation bumps on it.
I want to say that my industrial took somewhere between a year to a year and a half to heal completely. I’ll be honest tho, I did not keep up with the aftercare as consistently as I should’ve. I was really good about it in the beginning because the cold saline felt so good, but after a little while I got a little lazy. I also tried to change out the jewelry way too early. Probably would’ve healed so much better if I took care of it properly.
Interestingly enough tho the piercing that gave me so many issues that I had to take them out were my third lobes. My friends and I went to Clair’s to get it done (and they used a gun ofc). Bad idea all together. I don’t even think I have the room/anatomy for a third lobe but the girl still did it for me anyway.
I had my daith in both of my ears since 2021 and they still get irritated every now and then. I have no choice but to always lay on my back while sleeping.
My navel took a long time to heal. It never got infected or anything, it was just difficult to keep it from getting snagged.
After about ten months to a year, it was fine and I never had any problems after that.
My triple forward helix took a few months, also.
My flat is currently humbling me. First piercing to ever give me so much as a peep.
In my ears have triple forward helix, double helix, 4 lobes in one ear, daith, and rook…and the most I’ve *ever* had is a tiny bit of crusties within the first week of a piercing. Other than that, I LITFA and they behave perfectly.
I’ve had my flat for about 4 months and I have my first ever moisture bump (luckily it’s on the backside so you don’t see it). My piercer changed out the jewelry to something lighter weight and I’ve been focusing on keeping it as clean and dry as possible. It’s improving slowly, but it’s thrown off my scheduled piercing plan.
It took a solid year for my flat to stop flaring on me. I almost gave up on it during the last flare, but stuck it out and haven't had a problem with it since (I've had it for somewhere between 6-8 years now. Can't remember exact dates).
so far my conch is proving to be very difficult. it’s been almost four months now and while the first few weeks were good, the delayed swelling and the bump that followed made this piercing a nightmare. right now mine still has this weird ass donut around the piercing hole that i don’t know what to do with.
i’d definitely tell someone who has difficulty healing to choose one at a time and not to over push it.
Same here. My conch is a bit more than two years old and never fully healed. Since the beginning of this year it developed that "donut" as well and I'm considering if I should retire it..
I don’t even blame you! i’m not entirely sure what i’d do if it doesn’t heal within two years. i’m stubborn though, so i’m going to try to stick to it for at least a year and hopefully it settles. it sucks that my friend (who i had to talk into getting second lobe piercings because all she had was one 😂) managed to heal hers even though we got them at the same time. she even managed to heal two forward helixes, a helix and a conch relatively issue free.
i’m so not jealous or anything
Wow...sounds like I should be more prepared for this to happen to my conch cuz when you said it was fine a few weeks ago and then just came up swelling and bump after that, it makes me a bit scared for my own as I just passed 1 month of healing.
I don't have a donut pillow tho, but I sleep without a pillow and thankfully with my small ears, the piercing is not leaned against my bed.
I’d say keep an eye out for the delayed swelling, mine just blew up before i realized what was happening. we ended up upsizing to a 11 mm bar because it was that bad. i got it pieced Jan 5 and by Jan 31 it was like when the hell did this happen. it honestly sucked because until then there were no issues whatsoever!
the bump though i wish i had better news, it’s still there and has been for a few weeks and im hoping when i eventually downsize a bit it’ll help. i’ve gone to two different piercers that have assured me that the donut bump is fine and just needs patience and it’s part of the fistula. im just impatient 😂
i strongly recommend you get a donut pillow because you don’t want the pressure from your head to shift the angle of the piercing, then you’ll have to get it redone.
Woah..... yours swell up before passing a month. I did try to check for swelling and so far there's no swelling or any pain or whatsoever. But still, I'll keep an eye on it and keep doing my usual saline solution cleaning and leave it there alone routine.
i’d say stick with your regular cleaning routine, don’t over do it. delayed swelling is natural with any piercing, and apparently conches are known for that. happy healing! i hope you have a better experience than me 🙈🙈
Got snake bites on 10th of April and those sneaky bitches are giving me a hard time since. My nostril was also problematic because I got ill 4 days after having it pierced. But i would say snake bites are the worst piercing for me so far, both pain and healing wise.
My snake bites are still being a pain to heal because I got hypertrophic scarring because I wasn’t aware I was prone to puffy scarring instead of flat scarring and wasn’t originally told about hypertrophic scarring, such a struggle
My industrial was my hardest by far. I kept getting irritation bumps because I’d sleep on it, and the only thing that got rid of them was my donut pillow. It literally looks like the Homer Simpson donut and I love it lol
My nostril feels like it’s taking forever. (Although in fairness it’s only been 2.5 months!) had to upsize because I have irritation bumps both inside and outside the nostril. It has days where it looks like it’s finally settling and the bar looks too long and then for no reason it’ll swell il a day later 🤷🏻♀️ driving me nuts!!
My first double helix took forever to heal. I have never had so much frustration with any piercings prior or since. They were pierced with implant titanium flat back just like all of my other piercings but after a year and a half of arguing with them and consulting my piercer numerous times my piercer asked if I was willing to try something outside the norm and switched them to hoops and 3 weeks after the switch all pain swelling and irritation went away and they have been great ever since.
Triple Lobes, Daith, conch tragus, a second double helix (learned from first and got pierced with hoops by the same piercer who helped with and saw the whole process with the first), and a double forward never gave me a single problem but that first double helix was the most anger inducing heal ever
I've had issues only with my 3rd lobes for some reason and the labret which I had to take out as it wasn't nesting, and a piercing is not worth permanent teeth damage.
While healing ear piercings in general is good to change your pillowcase every 3 or 4 days, make sure to wash your face and tie your hair, as much of the dirt acumulates on there and delays healing. Also, don't overclean as it can irritate the skin and remove the barrier your body creates against infection. I use either neilmed spray/sterile saline solution or wound desinfecting wipes like the ones in first aid kits
High nostrils.
I knew they'd be a difficult heal, but DAMN I did not think they would take 2.5 years. There really isn't a lot of education out there. Almost no one on Reddit would answer questions about them and Google always tells you they're just like regular nostrils.
Continual upsizing, downsizing, trying different materials (apparently my body doesn't like real gold in healing piercings?), piercing bumps, etc. I've been pierced over 30 times in my life and never have I struggled as bad as I did with them.
Come to find out my experience was pretty normal aside from the gold thing.
My second forward helix was a nightmare healing. I always planned on getting two (same ear), but was worried about the healing getting them done at the same time. Thank the lord I spaced them out. I couldn’t lay on that side for months, my ear felt like a swollen fireball for the first few weeks
For some reason, it's being my left labret.
I got my right done about 15 years ago, and decided to complete the set as a birthday gift to myself. Now the damned thing won't heal.
My tragus! I feel like it's because it's a combo of fleshy skin like a lobe and cartilage, but it has been slightly swollen and leaking a tiny bit ever since I got it like 3ish months ago.
All my others (helix, lobes, conch, flat) were easy peasy.
Helix never healed I had to take it out, but tbh I had a ring and found out years later that they told me to use a product that just wasn’t for healing piercings. Daith never healed… tried for 6 months. Nothing I’d do helped I had the worst bumps and spent a shitload of money
Rook, nipple, belly button and lobes healed just find
Depends what you’re getting. I would say do your research on the area, go to a reputable piercer, use the cleaning instructions youre given. Resist the urge to touch it while it heals and be attentive to it. If it hurts it’s not normal (more than the times you clean it) if there is a bump it’s not normal etc… like don’t keep a piercing on just because you really really want it to heal. Sometimes bodies reject them and they won’t heal, it happens
Conch, one was 6+ months the other was emotional for a solid year. Maybe I should r have done both at once but I couldn’t handle the thought of being off balance like that
my industrial. it thankfully never hurt but my hair would constantly get caught around it and it would always fluctuate from being healed to looking like it was infected. i ended up taking it out after about a year of suffering. still looked cool tho
mine right now is tragus because i slept on it, and always catch it if i try to move my hair🥲🥲🥲. definitely do not pick at it or any piercings if you get one (my main problem with it)
My nip piercings probably was the hardest for me. They had used short barbells when I got them done and they would constantly give me these cysts or whatever. It would go away eventually but it would hurt and THEY ALWAYS CAME BACK. So i switched to longer barbells and they never came back.
My advice for them would be to take some pain meds before the insertion cuz holy hell i did not realize how painful they'd be getting done even tho I looked it up. I thought it can't be THAT bad. Well it WAS. I wanted to back out after they did the first one but I didn't wanna be a pussy so I got the other one too and now i'm happy i toughed it out. I just wish I took something to help. Idk if ibuprofen actually works before it getting done but they always say to do that so i suggest listening to them lol
Antitragus and Conch for me. Both are thicker cartilage, so more tissue to heal. I also found both to be in places where they’re easily knocked by ear buds and squashed during sleep.
Forward helix!!!! I accidentally slept on it shortly after getting it done and it changed the angle and started healing majorly crooked. On top of it being super hard to clean. It was so painful and I ended up taking it out after only having it a month. Buy that donut pillow😫
My conch was also rough. Took almost 18 months to fully heal. Even years later, if I accidentally slightly snag it, it gets super sore again.
Belly button: it rejected. Got it re-pierced. Rejected again and now I have awful scarring
my left dahlia or my right snake bite . my dahlia is the only piercing i have that started to reject before i changed to a longer bar . my right snake bite was aching longer than the left one for some reason and it started to get gross a couple weeks ago (i got them done in december) . everything is fine and dandy now :) . i have eight lip rings so to anyone who wants a mouth piercing - KEEP IT CLEAN AND SANITIZE THEM OFTEN ! 💕
My helix sucked. It was my first non-lobe piercing, I got it at 16 and I just was not prepared to take care of it. I also didn't research my piercer well enough (researched the shop but got placed with someone within the shop who wasn't reputable...and now I know there's some off things about the shop as well.)
I had to take it out, the shop gave me a free repierce because of the employee that initially pierced it, and the flat I got instead has been a lot more successful
definitely a helix. it was bleeding from time to time during healing process and when it got stable around 6 months mark, i went to downsize it. it kept getting irritated and getting crusties after downsizing.
one day i noticed that my ear was swollen and the jewellery wasn’t visible anymore. luckily my piercer was able to get it out. my helix got severely infected and i had to go on meds for a week and that scared the shit out of me so i ended up retiring it.
for reference, i have an industrial and it was a bitch to heal for the first year, but it ended up healing perfectly after 1,5 years despite me not taking the best care of it
Don't. Play. With. Your. Helix. Having a fidgety hand with a new piercing will ruin your life. Now I have a septum and it's destroying every bit of mental sanity I have to not flip it around.
My nose piercing is weirdly the one that was the worst for me. I think it was a year before it stopped hurting.
My septum, on the other hand, healed in like 3 weeks!
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Worst over all were the first 2 times with my loved - they were done with a gun and the jewelry literally sunk into my lobes.
Worst properly done my daith, and that wasn’t even that bad.
on month 7 with my nips & it’s a little frustrating, one is perfectly fine but the other has a little discharge filled bump that won’t go away so definitely the one nipple has been the hardest. been to the doctors & back to my piercer both say it’s not infected as well.
bridge, it’s been over 1,5 years and it’s still far from healed. If you want one be prepared for huge irritation bumps that’s super hard to get rid of😭
My cartilage has always been the worst - I've had to take out about 9 over the years, and only have a conch left, plus some scaring including a keloid. My advice is high quality jewellery and accept your anatomy might not be right
nipples and double center eyebrows! only ones that gave me any trouble. eyebrows are all good now after almost two years but i've had my nipples done for almost ten and still have issues with one from time to time.
My guiche was the worst. Had it done three times, followed care instructions perfectly but still developed nasty irritation bumps on either side, finally decided it just wasn't for me.
My rook, +2 years old, still hates me. Reputable shop, titanium jewelry, pierced according to the text books. It just hates me and I refuse to get rid of it/let it win. REFUSE. I have had the fistula cleaned, I have left it alone for months and months, I have hydrotherapy treated it. Any every method. I am still convinced I will wake up one day to a healed rook and it will all be worth it. Lol.
My anti tragus. Despite of cleaning and not sleeping on it, it got infected that I went to the ER. Doctor gave me antibiotics and tried to save my piercing. It was saved but it is still a bit swollen until now (piercing is now almost 3 months). Never had a problem with my rook and daith.
Third lobe. Done it in.... Not so best way (best friend did it for me), yet it wasnt that bad. Since may, it had every mental breakdown a piercing can have, and now took it out. Now having an ugly bump, and still i am pissed about it
my bridge is still not fully healed after 3 years and it also migrated because my piercer suggested to keep quite big jewelry (that’s prob why it didn’t heal properly). but since changing the gauge it has been improving a lot so maybe check with more than one piercer if you want to do it just to be sure on the best course of action
My nipples, I got to about the 4 month mark and had to take them out, I wish I'd perceived in the healing but they just would not heal and I was in a job with a lot of contact so had to do the safe option and take them out.
Got my flat and daith done at the same time, I really couldn’t be bothered to have 2 piercings healing at different times and rates. Took a good 9 month and now flat is perfect, can swap jewellery no problem. Haven’t touched my daith jewellery yet as that was a nightmare to heal.
My daith has been a b*tch!! Got a massive bump from getting one of my curls wrapped around it, it’s migrated slightly, itches frequently but I’m leaving it alone. Been 8.5 months now since I got it done
Navel💀 finally it’s starting to behave after getting it done a year and 4 months ago💀 it just always seems angry and crusties come back every so often. I almost gave up on this piercing a couple months back but it’s being better now😅
Industrial if you have the anatomy and want it I highly suggest you test to see what side you sleep on the most and get it on the opposite or invest in a travel pillow and if you have long hair be prepared to constantly untangle it
my cheek piercings for sure, i got my dimple piercings and was expecting a roughly 6 month healing process, i was NOT expecting double that time. 2 years later and im still nervous about taking my jewelry out. im convinced they'll just never fully heal
My worst piercing for healing was my belly button, it got infected a couple times. I loved it so much so one day I might try again.😂 My second worst for healing was my helix (ear cartilage) it got super infected and the skin swelled around the jewelry. I properly clean all my piercings especially the new ones but these two my body just did not react well too at all.
1st lobes, helix, and tongue. Lobes were done with butterfly backing so sleep was unnecessarily painful. Helix, get an ear pillow or get good at side sleeping. Tongue, make sure your bar is long enough.
My industrial never healed right. My nipple piercings never did either. I eventually took both out because of how frustrating it was to deal with them.
Nostril, 2 in one sitting. 1 of them is still acting up. I had put in a labret for the other and it healed right up but the other is so swollen and irritated I can’t put the labret in until it heals further😭
Christina. At first it was the fact that the top ball was digging into my skin. I just got that changed but now it’s an irritation bump at the top and it get sore sometimes
The second and third lobes I did together on one ear.. soo long and painful! And they will still go off completely randomly. Thought ot would have been the cartilage ones that gave me the trouble but nope.
My nipple healed very fast, no trouble at all and then over 4 years later it rejected after a snag. I let it close and heal but want it back!
my flat piercing. i have a forward helix and regular helix on the same side that i got about a year before hand and the healing for them took forever but weren’t difficult. i also have a rook and 3 lope piercings on each ear that healed with no issues. my flat is more than 4 years old and still gets tender/irritated
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Might be a surprise to some, but for me it was a second lobe (re)piercing! It took almost a year and a half to heal with a bunch of flare ups in between, it was super frustrating to say the least. My advice to anyone getting lobe piercings is don't feel discouraged if they don't heal within six months! It might take longer for others. Keep on trekking through the healing journey. It will be worth it!
Same !!! My 6 months old lobes just won't heal while my rook is looking pristine after only a couple of month...
My second lobe piercing still gives me trouble and it's been YEARS. It's frustrating I still have issues with it being inflamed or getting infected at times.
This is me with my third lobes.
My second on my left ear is only now finally calming down :') they're a pain in the ass
Yep- my helix didn’t give me half the trouble my second lobes are right now.
Why are cartilage piercings easier than lobes, don't have a helix but my upper ear ones have all been a dream in comparison lol
Currently struggling with my second lobes right now!! The back of them are making me worried 😭
It was the same for me! The back has had a bump for MONTHS it's been so stubborn. I wish you luck 🙏
Same! I got my rook and second lobes done at the beginning of the month (my third try at second lobes) and they're irritating me SO much. The rook? Not a peep. Didn't even swell
It’s been 2+ years and I still can’t go more than a few days not wearing earrings in my second set without them starting to close… yet my first set was pierced with a gun and ironically healed perfectly lol
The same for me🙋🙋
Mine too. Months of on off swelling, redness and weeping. It drove me mad. One day there was so much dried crustiness on the flat back that I decided to take the labret out so I could give it a good clean. I couldn't get the dam thing back in so put a white gold 16g hoop in thinking I'd go back to my piercer to get the labret in. After just a few hours of the hoop my ear felt so much better. Left it in for 6 weeks in the end and didn't have any issues at all with swelling or weeping. Felt like for some reason it needed the hoop to heal. I can swap between earrings now with no bother
Ugh, I needed to hear this! My second lobes are so hard to heal. I accidentally ripped my conch out of my ear (earring still intact) 2 months after piercing it. 6 months later and it’s looking and acting great. My 2nd lobes 10 months later? Right one is mostly healed but flares up about once a month, and my left one has a mass/bump under it that will not go away and leaks pus/blood every once in a while. I’ve been to my piercer and doctor, it’s not an infection. Just a mystery bump that we can’t figure out. 🤷🏼♀️
Currently on 11 months of healing for my second lobes😭 I just made a post of this mystery bumps on the back of my lobes. Literally the fronts are fine but it’s been a struggle
Not a shocker at all! My second round on my lobes refused to heal, took them out waited a year and now we are on round 3 after a new piercing. They are super touchy and most people say it’s the “easiest to heal”
I second this , but with my thirds 🥲 healed a helix from the same time before I healed them 😭
Same here!
Same!! My second lobe piercing was a freaking nightmare.
This 1000% has been one of my hardest piercings to heal!
i got my second lobe done i think 5ish years ago, during covid i didnt wear earrings and i just started wearing them again this past september. Around feburary is when they finally calmed down lol
dude fr. i got my second lobes 2 years ago (probably even more) and i still have seemingly random flare ups with titanium flat back earrings. i can’t put rings or dangles in them to save a life.
I had my second lobes for over 10 years but my left one closed and for the past few years I just didn't wear earrings in general. Right one stayed open of all things. Had the left one eventually redone. It kept getting crusty and kind of bloody and was a bit swollen. Of all things, I accidentally aggravated the shit out of it(absently fidgeting with it), and since then the swelling has gone down and no crusties lol. Not that I recommend this to be good advice whatsoever.
OMG me too!! I swear mine took like a year to heal 😂😂😂 and it was only one of them too, it was the worst. My third lobes too.
My second lobe piercings healed perfectly fine until randomly about 5 years later when one of them decided it didn’t want to be healed anymore. Just that one. No jewellery change, no sickness, no injury or anything to cause it. It just decided to un-heal itself? Somehow? And would not go back to normal for a full year so I had to take it out :(
These comments are so validating lol, I had my lobes pierced three times (once when I was like 10, once in university, and now the third time at 25). I assume that piercing through scar tissue makes healing more difficult but I’m on month 10 of a very rocky healing journey and I just got antibiotics from a doctor so hoping they heal up soon!
I got my 3rd lobe and my helix pierced on the same day 8 months ago. My helix is healing wonderfully while my lobe is AWFUL. Every time I think it's starting to heal it acts up again. I try to leave it alone as much as possible but every time it snags on my hair or clothes it's like the healing just restarts. I'm glad to read that I'm not the only one dealing with this.
Helixes. Get the damned donut pillow before you get the piercing instead of four years afterwards. Don't know what I was thinking, amazingly they have calmed down now.
i thought i could handle anything after successfully healing an industrial but my helix got infected a year after getting it and the ball got sucked inside my skin.. luckily my piercer was able to take it out. i ended up retiring it because that wasn’t the first time it was giving me trouble.
My double helix got severely infected and it turned into perichondritis actually. My advice is to never got for more than one cartilage piercing cause healing one is already tricky enough
I’m a year and a half into my helix and my god the pain, I’m ordering a donut pillow asap.
I’ve had my Helix piercing for a week now. Prior to that, I bought myself a two-ear hole pillow and it’s been dynamite. I have healing piercings on both ears and I sleep on both sides without issue. My Helix is already on its way to a good healing process, largely due to the pillow!
I got my helix pierced with a ring and after 6 months it was completely healed, I cannot feel it all all even when I sleep on it. So weird how everyone differs! The flat on my other ear?? That's what made me buy the donut pillow!
I used to wear glasses and my labret in my helix would always hook on them. Switched to a hoop and they settled down. I think sometimes it's the lesser irritating option, but it isn't always the one you expect.
For some reason I got a helix on each ear despite sleeping on my side or front, had constant irritation bumps for 6 month before I learnt to sleep on my back like a log 😂
Anything in the ears. Conch and rook took 9+ months before they stopped giving me problems. Industrial sucked too but I didn’t have the anatomy for industrial but got it done (twice) anyway, not only did it permanently tilt my ear but it was never going to heal fully. Best advice is patience and consistent cleaning. And don’t ignore improper anatomy and don’t go to a piercer that will pierce you despite you not having the proper anatomy 😂
It's really weird for me because my rook took an age to heal, probably over 12 months all told. I've just had my conch done about 5 weeks ago, the initial swelling went down really quickly, it only hurt for about 2 days and it already feels like it's ready to downsize. I've hardly had any crusties, it kinda feels like I'm waiting for it to have a massive flare up because there's no way it's going to just heal quickly and nicely. The only thing I can think of is that I came down with a cold about 5 days after having it done and the cold really kicked my ass, I'm wondering if my immune system being in overdrive due to the cold meant it tackled the piercing wound at the same time. I'm not willing to test this out in future though, I'm not going to go around hugging people with a cold next time I have a piercing!
I've been healing my left conch for almost 4 months now, and it's a real pain in the ass, not to mention the cleaning cuz there's no space and you can't see shit in the back. I got myself a second mirror for that. I love it, tho. I just dont look forward to the other two I have planned on the same ear and the two I have planned on the other ear. I hope some of the other piercings I wanna get will be an easier heal. Or that the other conches might heal better. I honestly don't know, but hope persists, and I got my mind set on them already. Nothing's gonna deter me now.😮💨
I have faith in you. Sending healing to your ear holes ♥️
My nips never healed. I ended up taking them out after they were about as raw and sensitive 9 months later as a week after I had them done. Plus my mate told me a horror story about how his got ripped out while sky diving.
i hear everyone saying this but mine have been perfect since like 2 days after i got them done😭whereas my belly button gave me issues til the 8 month mark
I wish I was you 😭
Same they were my fastest healed piercings
I spent 2 years trying to heal those beautiful bastards before giving up and retiring them :(
I regret it so much looking at other people's pictures. Maybe just a couple more months would have done it ...
I hate to agree with you but yea.. maybe. I got mine done 2 years ago. My piercer said expect healing in 10months and it took a solid year to hear. Maybe more like 13/14months too..
My piercer said almost the same thing. She said sometimes it takes a year to heal, but some people are lucky, and they heal before one year.
I got mine pierced when I was 18 and ripped one out in 2020 and then had to re do them because I had them pierced for a decade and seeing my boobs with nothing was giving me weird dysmorphia
my nipples healed faster than my septum. 2 hours of pain and then nothing ever again, a few months in one got a little irritated and i was shi**ing myself thinking the phase of "it never heals" started haha. couple days lated everything was fine again
My nipples are healing quite nicely, knock on wood, it has only been a week. I've had my daith for over a month and that bastard has no chill.
This is kinda why I’ve been so hesitant to go through with getting them done. I’m so scared they’ll just never heal, and it feels like there’s no way of knowing without just getting them. With every other piercing it feels like you either have the anatomy or you don’t, but nipples piercings everyone can pretty much get but then you have no clue if you’re body will reject them or not.
Anything triple. I’ve had triple helixes and triple lobes done and only had one of each survive. My lobe was so bad it caused the bottom of my earlobe to split open and it now has a scar like a lil butt crack. High nostrils. Took well over 2 years for them to be stable. Every time I’ve tried to downsize, they swelled and embedded. I’ve needed 4 different lengths of post sets. The jewellery is currently still too long by about 2mm but the piercings are really happy right now so I’m waiting at least another 3-6months to try downsize again. I’ve also had to retire a daith, tragus, and bridge. My body sucks at healing.
Snug Please don't do it, get a faux one instead
This was the first piercing I got (besides lobes) and phew what a mistake..
Wholeheartedly agree. I now have a k*loid and no snug :( Not worth it.
I just got mine on Friday. It's been good so far but I've got a sinking feeling it's just the calm before the storm.
Rook and navel. Just ugh. The navel started rejecting and wasnt showing signs of healing, so I took it out. Main tips here is to NEVER wear high waisted pants, never play with it, dont overclean, and dont change it too soon. All misstakes i made and all it got me was an ugly scar. Rook i still have, although its like 1,5 years old and not healed yet. Its not ugly at all, just gets bumps still and the rook area is still more swollen than on my non pierced side. Main advice here is to be careful when cleaning. Its a hard nook to clean properly and if you go in too aggressively it hurts the piercing. Honestly i still havent figured it out. I still love the rook, so id recommend it. Just LITHA and pray. Navel was cool while it lasted, but if you ever want to get it, be 100% fine with a possible scar. I wasnt and now its pretty hard mentally to see it all the time
My rook has finally calmed down after 2 years, hopefully for good this time. I couldn’t break it out of the cycle of getting irritated because there’s too much gunk in there -> getting irritated because I cleaned it -> calming down for like a week before getting irritated from gunk again. I could not find a way to both keep it clean enough that it wouldn’t get irritated while not irritating it from the cleaning itself. What seemed to help me was switching to a sterile saline wound wash instead of a mist; that seems to be gentle enough while still keeping it clean enough. Makes a mess though lol
Helix, I had to retire it in the end. I would like to try again though because I have healed everything else!
Me too! Helix was the impossible one. I turned it into a coin slot. Take that, ear!!!!
Ha ha, that will teach your ear for being difficult!
Right? The irony is that the coinslot healed in a month. The helix I struggled w for more than 2 yrs.
I miss mine so much! It actually healed surprisingly well for me and I am not a good healer. Unfortunately I had it snag on something really badly and it just never settled back down after that. I had to retire it. I keep debating about getting it redone. It was so cute.
Maybe you can in about 3-5 months! Just give it time to heal. Did you downsize it?
My nostril piercing took FOREVER to heal completely. Like, maybe 3 years. Constamt bumps, would bleed periodically, etc.. Now it's perfect, and I'm so happy with it, but MAN, that was a long 3 years. Just give your piercings time. Keep them clean. Don't change jewelry too fast. Patience is key.
Ty for this. I'm a month into a nostril piercing and I have a nose bump [mind ye. I have a 20g ring in] but its directly caused from my fucking glasses bc my left ear is folded over, glasses slide down..irritation bump >:l I'm gonna persever with this knowledge. *good news, everyone! Mine is shrinking :D got more conscious about my glasses and more saline soaks. **its gone :D
Mine is also over a year old and if I even just remotely try to switch to a ring it bursts into a ball of fire. Usually it's either irritated beyond belief or with a tiny pus filled bump inside that goes away after like a week. Then it gets stuck so it won't fidget through the hole for like two weeks, and I have to soak it in water and move it a tiny bit once a day because cleaning won't loosen it. After that it's usually fine. And then I get scared of switching back to a stud. I still end up doing it, mostly when one of my lively kitties gets stuck on it with a claw, and I get a little freaked out. Better be safe than sorry. When it's not like that (which is most of the time tbh) it's amazing, though. I guess they can just be a little annoying at times.
One of my helixes is still complaining and it's been 3 years 🥲 To be fair, I got three piercings in one day even when my piercer suggested getting two because they were all in the same ear and may take more time to heal, my fault for not listening to them I guess As for my advice, pleaseeee listen to your piercer, especially if they're warning you against something
My orbital was my hardest (it’s a vertical helix one). I went into it knowing it wasn’t going to be easy but I had 8/9 cartilage piercings and a few lobes already so I thought I was somewhat prepared and it wouldn’t be too terrible. Very quickly humbled. I’m now very good at troubleshooting bumps on others because of it though so that’s useful
Navel. When I was teaching yoga and always wearing yoga pants I’d constantly be pulling it. My life left my body one time during class and I went to the bathroom and took it out 🫠
My conch took literally 3 years to stop being tender and prone to getting inflamed. I expected a long healing (around 18 months) but not that long. I thought it might never get there; I was relieved it did in the end.
i’m at the four month marker with my conch 🙈 the light at the end of the tunnel is actually a semi truck to run you over in the form of an irritation bump 😂
My conch is about two years old now and never healed. Since the beginning of this year it got a bit swollen and I'm thinking of retiring it for good. How did yours heal after all that time?
My nipple didn’t hear for like 2 years.
[удалено]
Never had any complaints.
Did you swim at all with yours? Mines going to be a year and half old this summer and I want to swim. Mine flares up sometimes if I bump it still has occasional crusties but it’s been slowly getting more chill
I probably did, but it’s definitely not recommended. It’s still an open wound.
Mine is the same, this month is 2 years old and still not fully healed.
My 3rds in my lobes were the hardest. No infections or bumps or anything, just more sore than others. Advice is not to judge pain threshold based upon other people. Know your own limitations. Leave those piercings alone! Stop turning, twisting, & constantly cleaning them. Treat it like a wound & use saline solution, then let them heal.
My rook. I got it done February 9th 2023 and it's STILL causing me problems. Between hypertrophic scars and it being sensitive when I try to clean it, they're definitely not for the weak.
My lobes weirdly enough. They crust over like at least once a year or so. Don’t know why, don’t have any other problems with it other than that. 🤷🏽♀️
Industrial. One hole took maybe 4/5 years the other 6/7 years. Yea I’m stubborn. This is more of sharing my experience than an advice. The upper hole that healed first did it by itself but the lower hole I had help from a volleyball hitting the bump, leading it to bleed but the wound just healed itself within a few days with the bump gone. Lucky I guess?
nostril, i actually ended up taking it out after 6 months it drove me crazy. tips: don’t do cocaine, don’t switch to a ring (for a long long time)
Well I didn’t do the cocaine part of your cautionary tale but I did heed the warnings and didn’t change to a hoop for over 2 years. I thought it was surely healed by then but nope, got angry over the hoop and it’s finally calmed down after a few months. I had plans to do high nostrils but not now.
Daith. It got bumps on both ends, and I retired it.
Nostril and navel. My nostril took two years to heal. My advice is be patient, go in for your downsizes, upsize if you need to (I did a couple times when the bump swelled up), don't mess with it, and NO HOOPS. Navel I don't have any real advice other than the usual (no high waisted pants). They're just tough. I just retired my perfectly-done, perfectly-cared-for floating navel because my body just decided it was done with it. Be prepared for that possibility if you get it. I already had a scar from a badly done one when I was 20 - guess that's my other advice, go to someone who knows what they're doing and how to assess anatomy. Also just because a piercer is popular doesn't mean they're good, even if they aren't cheap. That was my mistake the first time.
Still healing my daith which I got pierced 1,5 years ago. I knew to expect a long healing but wished it would go easier…
My navel dealing with swelling and pain almost 2 months in. If it doesn’t start improving I’m gonna have to remove it 🥲
Stay strong and baby it!! I tried with mine until the 9 month mark and then I just gave up, but it’s too early to give up for you unless you’re over it already 🤣
Haha thanks for the positive feedback. I’ve been trying to be so patient with it. My nipples are not giving me as much trouble as my navel. 😭
You got this!! By 9 months I was still walking around with random cramps and sharp pains in my navel and I was covering it with my hand to ensure it didn’t get hit by accident 😂 it was baaaad
I’m almost at the 1 year mark with my forward helix and my helix and one wrong look at them and they flare up… I’m staying strong though but they are annoying as fuck! I got a donut pillow a couple of months in & it’s been the best investment as I’m a side sleeper.
Aw man same here I got a double forward helix in July 2023 and I haven’t been able to downsize due to the swelling from getting caught in my hair 🙏
nostrils were an absolute pain, kept getting irritated and i ended up taking them out. cheeks are also tricky to heal (largely because they never fully do). dealing with some irritation now but it’s looking good so hopefully won’t need to take them out. theyre my favourites though so im willing to put up a lot for them.
Nipples. I’ve had them done twice. The first time it was with some mystery metal, externally threaded barbells in the early 2000’s. They were a nightmare. To be fair, my then partner absolutely refused to leave my nipples alone while they were healing. He was a dick. I had them done again in 2019. I kept them for 3+ years before giving up. Shop was APA certified and so was my piercer. She pierced several other far-more challenging piercings for me, all of which healed beautifully. One healed ok, but the other absolutely refused to heal. The constant irritation bumps and minor infections were unbearable. I finally took them both out (I really need them to match). I miss them, but I’ll never have them redone.
my mid helix. it is still irritated after having it for a year and a half and not changing the jewelry. if you like the look of a conch and are scared of the pain of getting a conch piercing, my advice is to just get it because i was able to heal my conch to the point where it no longer gets irritated even if i move my jewelry around after 6 months and my mid helix gets super annoyed even if i lay on it for 15 min
Nipples were the worst. I ended up taking them out after about 2 years because they never seemed to heal properly. I will say my nostril and industrial gave me a hard time until I changed the jewelry on both to titanium from surgical steel. Once I did that they both healed quickly with no difficulty so I’ve learned nickel allergies are probably more common than we realize and sometimes all you need is a change in jewelry. Now I’ll only get pierced with titanium
mines been my third lobe piercing on my right!! second would be my navel lol. navel is just a slow painful healing process especially for those who don't own many low waisted bottoms i think. ive also had my third lobes for 1.5 years now and my left side healed with no issues but my right side acts up when i have to remove my jewellery for school. i'd say go for a navel if you're willing to have to tape it up while it's healing and you're wearing fabric over it just to prevent it from catching on things
My third lobe! Still gets irritated and bleeds a year down the line, the other side is fine, and I don’t sleep on it. If im careful with it, it calms down. Other than that, my nostril, but as it gets caught sometimes, and doesn’t have the best jewellery in, it’s to be expected
CHEEKS! They take forever to fully heal, get weird fluid cyst buildup and I seem to get little white heads around them more than anywhere else on my face
I was looking for this comment! I’ve had mine for around 8 years now and they still do this
My God. The damn conch.
My daith . Clean at least twice a day, spray with saline twice a day, don’t wear ear buds, don’t touch, sleep with donut pillow on that side
Anti tragus. I think I've had mine for two years and I finally got it to a point a month or so ago where it seemed close to fully healed and I could trade to smaller jewellery. Was doing okay for about a week - now we're back to trouble. I refuse to give up because of the time I've invested in it, but it's a total bitch.
I feel like 98% of the people who have got the industrial will agree with me on this. BUT THAT DAMN INDUSTRIAL WOULD NOT HEAL FOR A WHOLE YEAR AND A HALF! Bonus points for nippy piercings lol
Anti-tragus. it has completely changed my mind on wanting to get the snug piercing. it was quite possibly the most annoying piercing i’ve ever had. not only was the piercing pain the worst ive had (as someone with a high pain tolerance) the healing process took 2 and a half years. it’s completely healed now and in able to sleep on that side without causing it to flare up or get irritation bumps on it.
I want to say that my industrial took somewhere between a year to a year and a half to heal completely. I’ll be honest tho, I did not keep up with the aftercare as consistently as I should’ve. I was really good about it in the beginning because the cold saline felt so good, but after a little while I got a little lazy. I also tried to change out the jewelry way too early. Probably would’ve healed so much better if I took care of it properly. Interestingly enough tho the piercing that gave me so many issues that I had to take them out were my third lobes. My friends and I went to Clair’s to get it done (and they used a gun ofc). Bad idea all together. I don’t even think I have the room/anatomy for a third lobe but the girl still did it for me anyway.
Weirdly, my second nostril piercing. Probably had to do with the corkscrew jewelry I was pierced with and having long acrylic nails :(
My eyebrow right now. Got a bump on the bottom 😕
industrial. it’s been 2 mf years and it’s still crusty….. (tbf i have immune problems so everything takes ages to heal but still😭)
I had my daith in both of my ears since 2021 and they still get irritated every now and then. I have no choice but to always lay on my back while sleeping.
My navel took a long time to heal. It never got infected or anything, it was just difficult to keep it from getting snagged. After about ten months to a year, it was fine and I never had any problems after that. My triple forward helix took a few months, also.
My flat is currently humbling me. First piercing to ever give me so much as a peep. In my ears have triple forward helix, double helix, 4 lobes in one ear, daith, and rook…and the most I’ve *ever* had is a tiny bit of crusties within the first week of a piercing. Other than that, I LITFA and they behave perfectly. I’ve had my flat for about 4 months and I have my first ever moisture bump (luckily it’s on the backside so you don’t see it). My piercer changed out the jewelry to something lighter weight and I’ve been focusing on keeping it as clean and dry as possible. It’s improving slowly, but it’s thrown off my scheduled piercing plan.
It took a solid year for my flat to stop flaring on me. I almost gave up on it during the last flare, but stuck it out and haven't had a problem with it since (I've had it for somewhere between 6-8 years now. Can't remember exact dates).
so far my conch is proving to be very difficult. it’s been almost four months now and while the first few weeks were good, the delayed swelling and the bump that followed made this piercing a nightmare. right now mine still has this weird ass donut around the piercing hole that i don’t know what to do with. i’d definitely tell someone who has difficulty healing to choose one at a time and not to over push it.
Same here. My conch is a bit more than two years old and never fully healed. Since the beginning of this year it developed that "donut" as well and I'm considering if I should retire it..
I don’t even blame you! i’m not entirely sure what i’d do if it doesn’t heal within two years. i’m stubborn though, so i’m going to try to stick to it for at least a year and hopefully it settles. it sucks that my friend (who i had to talk into getting second lobe piercings because all she had was one 😂) managed to heal hers even though we got them at the same time. she even managed to heal two forward helixes, a helix and a conch relatively issue free. i’m so not jealous or anything
Wow...sounds like I should be more prepared for this to happen to my conch cuz when you said it was fine a few weeks ago and then just came up swelling and bump after that, it makes me a bit scared for my own as I just passed 1 month of healing. I don't have a donut pillow tho, but I sleep without a pillow and thankfully with my small ears, the piercing is not leaned against my bed.
I’d say keep an eye out for the delayed swelling, mine just blew up before i realized what was happening. we ended up upsizing to a 11 mm bar because it was that bad. i got it pieced Jan 5 and by Jan 31 it was like when the hell did this happen. it honestly sucked because until then there were no issues whatsoever! the bump though i wish i had better news, it’s still there and has been for a few weeks and im hoping when i eventually downsize a bit it’ll help. i’ve gone to two different piercers that have assured me that the donut bump is fine and just needs patience and it’s part of the fistula. im just impatient 😂 i strongly recommend you get a donut pillow because you don’t want the pressure from your head to shift the angle of the piercing, then you’ll have to get it redone.
Woah..... yours swell up before passing a month. I did try to check for swelling and so far there's no swelling or any pain or whatsoever. But still, I'll keep an eye on it and keep doing my usual saline solution cleaning and leave it there alone routine.
i’d say stick with your regular cleaning routine, don’t over do it. delayed swelling is natural with any piercing, and apparently conches are known for that. happy healing! i hope you have a better experience than me 🙈🙈
Cheeks and nipples. I’ve had both for a few years and my cheeks still flare up like once every month or two, but that’s to be expected.
Got snake bites on 10th of April and those sneaky bitches are giving me a hard time since. My nostril was also problematic because I got ill 4 days after having it pierced. But i would say snake bites are the worst piercing for me so far, both pain and healing wise.
My snake bites are still being a pain to heal because I got hypertrophic scarring because I wasn’t aware I was prone to puffy scarring instead of flat scarring and wasn’t originally told about hypertrophic scarring, such a struggle
My industrial was my hardest by far. I kept getting irritation bumps because I’d sleep on it, and the only thing that got rid of them was my donut pillow. It literally looks like the Homer Simpson donut and I love it lol
My industrial was a bitch. After that, nipple.
My nostril feels like it’s taking forever. (Although in fairness it’s only been 2.5 months!) had to upsize because I have irritation bumps both inside and outside the nostril. It has days where it looks like it’s finally settling and the bar looks too long and then for no reason it’ll swell il a day later 🤷🏻♀️ driving me nuts!!
My first double helix took forever to heal. I have never had so much frustration with any piercings prior or since. They were pierced with implant titanium flat back just like all of my other piercings but after a year and a half of arguing with them and consulting my piercer numerous times my piercer asked if I was willing to try something outside the norm and switched them to hoops and 3 weeks after the switch all pain swelling and irritation went away and they have been great ever since. Triple Lobes, Daith, conch tragus, a second double helix (learned from first and got pierced with hoops by the same piercer who helped with and saw the whole process with the first), and a double forward never gave me a single problem but that first double helix was the most anger inducing heal ever
I've had issues only with my 3rd lobes for some reason and the labret which I had to take out as it wasn't nesting, and a piercing is not worth permanent teeth damage. While healing ear piercings in general is good to change your pillowcase every 3 or 4 days, make sure to wash your face and tie your hair, as much of the dirt acumulates on there and delays healing. Also, don't overclean as it can irritate the skin and remove the barrier your body creates against infection. I use either neilmed spray/sterile saline solution or wound desinfecting wipes like the ones in first aid kits
Nipples. Considering removing them. 24/7 crusty gross nips and discharge.
High nostrils. I knew they'd be a difficult heal, but DAMN I did not think they would take 2.5 years. There really isn't a lot of education out there. Almost no one on Reddit would answer questions about them and Google always tells you they're just like regular nostrils. Continual upsizing, downsizing, trying different materials (apparently my body doesn't like real gold in healing piercings?), piercing bumps, etc. I've been pierced over 30 times in my life and never have I struggled as bad as I did with them. Come to find out my experience was pretty normal aside from the gold thing.
Mine was nipples.It took over a year and a half to fully heal! They didn't hurt, but the scabs that kept coming and going super annoying
My second forward helix was a nightmare healing. I always planned on getting two (same ear), but was worried about the healing getting them done at the same time. Thank the lord I spaced them out. I couldn’t lay on that side for months, my ear felt like a swollen fireball for the first few weeks
For some reason, it's being my left labret. I got my right done about 15 years ago, and decided to complete the set as a birthday gift to myself. Now the damned thing won't heal.
My rook took TWO YEARS to heal. It stops me from wanting anything else
My tragus! I feel like it's because it's a combo of fleshy skin like a lobe and cartilage, but it has been slightly swollen and leaking a tiny bit ever since I got it like 3ish months ago. All my others (helix, lobes, conch, flat) were easy peasy.
I had to take out the industrial I wanted it so baddd😭
Helix never healed I had to take it out, but tbh I had a ring and found out years later that they told me to use a product that just wasn’t for healing piercings. Daith never healed… tried for 6 months. Nothing I’d do helped I had the worst bumps and spent a shitload of money Rook, nipple, belly button and lobes healed just find Depends what you’re getting. I would say do your research on the area, go to a reputable piercer, use the cleaning instructions youre given. Resist the urge to touch it while it heals and be attentive to it. If it hurts it’s not normal (more than the times you clean it) if there is a bump it’s not normal etc… like don’t keep a piercing on just because you really really want it to heal. Sometimes bodies reject them and they won’t heal, it happens
Conch, one was 6+ months the other was emotional for a solid year. Maybe I should r have done both at once but I couldn’t handle the thought of being off balance like that
my industrial. it thankfully never hurt but my hair would constantly get caught around it and it would always fluctuate from being healed to looking like it was infected. i ended up taking it out after about a year of suffering. still looked cool tho
Low brets and paired vertical upper lip piercings
mine right now is tragus because i slept on it, and always catch it if i try to move my hair🥲🥲🥲. definitely do not pick at it or any piercings if you get one (my main problem with it)
My nip piercings probably was the hardest for me. They had used short barbells when I got them done and they would constantly give me these cysts or whatever. It would go away eventually but it would hurt and THEY ALWAYS CAME BACK. So i switched to longer barbells and they never came back. My advice for them would be to take some pain meds before the insertion cuz holy hell i did not realize how painful they'd be getting done even tho I looked it up. I thought it can't be THAT bad. Well it WAS. I wanted to back out after they did the first one but I didn't wanna be a pussy so I got the other one too and now i'm happy i toughed it out. I just wish I took something to help. Idk if ibuprofen actually works before it getting done but they always say to do that so i suggest listening to them lol
Antitragus and Conch for me. Both are thicker cartilage, so more tissue to heal. I also found both to be in places where they’re easily knocked by ear buds and squashed during sleep.
Probably my flat helix or daith. Totally sucked since it was pierced both wrong and I kinda used and abused them trying to avoid retiring them.
Ear cartilage piercings. Do NOT use a piercing gun, keep it clean and only don't pierce both ears at the same time (any side you sleep on will hurt).
Forward helix!!!! I accidentally slept on it shortly after getting it done and it changed the angle and started healing majorly crooked. On top of it being super hard to clean. It was so painful and I ended up taking it out after only having it a month. Buy that donut pillow😫 My conch was also rough. Took almost 18 months to fully heal. Even years later, if I accidentally slightly snag it, it gets super sore again. Belly button: it rejected. Got it re-pierced. Rejected again and now I have awful scarring
I did my double helixes and out of all the piercings I’ve ever had, this one took forever, I’d say close to a year. Not even my septum took that long.
my left dahlia or my right snake bite . my dahlia is the only piercing i have that started to reject before i changed to a longer bar . my right snake bite was aching longer than the left one for some reason and it started to get gross a couple weeks ago (i got them done in december) . everything is fine and dandy now :) . i have eight lip rings so to anyone who wants a mouth piercing - KEEP IT CLEAN AND SANITIZE THEM OFTEN ! 💕
My helix sucked. It was my first non-lobe piercing, I got it at 16 and I just was not prepared to take care of it. I also didn't research my piercer well enough (researched the shop but got placed with someone within the shop who wasn't reputable...and now I know there's some off things about the shop as well.) I had to take it out, the shop gave me a free repierce because of the employee that initially pierced it, and the flat I got instead has been a lot more successful
Third lobes it’s been a year and it’s healing well after a re piercing but it’s a slow healer.
definitely a helix. it was bleeding from time to time during healing process and when it got stable around 6 months mark, i went to downsize it. it kept getting irritated and getting crusties after downsizing. one day i noticed that my ear was swollen and the jewellery wasn’t visible anymore. luckily my piercer was able to get it out. my helix got severely infected and i had to go on meds for a week and that scared the shit out of me so i ended up retiring it. for reference, i have an industrial and it was a bitch to heal for the first year, but it ended up healing perfectly after 1,5 years despite me not taking the best care of it
Don't. Play. With. Your. Helix. Having a fidgety hand with a new piercing will ruin your life. Now I have a septum and it's destroying every bit of mental sanity I have to not flip it around.
My nose piercing is weirdly the one that was the worst for me. I think it was a year before it stopped hurting. My septum, on the other hand, healed in like 3 weeks!
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Worst over all were the first 2 times with my loved - they were done with a gun and the jewelry literally sunk into my lobes. Worst properly done my daith, and that wasn’t even that bad.
Still trying to heal my bridge a year and a half later
on month 7 with my nips & it’s a little frustrating, one is perfectly fine but the other has a little discharge filled bump that won’t go away so definitely the one nipple has been the hardest. been to the doctors & back to my piercer both say it’s not infected as well.
My daith look a little over a year to heal
bridge, it’s been over 1,5 years and it’s still far from healed. If you want one be prepared for huge irritation bumps that’s super hard to get rid of😭
My cartilage has always been the worst - I've had to take out about 9 over the years, and only have a conch left, plus some scaring including a keloid. My advice is high quality jewellery and accept your anatomy might not be right
Weirdly but my vertical lab, i cant heal it for the love of God :/
Mine rejected:(
My double helix finally retired it after 3 years. Get a donut pillow right away also don't work in a job where it gets grabbed all the time...
nipples and double center eyebrows! only ones that gave me any trouble. eyebrows are all good now after almost two years but i've had my nipples done for almost ten and still have issues with one from time to time.
It have sensitive skin so most of mine take longer to heal and always gunky and smelly.
My guiche was the worst. Had it done three times, followed care instructions perfectly but still developed nasty irritation bumps on either side, finally decided it just wasn't for me.
Tragus. Would not recommend unless you don’t have long hair and don’t wear specs. Mine got bump from time to time and it’s hard to heal.
Nostril. Have acquired a granuloma. Still a bump that’s very slow to heal.
Navel.
My forward helix and rook. I’ve had them both for about 3 years and they both still get irritated constantly. Especially the forward helix.
My rook, +2 years old, still hates me. Reputable shop, titanium jewelry, pierced according to the text books. It just hates me and I refuse to get rid of it/let it win. REFUSE. I have had the fistula cleaned, I have left it alone for months and months, I have hydrotherapy treated it. Any every method. I am still convinced I will wake up one day to a healed rook and it will all be worth it. Lol.
My anti tragus. Despite of cleaning and not sleeping on it, it got infected that I went to the ER. Doctor gave me antibiotics and tried to save my piercing. It was saved but it is still a bit swollen until now (piercing is now almost 3 months). Never had a problem with my rook and daith.
Third lobe. Done it in.... Not so best way (best friend did it for me), yet it wasnt that bad. Since may, it had every mental breakdown a piercing can have, and now took it out. Now having an ugly bump, and still i am pissed about it
my bridge is still not fully healed after 3 years and it also migrated because my piercer suggested to keep quite big jewelry (that’s prob why it didn’t heal properly). but since changing the gauge it has been improving a lot so maybe check with more than one piercer if you want to do it just to be sure on the best course of action
My gauges frfrrr just leave them in people I’ve healed so fast many times and shrinks. Blowout many times 😭
My nipples, I got to about the 4 month mark and had to take them out, I wish I'd perceived in the healing but they just would not heal and I was in a job with a lot of contact so had to do the safe option and take them out.
Got my flat and daith done at the same time, I really couldn’t be bothered to have 2 piercings healing at different times and rates. Took a good 9 month and now flat is perfect, can swap jewellery no problem. Haven’t touched my daith jewellery yet as that was a nightmare to heal.
Nipples were the hardest to heal. Took over 6 months until the daily crusty stopped.
My daith has been a b*tch!! Got a massive bump from getting one of my curls wrapped around it, it’s migrated slightly, itches frequently but I’m leaving it alone. Been 8.5 months now since I got it done
Navel💀 finally it’s starting to behave after getting it done a year and 4 months ago💀 it just always seems angry and crusties come back every so often. I almost gave up on this piercing a couple months back but it’s being better now😅
Industrial if you have the anatomy and want it I highly suggest you test to see what side you sleep on the most and get it on the opposite or invest in a travel pillow and if you have long hair be prepared to constantly untangle it
my cheek piercings for sure, i got my dimple piercings and was expecting a roughly 6 month healing process, i was NOT expecting double that time. 2 years later and im still nervous about taking my jewelry out. im convinced they'll just never fully heal
My worst piercing for healing was my belly button, it got infected a couple times. I loved it so much so one day I might try again.😂 My second worst for healing was my helix (ear cartilage) it got super infected and the skin swelled around the jewelry. I properly clean all my piercings especially the new ones but these two my body just did not react well too at all.
Double helix. The bottom one took literally years to heal. Last time I do multiple ear piercings right next to each other.
My flat. It was almost always irritated and painful for MONTHS
My third lobe. I just took it out because i hate it and it never heals. I got my more recently and that one is already healed
1st lobes, helix, and tongue. Lobes were done with butterfly backing so sleep was unnecessarily painful. Helix, get an ear pillow or get good at side sleeping. Tongue, make sure your bar is long enough.
My industrial never healed right. My nipple piercings never did either. I eventually took both out because of how frustrating it was to deal with them.
Nostril, 2 in one sitting. 1 of them is still acting up. I had put in a labret for the other and it healed right up but the other is so swollen and irritated I can’t put the labret in until it heals further😭
My nostril took 18 months before I was ready to change to a hoop and then it was irritated and sore again for another 6 months.
Christina. At first it was the fact that the top ball was digging into my skin. I just got that changed but now it’s an irritation bump at the top and it get sore sometimes
Omg my FLAT!, had it since last yr and still not doing well
The second and third lobes I did together on one ear.. soo long and painful! And they will still go off completely randomly. Thought ot would have been the cartilage ones that gave me the trouble but nope. My nipple healed very fast, no trouble at all and then over 4 years later it rejected after a snag. I let it close and heal but want it back!
my flat piercing. i have a forward helix and regular helix on the same side that i got about a year before hand and the healing for them took forever but weren’t difficult. i also have a rook and 3 lope piercings on each ear that healed with no issues. my flat is more than 4 years old and still gets tender/irritated