What To Expect When Getting Cartilage Pierced

When I went to get my cartilage pierced, I had no clue what to expect! I know of some people who have their cartilage pierced, but no one that I could talk to about it. I watched as many videos online and read so many articles, but nothing was really specific. It won't be the same as experiencing the piercing yourself, but I'm going to try my best to prepare you for what to expect when getting pierced!

• I got my upper cartilage (helix) pierced with a hollow needle
• I STRONGLY reccomend this method as it allows the piercing to heal properly. They usually pierce with needles at tattoo/piercing parlor. These people are usually more qualified than anyone at Claire's.
• If you have long hair, I urge you to pull it back into a pony tail and secure any hairs that are close to your ears back with bobby pins/clips. You don't want your hair touching your piercing because it can irritate your piercing and possibly even infect it!

Here's basically how the process goes:

1. The piercer will have you pick our your choice in jewelry. I didn't have too much of a choice, since I got a captive bead ring. He pierced it with a 16mm guage, which is one of the smallest there is. I believe that it is two sizes bigger than normal earring you buy at Target. I like the thickness of the gauge because it's not too big that my ear is ridiculously stretched, but it's noticeable :) I am happy with it. I recommend asking to view different sized gauges if you are unsure of what you would like. You most likely will prefer either a 20mm, 18mm, or 16mm!
2. Next, your piercer will mark on your ear where they will pierce it. My piercer just used a marker and made a dot on my ear. Nothing major, but just the next step of the process. Ask for a mirror so you can see the dot and make sure that it is placed properly. Usually they know where it's supposed to go and have a pretty good judgement of placement.
3. The next step is probably the most intimidating: the actually piercing. Your piercer will clamp your ear in place with something that looks like this. These simply hold your ear in place and tighten your ear so that the piercing goes through smoothly.
4. Your piercer will then use the hollow needle to, essentially, put a hole in your ear. It in all honestly did not hurt as bad as I thought it would, but it DID hurt. Quite a bit. My piercing did not bleed, however I have heard of some cases that did. I guess it depends on your anatomy and all.
5. The piercer will probably insert the needle about halfway to three-quarters of the way through your ear, and will then "thread" the jewelry into your ear. If they are inserting a stud, they will put the back end of the stud onto the front end of the needle and then slide the needle through, thus pulling the stud into your ear. They will then attach the backing to the earring and voilà! OR they will attach one of the open ends of the captive bead ring to the front end of the needle and then slowly rotate the hoop through your fresh piercing, then they will insert the bead and voilà! Either way, you get an awesome looking piercing :)
6. Your ear will then proceed to turn a lovely fire-engine red shade and perhaps be a little hot. This is all completely normal. I mean, you just punctured your ear! It will also be a little tender. As much as you want to, RESIST THE URGE TO TOUCH IT! Any touching of your new piercing, other than when cleaning it, can lead to infection. Don't do it.

That's it, all done!! It wasn't that bad, in all honesty. Yes, it did hurt, I'm not going to lie. When he changed the jewelry in was when it hurt the most. But after that, I had no problems. Happy Piercing!