Styling and fashion have always been the craze for everyone. A common fashion trend adopted by both genders is ear piercing. Besides being one of the oldest fashions, it is also one of the newest ones. When you are going for ear piercing, you have a variety of options or types. But most girls do not know about the types of ear piercing. So before this, you must know about different kinds of ear piercings.
Our ear is consists of many parts like industrial, helix, conch, snug, orbital and anti-tragus etc. Which part you are going to pierce makes that style name. Piercing each part creates a unique ear piercing style and makes you look standout.
Ear Piercing Types
You will find here 23 types of ear piercings with pictures that can give a cool and elegant look.
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1. Ear Lobe Piercing
The most common piercing type is the lobe piercing. This piercing is created on the soft, lower portion of the ear and is less painful than other types. Moreover, this piercing type heals faster than other piercings.
Generally, it takes about 5 to 6 six weeks for lobe piercing to heal. Various styles of piercings are available, although multiple piercings tend to look more fashionable than one piercing per lobe.
The ear lobe piercing is usually the first type of piercing celebrities opt for and then move on to piercing other parts. Some people also have more than two ear lobes pierced. Nicole Richie, Scarlett Johansson, Bella Hadid, and Sienna Miller are among those celebrities who have multiple piercings in their earlobes.
2. Multiple Ear Lobe Piercing
Most of us go with a single ear lobe piercing as it is the most common and traditional style. Let me introduce you to multiple ear lobe piercing, the latest and modified type of single ear lobe piercing.
As the ear lobe is the soft part of our ear, we can go with multiple piercings, and it will also heal faster than other piercings. In number, we can go with more than three piercings on our lobe, but less than five is always safe.
3. Cartilage Piercing
Cartilage is the softest bone of our body. A cartilage piercing can be done at a variety of places within your ear since there are numerous spots for piercing throughout the hardened cartilage.
It is also essential to be aware of cartilage piercings’ healing process and time as it is somehow a long and uncomfortable span. According to professionals, the healing time for cartilage piercings varies from four months to one year. During the period, you can also face irritation or pain.
Celebrities who have cartilage piercings often wear diamond or gold earrings and studs to show their piercings. Like Cristina Scabbia, Becky G, Lily Allen, Cardi B, and Jaime King looks cools with this ear-piercing style.
4. Industrial Piercing
Industrial piercing is one of the unique styles of ear piercing. In industrial piercing, our upper ear is pierced on two opposite sides. The front upper cartilage is pierced at two places, and then a straight bar is passed through them and fixed by using two stoppers.
Although it is a very cool and different piercing style, some people still do not prefer it. It is because an industrial barbell can become tangled in hair, creating a tug-of-war between jewellery and the barbell. Moreover, cartilage piercing can cause complications, like hypertrophic scarring, when the skin is damaged. To compensate, some wear cartilage studs during the healing process of their industrial piercings.
Yet many celebrities continue to wear this style. This list includes the names of Ashley Tisdale, Danielle Bregoli, Danielle Bregoli, Ayesha Curry and Amanda Steele.
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5. Helix Piercing
If you are looking for the least painful ear piercing, then helix piercing is for you. In helix piercing, your upper cartilage is pierced. You can go for single or multiple helix piercing as per your choice. After your piercing is healed, you can use small studs or loops in your helix piercing.
Moreover, helix piercing is also a cartilage piercing. So it typically takes about 4 to 12 months for healing completely. Healing occurs from the outside, so it may look well on the outside after a long time before it is thoroughly healed.
6. Forward Helix Piercing
The forward helix piercing is a type of helix piercing, but it has a different placement from simple Helix piercing. The forward helix will pierce the cartilage near the bottom of your helix, towards the front of your ear.
This type of ear piercing is the most prominent type of piercing. You can use studs or lobes, whatever suits you in your forward helix piercing. Forward helix can also be single or multiple pierced. Among celebrities Lucy Hale, Cassie Ventura, Scarlett Johansson and Chantel Jeffries have forward helix piercing.
7. High-Lobe Piercing
In order to spice up your look, consider a high-lobe piercing. This piercing is done at the high point of your ear lobe. Another key point of high lobe piercing is that it’s the same as helix piercing. So it typically takes about 4 to 12 months for healing completely.
8. Daith Piercing
It is common for people to describe feeling an intense, sharp shot through the ear when they have a daith piercing. As this piercing takes about 6 to 9 seconds, so it is considered the most painful piercing type. Daith piercings are usually followed by a few days of dull and achy pain.
Daith piercings involve inserting a needle into the fold of cartilage at the centre of the ear, the crus of the helix. A straight hollow needle is typically used for daith piercing. For this piercing style, people mostly use captive bead rings, which enhances their look. You can also go for a beautiful diamond hoops.
9. Tragus Piercing
Tragus ear piercing is found just at the front of our ear canal. Somehow due to its position, it is a painful procedure to get a tragus ear piercing.
Tragus piercings provide you with a sense of vitality and activity. The healing process of any piercing takes about 6-8 weeks. On the other hand, cartilage piercings, such as the tragus, can take a great deal longer to remedy. During the healing process of piercing, the body’s natural defence system attempts to fight off infections by exhibiting many symptoms.
For tragus piercing, several styles of earrings will be available to you, all of which can be used to match your style. As well in females, many male celebrities also seem to have tragus piercings. Like celebrities who have tragus ear piercing, you can make your signature style.
10. Tragus and Helix piercing
Gone are the days when you only choose one piercing type. Now is the time to choose a combination of piercing types. Nowadays, the most common and trendy piercing style is the combination of the tragus and helix piercing. Getting tragus and helix piercing will follow a painful procedure, but it is always advised to take a big break between them.
11. Snug Piercing
piercing is also known as antihelix piercing. Snug are another option for women who want something different. In this type of ear piercing, perforation on the inner cartilage is made, which is closest to your ear’s outer rim.
Depending on our style, many types of jewelry can be used for snug piercings. Celebrities who have undergone snug piercing are Emma Watson, Kylie Jenner, Gigi Hadid and many other international divas.
12. Transverse Lobe Piercing
In the same way as a traditional lobe piercing, a transverse lobe piercing is accomplished by perforating the lower ear. It differs mainly by the fact that the earlobe itself is featured with a small horizontal bar. The only visible part of the piercing is the ball closure on the ends. Moreover, this type of piercing is somehow easy to heal.
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13. Orbital Piercing
This type of piercing can be made anywhere, but most commonly they are made in the helix or the ear lobe. To achieve this piercing, we make two holes, and a ring is passed through both of them. A constellation piercing is a perfect addition to an orbital piercing on the earlobe because both are less painful than cartilage piercings.
14. Anti-Tragus Piercing
Anti tragus piercing is like tragus piercing, but the difference lies in their position. This piercing is located right above your earlobe. For anti-tragus piercing, a rod or loop is pass through the perforation. For anti-tragus piercing, you can have a variety of choices in jewellery.
This type of piercing style heals faster as it is on your ear’s soft part, but you still need proper care to heal it. There is a typical healing time of six to twelve months for an anti-tragus piercing. It is best to avoid rotating the jewellery throughout the healing process. The reason for this is because rotating the jewellery may disrupt healing because of the ripping off scabs.
15. Rook Piercing
Rook piercings are cartilage piercings near the tragus, above the antihelix. They are located in the uppermost ridge of your inner ear. Piercings typically involve inserting hollow needles through your cartilage to access the rook, which helps hold your jewellery in place.
As this piercing is made on the cartilage so you can expect to feel more pain. Moreover, the healing time for this piercing is about 3 to 10 months. Studies show that roughly 32% of cartilage piercings eventually get infected during their healing process. So you must take care and clean them on a regular basis.
16. Top Ear Piercing
Getting a piercing in your top ear looks cool and trendy and also compliments other piercing types. Women prefer to pierce their ears mostly on the helix, but many like to combine it with cartilage piercings to create a cool aesthetic. Usually, top ear piercings are also known as helix piercing.
17. Snakebites
Snack bites piercing style is although very common types of piercings for ear nowadays. Usually, two piercing are made side by side. The location of snack bites piercing can vary like some people prefer it on the helix while others prefer it on the lobe.
In comparison, the healing process of snack bite piercing is somewhat lengthy. Because there are two piercings side-by-side, so the swelling may be extra. It is essential to take special precautions during the healing process.
Snack bites piercing can be adorned with the same jewellery, but we can also go with a variety. However, hoops or studs are also a good choice for jewellery.
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18. 3 Ear Piercings
It is always a good idea to get three piercings side by side. Somehow it gives your jewellery an extra chance to complement your look. Many celebrities seem to have three ear piercings and well carry them with gold, diamond or silver studs and hoops. To avoid complications, you should always take a break after each piercing.
19. Full Ear Piercing
Full ear piercing is not a typical style as it took a lot of courage to have a full pierced ear. In order to achieve this, you must pierce the lobe and cartilage of your ear multiple times. It is also an experimental style, so it must be challenging for you.
Having a full ear pierced will give you more options for jewellery. You can go with a combination of many jewellery styles and includes diamond, gold, and silver at the same time.
It is always suggested by experts that take enough breaks when moving towards another ear piercing. As it will give your ear healing time, and you will feel less pain.
Recently a celebrity, Keke Palmer, has shared a close view of her ear piercings. She has a full ear pierced with three-lobe hoops, two upper helix studs, and two conch pieces. She is giving a trend of full ear piercing to young girls.
20. Unique Ear Piercings
It has been a trend for women to get a different ear piercing styles over the past few decades. Before this time, women only had lobe piercings as their only option. Combining cartilage and lobe piercings on one ear is also a great option, or you can scatter them evenly between your ears instead. The type of piercing you get and the jewelry you choose for it can be as daring or reserved as you like these days.
21. Combination of Piercings
Another type of piercing includes a combination of different piercings. As everyone has a different ear structure and it is a fact that if one thing looks good on one person, it is not sure that it will go the same for others.
If you are extremely concerned about how you look and don’t want to take any chances, this type of piercing is for you.
All you have to do is look at all the piercing types mentioned above and select any 2, 3 or 4 types that will suit your look. Combining multiple and different piercing styles always give a chic and bold look. Either you can go with straight loob piercing, or you can go with the combination of conch, lobe and tragus piercing. In the end, always select the right and complementary jewellery.
22. Earhead piercing
Earhead is located on the upper portion of the tragus. In an expectation that it is the hard cartilage of your ear, this type of piercing can be painful. Despite being less common, this type of ear piercing for girls still looks elegant.
According to the professionals, never go with multiple piercings at this part. Additionally, try to wear a little stud on earhead piercing rather than a heavy or big one. They will complement your look more harmoniously. Furthermore, you should take proper care of your earhead piercing during its healing process. This will result in a faster healing process and reduce infection risks.
23. Conch Piercing
In terms of variety, conch piercings are among the popular ear piercings and are the most versatile ones. In this type of piercings, you can choose whether you would like the incision on the inner or outer portion of the ear. There is a cartilage piercing located in the middle of your ear.
In the last decade, women have increasingly been opting for multiple ear piercings, including conch piercings. If you want to look elegant, choose a hoop encrusted with shiny gemstones, or maybe you prefer a more casual look with a simple classic gold or silver hoop.
24. Ear Cuff Piercing
How Much Pain Can We Expect to Experience During the Piercing Process?
During the ear piercing process, the pain level that we feel is different. It depends on several factors. Each of these factors has been discussed below.
1. First of all, the pain level depends on what part of our ear is going to pierce. The soft part of the ear hurts a little less than the hard part, like cartilage.
- The part which hurts less is the earlobe.
- The pain level increases in Rook.
- After this, we can feel more pain if we are going to pierce the helix and tragus.
- Earhead piercing feels more pain than the above two.
- In all the piercing, the piercing types that make us feel high pain are piercing at daith and conch areas.
2. Secondly, the pain level also depends upon the instrument used during the piercing process. Nowadays, everyone uses a piercing gun. This device has been designed to pierce the earlobe by driving through it a pointed starter earring. Ear piercing guns can either be reusable or disposable.
3. Thirdly, the other most important factor is the person who is going to pierce your ear. It is always advised to go to a professional person for your ear piercing. Those who are professional can make you feel less pain, and it also reduces the rate of infections.
What is The Average Healing Time for Ear Piercings?
Most earlobe piercings heal quickly. The process usually takes about one to two months. However, the healing time for cartilage piercings can be somehow longer than other piercings. The healing process of a helix or tragus piercing may take up to six months or even a year.
During the healing process, use cotton and water to clean your ear regularly. Additionally, try not to use any type of chemicals on that portion of the ear. Avoid rotating jewellery in the pierced portion as it will hurt you.
Final Thoughts
It is always a tough decision to decide which piercing type will look good on you. Remember that just because a piercing style looks good on someone else doesn’t mean it will also look good on you in the same way.
Moreover, always visit a professional for ear piercing and choose the right piercing type.