As far as I can remember, I have been interested in body piercings. They looked so cool and the person sporting the look is fearless in a way.

My mom does not like piercings and tattoos. She will always reiterate them when she sees celebrities donning multiple piercings.

However, I do like them. I had always been vocal about getting additional piercings. Though I always get the look from my mom. But it wasn’t until I am in my thirties that I finally did.

Currently, I had two on my left ear ; one on my upper lobe and one on my rook. Before I got myself pierced, I looked up some articles and watched videos. But below are based on some of my personal experiences of getting additional piercings.

Ear Location

There are lots of pretty ear locations where you can get pierced. But I think it is awesome if you curate your piercings.

I inially wanted a unique piercing and the rook was perfect for it. It is the thick cartilage fold of the ear. For my rook piercing, I thought it wouldn’t be possible because mine is too thick. So consult the piercier for a piercing you wanted to get.

Though it is important to note that there are some piercings that you cannot get based on your ear shape. Also do consider if you always wear earphones or masks that might get your jewelry snagged.

Piercing Salon

I got my upper lobe piercing at a department store. I got a free piercing, of which they use a piercing gun, when you buy an earring.

It isn’t the cartilage part of my ears so it was okay to use a gun. I was pretty scared that it might hurt ( I was still a baby when I got my first earrings). I was kind of disappointed that it did not hurt because was ready to scream “Pit Senyor” ( I got them during Sinulog).

For my rook piercing, I got it in a piercing shop where they use surgical needles. Seeing an almost palm-sized needle go through the ears without any numbing cream was a bad idea. I almost backed out. I already saw a lot of youtube videos of getting pierced but witnessing it in flesh is different.

The piercer checked my ear if it was okay for the rook to be pierced. Then she just told me to relax and I just felt the needle went punctured my ear (after carefully sanitizing). My ear felt hot but it wasn’t painful. The piercer took her sweet time to put on the initial jewelry.

It is best to go to a piercing studio. Though it is quite expensive it lessens the possibility of infection because it uses surgical stainless steel instead of a piercing gun.

Jewelry

Initially go for jewelry that won’t budge the new piercing. For my upper lobe, I got a normal stud and for the rook, I got a curved barbel.

The size would also matter. I got the smallest stud for my upper lobe, so it was too tight that it took eight months to heal

For my rook, it was too large that I had difficulty cleaning the skin near the new piercing (in addition to the small crevice of my rook).

It would be good if you had solid gold or titanium as the material used for your new piercing. For my rook, the skin around it turned dark because the jewelry got tarnished and I can’t replace it early on while the piercing is new.

If you plan on getting solid gold or bejeweled with diamonds it is best to have them customized because some jewelry stores do not carry appropriate earrings for your piercing location.

Healing Time

It depends on the location of the piercing. For the lobe probably weeks to 2 months. But for cartilage, six months to a year. It is important too that you don’t touch or accidentally bump it while new or on its healing stage.

The most difficult part is probably the sleeping position. I am a side sleeper. In order not to turn while asleep I fill the left side of my bed with pillows. Aside from that is being extra careful when washing or combing your hair.

I had my rook piercing bumped a week after I got them and the upper half of my ear got swollen and was shiny red. It throbbed like crazy that I wasn’t able to sleep. The mefenamic acid didn’t do much.

Cleaning and Medication

Do not ever spray alcohol to clean the piercing. I just use a q-tip and dip it into a gentle soap like Cetaphil. I dry the area by tapping the q tip onto it and sprayed on a saline solution. I use H2Ocean Purified Ocean Salt Water, a piercing after-care spray.

When my rook piercing got infected, I soaked my ear using warm distilled water with non-iodine salt for three minutes and applied anti-inflammatory cream.

Change of jewelry

Since you need to allow the piercing to get healed, it isn’t advisable to change them very often. Though the piercing studio told me that I can change after two weeks.

The piercing studio can help you get your earrings to change because some piercing locations are too difficult for you to do alone.

I had mine changed with the help of two people and it cost us twenty minutes and me a lot of blood too (yes, my piercing still bleeds even after four months).

Getting your ears curated looks fashionable but a lot of work is also involved. Having experienced all that one might think that will be the last piercing I would get. But nah!

Once my left ear healed, I am getting my right ear pierced too (because I am a side sleeper). I reckon conch, helix, and tragus would complete the look.