A Style Staple - Let’s Talk Piercings %%page%%

By Taylour Fashion May 14, 2020

Piercings are one of those style staples that are always around no matter what the latest trend is. There are so many different ones you can get for your ear, face, or body and with that variety comes the opportunity for unique combinations. I’m not one for pain, but there is just something about piercings that makes me continuously want to consider getting a new one. My ears were first pierced when I was a baby, so I can’t speak too much on the deciding factors that went into that, but there are a few others I can touch on.

The Upper Lobe

I feel like after getting your standard lobe piercing, its only natural to get your upper lobe pierced next. My mom let me get my 2nd during my freshman year of high school. There is usually always a Claire’s conveniently located in the mall, so that’s where I went to get it done. It was a pretty quick process. They marked my ears and wiped them with a care solution before using a piercing gun to complete the process. After a little pinch, I left the store with my new sterling silver studs and a bottle of care solution for everyday cleaning. This one was pretty tame. The healing process was easy and I could now wear four earrings at once although the spacing is a little off. What more could I want.

The Helix

My next piercing didn’t come as easy. I was a little indecisive on deciding which piercing to do next. My top three choices were an industrial, a third piercing on my lobes or a helix. Let’s talk about each one shall we:

The Industrial: I didn’t see industrials often, so this was the one I was the most interested in. A bar acts as the earring and runs the full length of the upper ear since both sides of the cartilage are pierced. I loved the look of industrials, but I wasn’t entirely convinced.
Third Piercing On The Lobe: The idea of having earrings running down my ear was enough to make me want this piercing the most out of my three choices. I felt like my lobes were too small so I didn’t explore this option much.
The Helix: We have a winner! A helix piercing is done on the rim of the upper ear cartilage. It took me about a year to decide on getting a helix. This time I went to an actual professional piercing and tattoo shop, and they used a needle. Piercing needles are generally safer and cleaner to use then piercing guns.

The healing process for my helix was the exact opposite of my upper lobe. It hurt a lot more then I was expecting it to, and it took almost a full year to fully heal. The actual piercing part wasn’t bad at all which is why I was expecting it to be easier to deal with.

I went to Magic Mountain a couple of weeks later with a still freshly pierced ear. As expected, my ear suffered a little bit, but the earring stayed in. I didn’t lose it, it didn’t come out so I was satisfied. Outside of the rollercoasters, I was really careful when it came to dealing with my ear. Its easy to hit the earring a few times when laying on your side or doing your hair. Even though my earring didn’t come out on a rollercoaster, the ball decided to fall out when I slightly bumped my ear. I had nothing to close the hoop, so I had to go back to the piercing shop to get another one.

The whole process was quite frustrating. I cleaned my ear every day with a saline solution. It is very important to properly clean the piercing so that it doesn’t get infected. The hoop I had made it pretty convenient to clean around. After 3 months, my ear seemed like it was doing better, and I falsely thought it was okay to change out the hoop. I wanted a gold hoop that specifically didn’t use a ball. The old earring slid right out, but the new one did not go in without a fight. I had to get someone else to put in the hoop due to the hole being so small. Switching out that hoop was an emotional experience. I was afraid that the hole would close and then I would have to go through the whole process again, but the hoop eventually went in, thankfully.

I love my helix now that it has completely healed. There isn’t much trouble when switching out the hoops, but I do want to try a stud to see if its easier to deal with.

The Nose Piercing

I don’t know what made me want to get my nose pierced. It was a pretty spontaneous decision. I thought about it one weekend and a week later, I got it done at the same shop I got my helix. During that week, I asked multiple people I knew about the level of pain that came with nose piercings. They all said that it wasn’t that bad, and I believed them, but boy were they wrong. I decided to get a stud as opposed to a hoop. The piercer asked me if I wanted him to just go ahead with the needle or count to 3 first. I chose the ‘just get it over with’ option. As soon as the needle pierced my nose, my eyes started watering. I knew what to expect and what I was there for, but it still took me by surprise.

I thought the healing process was normal. The most frustrating part was the earring itself. It was an L-shaped stud that had a mind of its own. Once my nose started to heal, the stud had more room to move around especially when the swelling went down. The lower half would always stick out, and its hard to fix your nose ring when you’re out in public sometimes. I had a similar moment with this piercing as I did with my helix, where I tried to switch out the earring to early. Nose rings are a piece of cake to change out once all is well.