What "ear and body piercing" actually covers

When people say "piercing," they usually mean one of a handful of placements: the earlobe, the cartilage of the ear (helix, tragus, conch, rook, daith), the nose (nostril and septum), the navel, and the lip or eyebrow. They all share the same basic process, but they do not heal at the same speed, and that single fact causes most of the trouble we see. Someone changes a helix at eight weeks because their first lobe piercing healed in eight weeks, and then they spend the next three months fighting an angry bump. The placement decides the timeline, not the calendar from your last piercing.

This hub is the overview. Each piercing has its own guide below with the specifics that matter for that spot. If you only read one thing, read the healing chart, then read the guide for the piercing you actually have.

Healing times by piercing type

Healing ranges are guidance, not promises. Your own healing depends on the placement, how well the jewellery fits, whether you sleep on it, and how consistent you are with aftercare. A piercing can look healed on the outside long before the channel inside (the fistula) is actually done, which is why piercers tell you to leave jewellery in for the full range below. The ranges here reflect common clinical guidance; for example, WebMD notes cartilage can take 4 to 12 months to fully heal.

For the full breakdown with explanations of why each range varies, see our complete healing-time chart by type.

What to expect at a piercing appointment

A good appointment is calm and unhurried. Here is roughly how ours runs on the Coquitlam bench, and what any reputable studio should look like.

• A conversation first. We look at your anatomy, talk about placement, and pick jewellery that fits. Not every ear suits every piercing; the shape of your cartilage genuinely matters.
• Clean setup. The piercer washes and gloves up, the area is cleaned and marked, and you approve the dot before anything happens.
• A single-use needle. Professionals use a fresh, sterile, single-use needle, opened in front of you. We do not use reusable piercing guns. Guns cannot be properly sterilised and they crush rather than cleanly pierce the tissue.
• Body-safe jewellery, fitted for swelling. Initial jewellery is implant-grade and often slightly longer to leave room for swelling.
• Aftercare you can actually remember. You leave with clear instructions and a way to reach us if something feels off.

New to all this and a bit nervous? Our first-timer's guide walks through every step, including how much it actually hurts.

Why piercers insist on body-safe metals

The metal touching a fresh wound for months matters more than almost anything else. Cheap or plated jewellery can leach nickel and irritate the channel, which is a common cause of piercings that just will not settle. The APP's standards for initial jewellery are the benchmark we follow. The short version:

• Implant-grade titanium (Ti6Al4V ELI, ASTM F-136), or commercially pure titanium. Light, strong, very low reactivity, and it can be anodised into colours without a coating.
• Implant-grade steel (ASTM F-138). Solid choice, though titanium is gentler for anyone nickel-sensitive.
• Niobium. Inert and well tolerated; used by piercers for years.
• Solid gold, 14k or higher that is nickel- and cadmium-free and alloyed for biocompatibility. Plated or "gold-filled" is not suitable for a fresh piercing. Gold above 18k is usually too soft.
• Inert glass (fused quartz, lead-free borosilicate, lead-free soda-lime).

One more detail: the part of the jewellery passing through your skin should be smooth. The APP recommends internally threaded or threadless ("press-fit") jewellery so there are no sharp screw threads dragging through the healing channel. Once you are fully healed, you can move up to nicer pieces. We cover that in our guide on when to upgrade to solid gold.

Universal aftercare: the short do and don't list

Different piercings have small differences, but the core aftercare is the same everywhere. This follows the APP aftercare guidance.

Do

• Wash your hands before touching the piercing, every time.
• Clean with a sterile saline wound wash (0.9% sodium chloride as the only ingredient), once or twice a day.
• Pat dry with a clean disposable paper product. Cloth towels hold bacteria and can snag.
• Leave the initial jewellery in for the full healing window.
• Sleep off it. A travel pillow with a hole, or just switching sides, saves a lot of cartilage piercings.

Don't

• Don't use alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, antibacterial soaps, iodine, or drugstore "ear care" solutions. They damage healing cells.
• Don't slather it in ointment. It traps moisture and blocks the air circulation the wound needs.
• Don't twist, spin, or rotate the jewellery. That old "rotate it" advice is outdated and it irritates the new tissue.
• Don't over-clean. More is not better; it irritates and slows healing.
• Don't go swimming in pools, lakes, or hot tubs while it is fresh.

For the full step-by-step routine, see our post-piercing care instructions.

Normal healing vs. when to see a professional

A healing piercing is not supposed to feel like nothing. Some tenderness, light pink colour, a bit of clear or pale-yellow crust, and mild swelling in the first weeks are all normal. That crusty bit is dried lymph, not pus, and it is a good sign your body is working.

What is not routine: redness that spreads outward, the area feeling hot, thick green, yellow, or grey discharge, a bad smell, throbbing pain that gets worse instead of better, or a fever. Those can point to infection and are worth a same-day check with a doctor or your piercer. The APP troubleshooting guidance is clear on one important point: do not remove the jewellery from a suspected infection on your own. The jewellery lets the area drain, and pulling it can trap the infection inside and cause an abscess. Get advice first.

Cartilage bumps confuse a lot of people. A small, firm bump beside a healing helix is usually irritation, not infection, and it often comes from sleeping on it, knocking it, or poorly fitted jewellery, not from something you need antibiotics for. Our guide on telling an infected piercing from normal healing goes through this in detail, and the helix and cartilage guide covers bump care specifically.

None of this is medical advice. We are jewellers and piercers, not doctors. If you are worried, especially with fever or spreading symptoms, see a healthcare professional.

Come see us in Coquitlam

We pierce in-house at our Coquitlam studio with single-use needles and body-safe jewellery, and the same bench does your repairs and gold upgrades down the road. If you want a piercing done properly, or you have one that is not behaving and want a second opinion, book a visit and we will take a look in person.

Frequently Asked Questions