Body piercing is when a hole is made in the skin or through a part of the body so that you can add a piece of jewelry for decoration. Body piercing has become an art form and today is popular among many different cultures and societies. Some of the most common piercings today are belly button, eyebrow, ear, and tongue piercings. The least popular are male and female genital piercings, nipples, and septum. These may be less popular than the others, but they are still being made.

Ear piercings usually take 6-8 weeks to heal. However, piercings on the ear (cartilage) side can take anywhere from 4 months to 1 year to heal. I had cartilage piercings 1 year and 4 months ago. My sister wanted them for her birthday but she didn’t want to do it by herself.

For over a year I suffered with sea salt baths and running them under hot water in the shower. Sea salt baths were performed according to the driller’s instructions. No matter what I did, my ears were constantly sore and infected from these piercings. They were supposed to take up to a year to heal, but I was still dealing with the same issues sixteen months later. For this reason I took out my piercings, I felt that I gave them a more than fair chance to heal.

Your piercings will know you’re stressed before you do. Having a body piercing other than earlobes is like having a child to take care of. If you don’t do what you’re supposed to do when you’re supposed to, they’re yelling in protest.

If you’re still convinced that getting a body piercing is the right thing for you, do your homework. Take a look at all the risks associated with the type of piercing you are getting. So if you still want to proceed, check out the drill studies. They are usually located in tattoo shops. Interview your piercer, make sure they have been trained and have the right experience.

I love the look of upper ear cartilage piercing, but it’s definitely not worth the work. I highly recommend against getting a body piercing if you don’t have the time or are extremely sensitive to piercings. I have problems with my regular earlobe piercings and I should have known I would have problems with others as well.