What You Should Know Before Getting a Cartilage Piercing

Image Source: Getty/ Luda311

• Helix piercings are a fun accept on a traditional ear piercing.
• Unlike from a snug, helix piercings are all-cartilage piercings.
• We asked a professional what we should know before getting a helix piercing.

Whether y'all've had your ears pierced since you were a child or (like some of usa) you took a trip to Claire's in your adolescent years, there's something about getting your first ear piercing that only feels like a rite of passage. It seems inevitable, then, that the types of piercings available would evolve with time, and now we have the opportunity to get piercings in nontraditional places like eyebrows or belly buttons — there are even "surface anchor," or dermal, piercings that nosotros can get in our cheeks, arms, or the dorsum of the neck. Safe to say: times have changed.

But sometimes you desire merely a scrap of variation that's nothing too extreme, and if you dearest piercings, we have the perfect solution: a helix piercing. There are numerous helix-piercing options on the marketplace, so we asked a professional person to take it dorsum to the basics and intermission downwardly what exactly helix piercings are, too as what everyone needs to know before getting i. Read ahead for all the best tips to have on hand before you brand that engagement.

What Is a Helix Piercing?

Before getting alee to the dissimilar types of helix piercings on the marketplace, nosotros wanted to understand what exactly helix piercings are, and so we reached out to Anna Girgan, director of in-shop experience for Barrack past Piercing Pagoda. "A helix piercing is any piercing around the "rim" of the cartilage of the ear," Girdan says. These types of piercings are too always cartilage piercings as opposed to antihelix — or snug — piercings, which connect from betoken to point from the middle of your helix to the inside of your conch (the basin of your ear).

One affair that sets helix piercings autonomously from other ear piercings is how flexible they are in terms of placement — but this could also make getting boosted piercings complicated. "Helix piercings take a larger margin of placement flexibility than another piercings," Girgan says. "This is adept and bad, as it tin can brand lining up multiple helix piercings more complicated. Information technology can also complicate decisions on where to put the helix piercing if you're looking to add additional piercings later."

Different Types of Helix Piercings

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There are a few unlike types of helix piercings:

• Standard helix piercing: this is a normal cartilage ear piercing.
• Forward helix piercing: This piercing is placed on the outer cartilage closest to the confront, right above the tragus.
• Standard industrial piercing: these are considered helix piercings because they are two cartilage piercings that connect at different points (typically at the top and middle of the ear).
• Double helix piercing: double or triple helix piercings really refer to the number of helix piercings in i ear vs. an actual type of piercing.

At that place are also "false helix piercings" bachelor if you want the look of the piercing but don't want to actually commit to the real affair. "There are hoops available that click on and appear to be an actual piercing that yous could put on your helix," Girgan says. Magnetic studs that tin can act as false helix piercings are another option.

Do Helix Piercings Hurt?

Since anybody has different hurting-tolerance levels, experts can't say for sure the exact hurting level of a helix piercing, just if y'all're generally more sensitive to hurting, yous can accept the area "numbed with Lidocaine to help," Louisa Schneider, CEO and founder of Rowan, previously told POPSUGAR.

The Best Jewelry For a Helix Piercing

The all-time jewelry for a helix piercing differs based on the type of helix piercing it is. For a standard or forward helix, Girgan recommends "a flat-back earring." For an industrial piercing: a 14g straight barbell. And for healed helix piercings, she recommends hoops in the wearer'southward personal diameter preference. If you want to switch out your jewelry, Girgan says to wait approximately six to viii weeks at minimum before switching. Though the piercing won't fully healed yet, "it will be fine to switch to new jewelry [more than comfortably] at this time."

In terms of jewelry material, Girgan says that "14k golden with no nickel or cadmium, and high-form alloy titanium are all-time for all piercings," not merely helixes, and if you want to switch up the blazon of jewelry being worn, "the way to switch it out varies by the original piece of jewelry y'all chose," and then be sure to consult your piercer if y'all are having a hard time on your own.

Potential Risks With Helix Piercings

In terms of rejection, helix piercings actually fare a bit better than other types. "Rejecting helix piercings is rare and mostly just happens when the piercing was pierced incorrectly," Girgan says. But very specific instances similar "extreme health changes tend to cause full general rejection, and something like a pregnancy tin really cause all piercings to start rejecting, no matter how long they've been in," Girgan says.

To verify whether your helix piercing is beingness rejected, Girgan says to accept note of "whether the piercing started out in ane area of the ear and has slowly migrated to another." If you are unsure whether the piercing is being rejected, always consult a professional piercer, but if you are able to verify rejection at home, "it is all-time to remove [the piercing] earlier information technology fully rejects and causes permanent cartilage and skin impairment."

Aftercare For a Helix Piercing

When the piercing is healing, "it is normal for it to produce "crusties" daily until healed," Girgan says. To aid in the healing process, "saturate and clean the piercing with a new q-tip or newspaper towel twice a day using Studex Advanced Piercing Aftercare & Cleanser ($15) or H2Ocean Piercing Aftercare Spray ($sixteen)."

When the piercing is fully healed, you volition discover that "there will be no pain even when slightly bumped into," Girgan says. If you have been keeping upwards with general aftercare, it should accept approximately iii months for a helix piercing to fully heal, a much shorter timeframe than other piercings like industrials, which tin take up to six months.

Whether you accept already committed or are still on the debate, go on these tips in listen if you lot decide to brand your adjacent piercing a helix.

Studex Avant-garde Piercing Aftercare & Cleanser

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H2Ocean Piercing Aftercare Spray

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Source: https://www.popsugar.com/beauty/helix-piercings-48748125

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