Which piercings are there?

Your ear has room for around fifteen different piercings, and almost every one of them has its own name. Helix, conch, daith, tragus, flat: when you first dive in, it sounds like a random collection of words. It's more logical than it seems, because most names simply come from the part of the ear the piercing goes through. Below you'll find every spot in a row, with how painful it is, how long it takes to heal and what you can wear in it.

The spots on your ear, from the outside in

It helps to think of your ear in four zones. The earlobe at the bottom is soft tissue with no cartilage. The outer rim, also known as the helix, curls from the top near your temple all the way down. The concha is the open bowl in the middle, with the little tragus flap at the front. And then there are the inner folds: the ridges and folds deeper inside your ear, where the daith, the rook and the snug sit.

Almost every piercing name you come across belongs to one of those four zones. Once you know which zone you're in, you immediately have a rough idea of how painful it will be and how long healing takes. Cartilage has a poor blood supply, and that explains most of the difference.

Every ear piercing at a glance

The pain column is a guideline, not a law. One person finds a helix no big deal, another squeezes their eyes shut for an earlobe. The healing times are fairly fixed, though, because they depend on the tissue and not on you.

Earlobe piercings: lobe and stacked lobe

The lobe is the hole most people get first. Soft tissue with a good blood supply, so it closes up in six to eight weeks. You can wear a stud or a huggie in it without any problems.

A stacked lobe is a second hole directly above the first, often with a few millimeters in between. The effect is that your earlobe suddenly gains depth, and it's the easiest way to expand your ear stack without starting on cartilage. We have a dedicated collection for stacked lobe piercings, with small studs that fit close together.

Outer rim piercings: helix, forward helix, flat and hidden helix

The outer rim of your ear is called the helix, which is also the name of the piercing most often found there. A helix piercing sits high on that rim. It's the first cartilage most people start with, and the prick is short and sharp. Our complete guide to the helix piercing has more on it, and you'll find the jewelry under helix piercings.

Follow that rim forward, towards your temple, and you reach the forward helix. Same kind of cartilage, but closer to your face, which is why some people find the prick a bit sharper. The arm of your glasses can get in the way here while it heals. Read our guide to the forward helix piercing for more.

The flat is the piercing that causes the most confusion. It doesn't sit on the rim itself but on the flat area of cartilage just below it, between the rim and the hollow in the middle. Because it's a wide, flat surface, you often see two or three studs side by side here. In a flat you always wear a straight flatback stud, a ring simply doesn't fit.

And then there's the hidden helix, which sits on the inside of the rim instead of on it. From the front you can barely see it, from the side it suddenly shows. That makes it popular with people who want something extra without standing out straight away. Everything about it is in the blog about the hidden helix piercing.

Concha piercings: conch, tragus and anti-tragus

The conch is the bowl in the middle of your ear, and it's split in two by the antihelix ridge. Above the ridge is the inner conch, below it the outer conch. Both spots have thick cartilage, so expect more pressure than with a helix and healing that can easily take a year. We explain the difference between the two in inner versus outer conch, and the full explanation is in the guide to the conch piercing. You'll find jewelry under conch piercings.

The tragus is the small flap right in front of your ear canal, the bit you press in when you plug your ear. Interestingly, it heals faster than most other cartilage piercings, in three to six months. You often hear a little popping sound when it's done, which is startling but means nothing. More about it in our blog about the tragus piercing and in the tragus collection.

Directly opposite the tragus, above your earlobe, sits the bump called the anti-tragus. It's a lot less well known and not every ear is suited to it: you need a bump that sticks out far enough, otherwise the piercing will migrate out. What you need to know is in the blog about the anti-tragus piercing.

Inner fold piercings: daith, rook and snug

Deeper in your ear are three spots that all go through firm cartilage. The daith goes through the fold that curls up from your ear canal. This is the piercing you often hear linked to migraines, and we're honest about that in our blog about the daith piercing: the stories are out there, the evidence is thin. The hoops that neatly follow the fold are under daith piercings.

A good bit higher is the ridge the rook goes through. This is the thickest and firmest spot on your ear, and most people call it the most intense ear piercing there is. Read the guide to the rook piercing before you get it done.

The snug sits in that same antihelix ridge but lower down, and is really the rook's neighbor. It needs nine to twelve months to heal and, just like the anti-tragus, an ear with a ridge that sticks out clearly enough. Everything about it is in our blog about the snug piercing.

The same practical point applies to these three spots: your piercer uses a curved barbell when doing the piercing, and we don't sell those. You get that piece of jewelry at the studio. Only once the piercing has healed can you switch to one of our hoops in a daith.

Names that get mixed up

Part of the confusion comes from the same spot sometimes having two names, and from terms going around that aren't piercings at all. A quick overview:

• Auricle is another name for the piercing halfway down the outer rim, between your helix and your earlobe. You'll also see mid helix or low helix for roughly the same area.
• Antihelix isn't a piercing but the ridge itself. The piercing that goes through it is called a snug.
• Orbital means two holes connected by one ring. That can be in your earlobe or in your helix, so it says something about the jewelry and not about the spot.
• Industrial is the same idea but with a straight bar between two cartilage holes. You feel two piercings at once, which is why it ranks high on the pain scale.
• Surface or vertical in front of a name means the piercing runs just under the skin instead of straight through it. These migrate out more often.
• Constellation, curated ear and ear stack are style terms, not piercing names. They describe how you put several piercings together.
• Snake bite sometimes shows up in lists of ear piercings, but it's a lip piercing. It doesn't exist on your ear.

Which ear piercing suits you?

If you're just starting out, a second hole in your earlobe or a stacked lobe is the easiest step. Six to eight weeks of healing, little pain, and you can wear all sorts in it. If you want cartilage straight away, a helix or a tragus is a logical start, because they're on the outside and easy to reach for cleaning.

Mostly looking for something not everyone has? Then look at the hidden helix or the flat. And if you want to know exactly what you're getting into pain-wise: we've put the whole range in order in which ear piercing hurts the least.

One thing to check beforehand: not every spot fits every ear. For the anti-tragus, the snug and the rook, the shape of your cartilage decides whether it's possible. A good piercer will feel it and tell you honestly if it's better not to. That's not a sales pitch, it's the difference between a piercing that stays put and one that migrates out.

Before you get one done

Always have an ear piercing done with a needle and never with a gun. A gun forces the jewelry through your tissue instead of piercing it cleanly, which causes more damage and slower healing. In cartilage, a gun isn't an option at all. We explain the difference in why piercing beats shooting.

On top of that, choose a studio that follows the hygiene rules. The Dutch RIVM has a hygiene guideline for piercing for this, with requirements for sterile working and for the space. A studio that takes this seriously will tell you so without being asked.

After the piercing comes the calmest part: don't touch it too much, clean it twice a day with sterile saline solution and otherwise be patient. Exactly how that works is in our blog about cleaning a piercing, including what you should definitely not use.

Which jewelry fits which piercing?

During healing you wear a straight flatback stud in cartilage. It has a flat back that doesn't catch on your pillow and doesn't move around in the channel. Our flatbacks come with a post length of 5, 6.5 or 8 mm. Which one you need depends on how thick your cartilage is, and your piercer measures that for you. The blog about threaded flatback piercings has more on it.

Once the piercing has healed, a whole world opens up. A cartilage hoop or a huggie looks beautiful in a helix, tragus or conch, and in a daith a hoop follows the fold of your ear. Our huggies have an outer diameter of 8, 10, 12 or 15 mm. For cartilage you usually go for the smallest sizes, in your earlobe anything goes.

All our piercings are made of 14 karat solid gold, with lab-grown diamonds where there are stones. That's a deliberate choice: cheap gold plating or brass is more likely to cause irritation in a fresh piercing, and with cartilage especially you don't want to risk that. Read exactly what goes into them in what piercings are made of. We don't sell titanium or surgical steel, so your piercer is the right place for those.

The full collection is under ear piercings, and the pieces with stones under diamond piercings.

Frequently asked questions about ear piercings

What types of ear piercings are there?

You can get around fifteen different piercings in your ear: lobe and stacked lobe in your earlobe, helix, forward helix, flat and hidden helix in the outer rim, tragus, anti-tragus and the inner and outer conch in the concha, and daith, rook and snug in the inner folds. An industrial and an orbital aren't separate spots but two holes connected by one piece of jewelry.

What are the piercings in your ear called?

The piercings in your ear are named after the bit of anatomy they go through. The helix is the outer rim, the conch is the bowl in the middle, the tragus is the flap in front of your ear canal, the daith is the fold on the inside and the rook is the ridge above it. Know those five names and you can usually work out the rest.

What is a flat piercing?

A flat piercing sits in the flat area of cartilage between the outer rim of your ear and the hollow in the middle, just below where a helix sits. Because it's a wide surface, two or three studs often fit side by side. You always wear a straight flatback stud in it, because the shape doesn't allow for a ring.

Which ear piercing hurts the most?

The rook piercing hurts the most on your ear, because the needle goes through the thickest and firmest ridge of cartilage. After that come the daith, the snug and the anti-tragus. The earlobe hurts the least, because it's soft tissue with a good blood supply. The full order is in our pain scale per ear piercing.

What is the most popular ear piercing?

After the regular earlobe, the helix piercing is the most popular ear piercing. It sits on the outside of your ear, is easy to reach for cleaning and combines easily with what you already wear. With us, the conch and the daith are also among the most searched for, and the stacked lobe has been gaining ground for a few years now.

How long does it take for an ear piercing to heal?

An earlobe heals in six to eight weeks. Anything that goes through cartilage takes longer: a tragus three to six months, a daith six to nine months and a helix, flat, conch, rook or snug six to twelve months. Keep in mind that a cartilage piercing often feels healed after a few months while it isn't closed on the inside yet.

Can you get cauliflower ear from an ear piercing?

Cauliflower ear is caused by a blow or prolonged pressure on your ear, where blood collects under the membrane covering the cartilage, and you mainly see it in combat sports athletes. A piercing done by a skilled piercer doesn't cause it. If a cartilage piercing does get badly infected, though, the cartilage can be permanently damaged, so see your doctor if swelling or pain persists.

Can you wear an ear piercing without a hole?

Yes, with an ear cuff. That's a small clip that slides around the rim of your ear and looks like a helix or conch piercing, without any hole involved. Handy for trying out how a spot looks on you before you actually get it pierced. Read how they work in what is an ear cuff, and you'll find the styles under ear cuffs.