How Long Do Piercings Take To Heal?

Piercings are a lot of fun but they come with a lot of work to keep them clear of infections which is why healing time is extremely important and should never be ignored!

*Disclaimer: I am not a piercer this article is written from the sole point of view as someone who has piercings and is sharing what I have found to work for me, taking onboard my piercers' advice.

This article takes a look at the healing times for each type of piercing. *Please note that every piercer will have different recommendations on healing time so please listen to your own piercer's advice. Likewise, it is also important to follow the cleaning instructions from your piercer to optimise healing time.

1. Lobe & Upper Lobe

Lobe piercings are generally the easiest piercings to heal. If pierced properly by a professional then they should take on average around 6-10 weeks to heal. Of course, if the piercing(s) has been done with a gun then healing may be delayed or in the worst-case scenario may not ever fully heal. 

2. Helix

This piercing takes around 3-6 months to fully heal, however, due to the location of this piercing it can take longer to heal as you may accidentally sleep on it or knock it when brushing your hair. My double helix took around a year to fully heal due to sleeping on it or accidentally hitting my ear when putting my glasses on or taking them off.

3. Forward Helix

Forward Helix's also take around 3-6 months to fully heal, however, the location of this piercing means it's less likely to get knocked when brushing your hair but can still get irritated when sleeping on it.

4. Daith

This piercing has one of the longer healing times of up to 9 months. The cartilage in this part of the ear is quite thick so that takes a while for the body to repair. However, as it's located inside the ear it won't get knocked or caught when brushing hair nor will sleeping on it irritate it (of course, don't be sleeping on your new piercing this applied to when it's a few months old and isn't hurting). My Daith was pierced just before Christmas 2020 and it is still healing. Every now and then the piercing has a flare-up where it becomes sore and crusts over (gross I know) and then a few weeks later it's back to being pain-free. I think one thing that makes healing faster for this piercing comes down to the initial jewellery you get pierced with. I was originally pierced with a curved barbell which was the most infuriating thing ever. Every time I cleaned my piercing either the barbell turned into my ear canal or the balls came loose and fell off. I decided I had had enough and because the country had gone back into lockdown I couldn't see my piercer to replace the balls on my jewellery so I decided to buy myself a hoop big enough to accommodate for swelling and swapped my jewellery over. Since doing that my Daith has been healing much better and it's so much easier for me to clean now. I don't have to worry about the jewellery twisting inside my ear or falling out anymore.

5. Rook

This piercing is another to join the list of slow healing piercings with an average healing time of 3-12 months to heal. Again, the cartilage of this part of the ear is thicker so healing will take longer than that of the standard lobe piercing. 

6. Conch

As the cartilage here is thicker it can take longer for this piercing to heal. On average it can take around 3-9 months to fully heal. My Conch piercing took around 6+ months to fully heal. In comparison to my Daith, it definitely healed quicker. It is recommended by piercers to not sleep on the side on which you have your piercings to help prevent the piercing from healing at an angle as well as to reduce irritation. So if you can try to remain sleeping either on your back or on one side until your piercing has healed. Another thing you should avoid whilst your piercing is healing is earphones. These collect bacteria that can infect your piercing not to mention how hard and uncomfortable it is to even try and get your earphone in your ear when you have a healing Conch piercing. 

7. Tragus

The location of this piercing is the small fleshy part of the ear that joins onto your face. As this part of the ear is so small there is a reduced risk of bumps and pulling thus making this piercing one of the faster to heal. The average healing time is anywhere from 3-6 months. Although make sure to not sleep on it while it is healing and try to keep your hair away from the piercing as bacteria from your hair can lead to an infection. Therefore it is preferable to keep your hair tied up to avoid this from happening. 

8. Snug

This piercing is located near the Conch and takes around 6-12 months to heal. This obviously depends on how well you look after it but in general, any of these thick cartilage piercings takes a while to heal. Just make sure you do your best to clean it, not to sleep on it, not to twist the jewellery and it should heal just fine. 

9. Nose

This piercing for me was a pain. Typically this type of piercing takes around 3 months to fully heal. For me, this was true, however, trying to take care of this piercing was rather difficult. I had to be super careful every time I washed my face or did my make-up, something I hadn't really given any thought to until I had my piercing. In my sleep, it would itch and I found myself waking up with my piercing half hanging out because I had scratched it in my sleep. It was quite sore having to continuously push the bar back in so no doubt that did delay my healing time. Then there was the time that my nose was itchy and I went to scratch it forgetting about my piercing and then pulled it almost all the way out! After panicking I managed to get the bar back in but yeah it did hurt. Unfortunately, I no longer have my nose piercing as I had to take it out when I went to the hospital for surgery. Even though at this point my nose piercing had healed it didn't stop it from closing up after I managed to take the bar out. After my surgery, I tried to put the bar back in but it was impossible. So I left it out and let it fully heal up and decided not to get it re-pierced as I found it too troublesome to keep. So my advice here is to think about whether this type of piercing is worth it for you before getting it done as you have to be extremely careful with it to ensure it heals okay. 

10. Medusa

This piercing is located just above the lip and below the nose. As this piercing is not an oral piercing it generally heals quite fast: 6-12 weeks or longer depending on the individual and aftercare taken. 

11. Lip

Most of these types of piercings heal fast. The healing time is similar to the lobe piercing of around 6-8 weeks. One very important note to make is that the mouth harbours millions of bacteria so it is extremely important to keep any lip piercing clean otherwise you run the risk of infection.

12. Nipple

Lastly on this list is the nipple piercing. This has one of the longer healing times of around 9 to 12 months. Extra caution should be taken when showering and getting dressed as getting this piercing caught will not only delay healing time but will be incredibly painful. Avoid shower puffs as the netting will catch onto your piercing and most likely rip it out if you aren't careful!

The following YouTube video provides some helpful tips on how to heal your piercings. 

(Source: Roly)

Sources:

Sodre. B (2019), Woman With Braided Hair Touching Leaves Photo [Online]. Available at https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-with-braided-hair-touching-leaves-1958587/ (Accessed 27th July 2021)

Piercing Aftercare & Healing Piercing Fast|Roly (2017), YouTube Video, added by Roly [Online]. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2NfV8kk2os (Accessed 27th July 2021)