Does it hurt to get pierced?

Piercings can hurt. After all, you are making holes in your body. Fortunately, they pass quickly, and for most people the pain is minor. You can also minimize pain depending on location and preparation. If you want to get a piercing but are worried about the pain, don't worry, there's nothing you can do about it. 

For most people (and for most people with piercings), the piercing feels like a pinch. This is affected by pain tolerance and the puncture site. Some common places, such as earlobe piercings, are less painful because they are fleshy. Areas with stiffer cartilage are slightly more painful, like a sting. However, it's all over in seconds.

If you have a low tolerance for pain, there is little you can do to change that. But you can choose a piercing site with less pain. It's also a good idea for your first piercing since you don't know what your pain tolerance is yet.

Penetrating Pain Scale

Diagram of piercing pain

What is the most painful piercing?

Here is our list of piercings from least to most painful:

• earlobes
• Navel/navel
• lips
• Nose/nostril
• partition
• Eyebrow
• Language
• Date
• helix
• Smoke
• shell
• Industrial
• Surface
• nipple
• genital

earlobes

Earlobe piercing is the least painful place to get pierced. This is a fleshy area that needles pierce easily. This is a common piercing, even among children. This is a great place for your first piercing.

Pain scale: 1/10

Navel/navel piercing

A belly button piercing, also known as a navel piercing, is another area of ​​the body.

Pain scale: 1/10

Lip piercing

The lips are also a fleshy area. They offer a range of painless piercing options such as snake bites, labret, and medusa piercings.

Pain scale: 1/10

Nose/nostril piercing

This is the first cartilage piercing on the list. This is where the pain starts to get worse. It's still minimal, a slight sting for most.

A potential exception is a septum piercing. A septum piercing can be painless if your piercer finds sweet spot where the cartilage is not so thick, the piercing is not painful. This is a good reason to get pierced by a professional.

Pain scale: 2/10

Eyebrow

Eyebrow piercing causes mild pain, compared to a feeling of pressure.

Pain scale: 3/10

Tongue piercing

This is the first type of piercing with noticeable pain. People usually describe it as 4/10 to 5/10 on the pain scale.

Ear cartilage piercing

An ear cartilage piercing offers more resistance than an earlobe piercing. As a result, they are more painful to pierce. Ear piercings with higher pain include:

• Date
• helix
• Smoke
• shell
• Industrial

Pain scale: 5/10-6/10

Surface piercing

Surface piercings, especially anchors, take a little longer. As a result, pain lasts longer.

Pain scale: 6/10

nipple piercing

The nipple is the more sensitive area. As a result, the piercing may be more painful. The more sensitive they are, the stronger the pain.

Pain scale: 7/10

genital piercing

The genitals are especially sensitive. This is usually the most painful area to get pierced and the pain may last longer.

Pain scale 7/10+

Our favorite piercing treatment

Does it hurt after a piercing?

The pain you feel during a piercing should only last a few seconds. In more sensitive areas, such as the nipples or genitals, the pain may take a little longer to subside, but it should still only last a few seconds. However, it is not uncommon for a piercing to be painful while it heals. 

The pain should completely disappear within a week. Prolonged pain also usually has a source. The immediate problem is usually infection. Fortunately, infections are rare, and are most often irritation during regular healing. 

Redness, bumps, and soreness are usually caused by irritation. Avoid touching the piercing and make sure nothing is rubbing against it. Common culprits are hair, hats, or loose clothing that pulls, moves, or puts pressure on the puncture site.

If the piercing shows signs of irritation, you can treat it with a saline solution.

• 1 glass of warm water
• ¼ teaspoon non-iodized salt

You can use this mixture twice a day for 5-10 minutes.

How to avoid piercing pain

You can't really avoid piercing pain, but you can minimize it. The most effective way to reduce pain is to choose a pain-free piercing site. Other useful methods include:

• Go to a professional piercer
• Hold the hand
• ball squeeze
• Meditative or yogic breathing

Go to a professional piercer

Your best bet is always with a professional. You don't want to get pierced by a piercer with a gun. You need someone who has deep knowledge, training and a wealth of experience. They can consistently pierce in the right place for a safer and less painful piercing.

Our Newmarket Piercing Salon employs experienced and trained piercers. We employ only the best piercers to ensure the highest standards of safety and piercing quality every time.

Hold hands to ease the stabbing pain

People who are nervous about piercings or needles quite often hold hands with someone they care about. While this is usually done for the purpose of comfort and reassurance, it turns out that it actually relieves physical pain as well.

A recent study led by Dr. Goldstein of the University of Colorado Institute of Cognitive Sciences found that holding a loved one's hand is an effective method of relieving pain. So bring along your C/O, best friend or family member for support.

ball squeeze

Compression can temporarily relieve pain. In addition to being a distraction, exertion can relieve pain when squeezed. In the days before anesthesia, people used to bite into hard leather strips during operations. The ball squeeze offers the same principles without damaging your teeth! 

You can use anything for this technique, stress balls, tennis balls, and even clay.

Meditative or yogic breathing

Gaining control over your breath is the easiest and fastest way to control yourself. This is especially helpful if you're worried about piercings. Being calm can help reduce the pain you feel during a piercing.

One easy and soothing breathing technique is the 4-7-8 method:

• Exhale (all of your breath) completely through your mouth.
• Breathe in through your nose, counting to 4
• Hold your breath for a count of 7
• Exhale for a count of 8
• Repeat, focusing on your breath (at least four repetitions).

What about pain sprays, painkillers and alcohol?

It's usually best to avoid them. All three are more of a hindrance than a potential help. Pain relief sprays have not been proven to reduce pain, and they can lead to frostbite. Painkillers thin the blood and can slow down the healing process. Alcohol also slows down the healing process and often makes the piercing more painful.