How Bad Do Different Piercings Hurt?

One of the primary questions people go into getting a new piercing with is how much pain can they expect to experience getting this piercing done. This blog post will briefly cover the most reported pain levels/descriptions of various common piercings. There will be a deeper dive into these pain reports for each individual piercing in the future. As a disclaimer, keep in mind that pain varies per person depending on each individual's pain tolerance among some other additional factors. 

Nostril piercings

The pain for this type of piercing is described as mild. It is uncommon for this piercing to get a high ranking in terms of pain level.

Septum piercings

The pain for this piercing is not really collectively agreed upon. As long as the piercer conducted this piercing properly, the pain should not be excruciating. 

Nipple piercings

The pain level for this piercing is generally on the higher side, exceeding a 5 out of 10 rating. Many individuals who have this piercing say that the second one hurts more than the first one, which likely is able to be explained by the fact that you are able to anticipate the pain rather vividly with the second go round. 

Belly button piercings

Navel piercings overall are ranked rather low in terms of pain. Naturally, there are some outlier experiences in which people report this piercing being significantly painful. Many people find that the first couple of days following after getting the piercing involves more pain than getting it in the first place due to the piercing possibly getting caught on their clothing and also what's known as the infamous “bend down pain”, which is self-explanatory.

Tongue piercings

Perhaps surprisingly, tongue piercings are also ranked lower in terms of pain level than what one may imagine. Similar to belly button piercings, it is more frequent that people report high levels of pain throughout the first couple of days following after getting the piercing due to swelling and related discomfort. 

Industrial piercings

This piercing has a rather high pain level. Many people attest to the common belief that the higher up a piercing is located on one's ear the more painful the piercing is to get, and furthermore there may be a similar psychological phenomenon that occurs with a nipple piercings going on here as well–where people are anticipating a lot of pain as they brace for the second piercing, and so that second half of getting an industrial piercing may feel more painful for some.

Cartilage piercings

Just like with industrial piercings, the placement plays a role in the pain level for this piercing. That being said, lower-placed cartilage piercings are associated with less pain while higher ones are associated with more pain.

Earlobe piercings 

Earlobe piercings are arguably one of the absolute least painful piercings there are. This is part of why this is a piercing commonly done on infants–the pain is not unbearable.There are some factors that could possibly make this piercing hurt more, such as getting re-pierced in this area and scar tissue being present from the original one, but generally, for those who this does not apply to, ear lobe piercings are a breeze.

Hopefully this some of these descriptions provided you will useful insight about a piercing you're looking to get! Be sure to ice out your piercing with the home of the girls that eat up every jewelry look, She Ate. Check out our newest arrivals here.