by Carlee Tibbs

Created on: October 11, 2010   Last Updated: October 12, 2010

Ear piercings are the most popular types of piercings and there are many variations of the ear piercing; almost all parts of the ear can be pierced in some way.

Ear lobe piercings typically take between 6 and 8 weeks to heal and are usually the least painful piercings to get. All other piercings on your ear can take anywhere between 3 months and 1 year to heal and are more painful to have done than ear lobe piercings but still rate very low on pain factor.

EAR LOBE PIERCING:
The ear lobe piercing is the most common piercing; you can even find this on tiny babies. This is the little soft fleshy part of your ear at the base. Most people have enough of an ear lobe to be able to get two or even three true lobe piercings on their ears. Once you get past the soft, fleshy part of the ear lobe and it starts getting hard and stiff, this is the start of your ear cartilage and a piercing here wouldn't be a true lobe piercing.

HELIX PIERCING:
The second most common ear piercing is the helix piercing, although a lot of people refer to it as a "cartilage piercing", which it is but it has its own name. This piercing can be placed anywhere from the hard part of the ear lobes (where the cartilage starts), all the way up the rim of the ear until you get to the top.

ANTI-HELIX PIERCING:
This piercing is opposite the helix of your ear and is usually just above your ear canal and sits close to your head. Due to the shape of the ear and how shallow the cartilage is here, these piercings often migrate or even fail.
Not everyone would be eligible for this piercing, as the anti-helix would have to be fairly wide in order to have the highest chance of succeeding. 

TRAGUS PIERCING:
The tragus is the little nub of cartilage, situated just in front of your ear canal. Some people who have a very small tragus might only be able to have a BCR (Ball Closure Ring) or CBR (Captive Bead Ring) fitted into this piercing but this is something your piercer would discuss with you. A vertical tragus piercing is also possible but only for those who have a really large tragus. These piercings have a high tendency to fail or migrate, however. 

ANTI-TRAGUS PIERCING:
The anti-tragus is found opposite the tragus. It's a little hard lump of cartilage that sits at the very top of the ear lobe and creates a little ridge between the flat of the ear lobe and the curved shell of the ear. This piercing goes through a lot of cartilage, so you should expect this piercing to be less than comfortable. The

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