Before you go
- Eat, hydrate, and arrive sober.
- Plan around sleep, sport, travel, swimming, helmets, and headphones.
- Check current ID, age, consent, and payment policies.
Piercing guide / Urban Ink
Find your placement.
An anatomy-first guide to placement, jewelry, and healing.
Anatomy before trend
Piercing, considered.
Start with your anatomy, your style, and the healing commitment your routine can support.
What to expect
What to expect.
Four essentials, from consultation to follow-up.
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Start with the idea
Share the look you want and the routines that could affect placement or healing.
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Check the anatomy
Your piercer checks tissue, spacing, movement, and how the jewelry will sit.
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Mark, look, and confirm
Review the mark from every useful angle and approve it before the procedure.
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Expect professional standards
Expect sterile single-use needles, appropriate jewelry, written aftercare, and a follow-up plan.
Placement atlas
Piercing placements.
Use the map to learn the names. Final placement and healing vary by anatomy.
Ear
8 placements-
Earlobe
Lobe
Typical healing 6–8 weeks+
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Helix & Flat
Upper ear cartilage
Typical healing 6–9 months+
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Forward Helix
Front upper rim
Typical healing 6–9 months+
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Tragus
Ear-canal cartilage
Typical healing 6–9 months+
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Conch
Inner ear bowl
Typical healing 6–9 months+
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Rook
Inner upper ridge
Typical healing 6–9 months+
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Daith
Inner cartilage fold
Typical healing 6–9 months+
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Industrial
Scaffold
Typical healing 6–9 months+
Face & mouth
6 placements-
Nostril
Nose piercing
Typical healing 3–6 months+
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Septum
Nasal septum
Typical healing 6–8 weeks+
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Eyebrow
Brow piercing
Typical healing 6–8 weeks+
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Bridge
Erl
Typical healing 4–6 months+
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Lip & Labret
Philtrum, labret, paired and vertical placements
Typical healing 2–3 months+
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Tongue
Oral piercing
Typical healing 4–8 weeks+
Body
4 placements-
Navel
Belly button
Typical healing 6–9 months+
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Nipple
Single or paired
Typical healing 6–12 months+
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Surface Anchor
Dermal anchor
Typical healing 3–4 months+
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Surface Piercing
Two-point surface placement
Typical healing 6–9 months+
Jewelry 101
Jewelry matters.
Starter jewelry should support swelling, comfort, and a stable heal.
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Ask for a material standard
Ask for documented implant-grade material, such as ASTM F136 titanium, rather than vague labels like surgical.
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Keep the wearable surface smooth
Choose mirror-polished, internally threaded or threadless jewelry for a smooth wearable surface.
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Size is anatomy-specific
Fit is anatomy-specific: enough room for swelling, without unnecessary length or movement.
Before the appointment
Before you go.
A little planning makes the consultation easier.
Bring and disclose
- Valid identification and required documents.
- Reference images for direction, not exact replication.
- Relevant sensitivities, medications, healing history, and questions.
Healing begins after placement
Plan for healing.
Clean hands, sterile saline wound wash, low friction, and patience matter more than complicated products.
Common questions
Before you choose.
Your piercer's in-person assessment and a doctor's medical advice take priority over general online guidance.
Can everyone get every piercing?
No. Tissue depth, folds, spacing, veins, movement, existing piercings, scar tissue, and the jewelry required all affect suitability. A responsible piercer may modify the idea or decline a placement that cannot be supported safely.
How much will it hurt?
Pain varies by placement and person, and no studio can predict or promise a painless experience.
Can I heal several new piercings at once?
Sometimes, but more healing sites mean more aftercare, more swelling, and fewer comfortable sleeping options. Your piercer should consider the placements, your recent piercing history, lifestyle, health, and ability to protect each site before recommending a number.
When can I change or downsize the jewelry?
Initial jewelry often includes room for swelling. Once that swelling settles, excess length can snag or move, so some placements need a professional downsize before they are fully healed. Do not use the calendar alone or change jewelry yourself during healing; have a qualified piercer assess the channel and fit.
What about sleeping, headphones, swimming, and exercise?
Avoid direct pressure, friction, snags, and shared or contaminated surfaces. Do not sleep on a healing ear piercing, and plan around earbuds or headphones that touch it. Exercise is usually possible when it does not jostle the site; avoid pools, hot tubs, lakes, oceans, and other soaking while it heals.
How do I know when a piercing is healed?
A piercing heals from the outside inward and may look settled while the channel remains fragile. Typical times are estimates, not guarantees, and the absence of tenderness, swelling, discharge, crusting, or irritation does not prove full healing. Ask a qualified piercer to assess whether the channel appears ready for a jewelry change.
What if something looks or feels wrong?
Contact your piercer for fit, angle, pressure, snagging, or aftercare questions. A piercer cannot diagnose infection. Get medical care promptly if pain, heat, redness or darkening, or swelling is worsening or spreading, or if you develop pus, red streaks, fever, chills, or feel unwell. Do not remove jewelry unless a doctor tells you to. Call 911 for trouble breathing, severe or rapidly worsening difficulty swallowing, rapid tongue, throat, or neck swelling, or uncontrolled bleeding.