The Most Painful Piercings (2024)

FAQs

What is the riskiest piercing? ›

Generally, infection is the most common side effect of a piercing, and it all depends on where you get it done. The ear, which is relatively exposed, is a low risk area, while genital piercings are the most high-risk area. It can also depend on what kind of piercing -- a post, ring or loop -- you get in a given area.

The daith is located in the inner ear, so this piercing is not only painful to sit through but also tricky to heal. The cartilage is quite dense to go through and there's a distinct pressure that comes along with this piercing.

Surface piercings such as eyebrows, neck, nipple and wrist tend to be rejected more easily than other piercings. That's because they do not travel directly through the body, but rather along an area of skin because the jewellery is puncturing only a small amount of the skin's surface.

As for what those sensitive areas are, the piercer says that nostrils and intimate areas are often reported as being the most painful, by those getting the areas pierced, as well as parts of the ear that have thicker cartilage.

Cartilage piercings are riskier than piercings of your skin, such as your earlobe. You may have more bleeding when you get your cartilage pierced. It's important to keep these piercings clean since an infection could lead to necrosis, or tissue death, in your cartilage.

The highly favoured and most traditional piercing occurs on the ear lobe. This often becomes the first piercing that a person gets. The best part about lobe piercings is that you can add to them and have multiple earrings in the bottom part of your ear.

Along with the nostrils and belly button, the earlobes are the safest and most common body part to be pierced. The flesh of the earlobe heals well when the area is cleaned regularly and the piercing is done at the proper angle.

The scars can form anywhere on your body, but they're most common with nose and ear cartilage piercings. Cartilage doesn't heal as well as other tissues. Hypertrophic scars are also common on your chest, upper back, and shoulders. Dermal piercings in these areas might be more prone to scarring.

What piercing should I not get? ›

“The most dangerous piercings are the ones that involve cartilage, like higher ear piercings,” says Tracy Burton, a pediatric nurse practitioner in Ontario. “These piercings are associated with poor healing because of the limited blood supply to the area.

The most common sites where local infections have been described to occur include the navel, ear, nose, and nipple. Less commonly, piercings of the tongue, genitals, and other sites appear to be complicated by infectious disorders.

The skin above the belly button is generally thin enough to safely pierce as long as the piercing doesn't go too deeply into the belly button. Other areas that are less common but safe to pierce include the eyebrow and various parts of the ear, including the conch, tragus and cartilage of the upper ear.