Ear piercings for men aren’t considered rebellious or punk any more. Nobody is googling “which ear is the gay ear” either—well, nobody who healthily engages with society. Now that tons of us have multiple piercings (ears or otherwise), and we can even wear them in the workplace with our tattoos and facial hair. (Imagine the water cooler gossip that would have fueled in 1998…)

But we don’t come out of the womb with pieced ears quite yet. So if you’re thinking of getting your ear(s) pierced, there’s a lot to know. First of all, no two piercings are alike—the fatty ear lobe heals a lot differently than cartilage. And it helps to read up on things like hygiene, healing time frames, optimal metals, and even best studio practices. So we kicked a few questions over to Evan Spencer Webb, head piercer and business manager at Enigma Professional Piercing in San Diego. Here is his advice and insight on the most common ear piercing questions men have these days. Read up for everything you need to know about ear piercings for men—then check out our roundup of the best earrings for men on the market.

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How to Pick the Right Piercing Studio

Just as you’d prefer to see a doctor with professional and modern certifications, you should seek out the same from a piercing studio and the piercer themself. Webb says to look for studios and piercers who are members of the Association of Professional Piercers (APP). “The APP is a non-profit organization that holds their members to higher standards than state or government regulations,” Webb explains. “If a studio maintains membership, you can rest assured that they are operating in a manner that has your health and safety in mind.”

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Webb adds that members of the AAP follow strict guidelines pertaining to studio setup, sterilization of needles and jewelry, and quality and construction of jewelry, plus they have to do an annual bloodborne pathogens training. It’s entirely normal for potential customers to quiz a studio about these sorts of things, so Webb encourages asking questions—anything from inquiring about how they sterilize (or even how they test said sterilization machinery), to where the jewelry is manufactured. “Find a studio whose piercers and employees are knowledgeable about the materials they’re using in piercings, where the jewelry is from, what goes into making a high quality piece of body jewelry, and seem to care about what they’re using,” he says.

How Piercings are Administered

One of the biggest misconceptions people have about ear piercings is that they are administered with some kind of “piercing gun,” Webb says. This method is far outdated and is also far less accurate than a simple sterilized needle piercing. Needle piercing is the method used in almost all of Webb’s piercings.

As added hygienic measures, he also uses sterile drapes around the ear, to keep any hairs out of the way, and to thus keep his gloves sterile. Webb also factors in “bracing” of the ear whenever a piercing might require more stabilization.

The Healing Process: What to Expect

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Your piercing studio should provide you with (or point you towards) the ideal sterile saline solution for flushing or spraying the wound. Webb says to first gently dry the piercing area with disposable paper products. (“Sterile gauze or clean paper towels are suggested, but Q-tips and cotton pads are not recommended as the cotton fibers can get easily caught or wound around the jewelry, and culture bacteria.”) Lastly, avoid harsh chemicals.

Cartilage takes longer to heal than tissue. Webb says that cartilage can take 6-9 months to heal, compared to 1-2 for tissue. Furthermore, a complicated puncture like the two-point industrial piercing can take up to an entire year or more. “This area is prone to movement and being slept on,” he explains, in addition to the fact that two wounds are healing instead of just one. Regardless of the piercing, though, any amount of pressure applied—or if something catches on it—then you need to add healing time. The most important thing: Don’t pick at any kind of piercing. Leave it alone. Don’t move or twist the jewelry; this can slow down healing times.

For both earlobe and cartilage piercings, you should plan to downsize the jewelry once initial swelling subsides, roughly after six weeks. You won’t need as much metal in there after this point, and the oversized piece can impede healing, irritate the piercing, and maybe even alter the angle of a cartilage piercing. This is an approximation, Webb says, since no two people heal at the same rate. So, make a plan to go see your piercer after six weeks to assess. This is when you can also discuss introducing different styles of jewelry to earlobe piercings, and even materials, if the wound is fully healed. The cartilage wound certainly won’t be healed yet, but might still require a newly fit metal.

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