According to Niki, most people rate navel piercings as a four or five out of 10 on the pain scale. Pain is, of course, subjective and it really does depend on how well trained your piercer is. So it's always worth doing your research prior to your appointment to make sure you're in experienced hands.
Does a Belly Button Piercing Hurt a Lot? Good news: most people say that belly button piercings don't hurt that much. They're comparable to ear lobe piercings in terms of pain. If you've gotten your ear or nose cartilage pierced before, that type of piercing usually hurts more than a belly button piercing.
Standard Lobe Piercing
Therefore, it should not be surprising that it ranks low on the pain scale – the general rating seems to be 3/10. A standard lobe piercing can hurt for a moment or just feel like a pinch when the needle goes through.
If you've ever thought about getting your septum pierced, you've probably pinched yours before.) All the while, the pain felt incredibly intense for those couple of seconds. On a pain scale of 1 to 10, having my septum pierced earns a hard four.
Make sure to get a full 7-8 hours of sleep on the night before your ear piercing appointment. Lack of sleep has been found to decrease your pain tolerance and can lead to intensified pain the following day. Being well-rested during your piercing session also helps boost immune function and supports the healing process.
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.
A few more uncommon piercings are eyeball piercings, dermal piercings (pictured to the left), corset piercings, some genital piercings, uvula piercings, bridge piercings, and anti-eyebrow piercings (the latter two are pictured above).
You can get multiple piercings at once, but you have to be able to properly care for them. Even though there's really no limit, many piercers recommend no more than four piercings at one time. You can also stagger your piercing sessions weeks apart to make the process easier.
Rook piercings are located in the cartilage at the uppermost part of the inner ear. The location does go through a thick bit of cartilage so it can be more painful and harder to heal than many other spots on the ear. The Rook is more in line with the Snug when it comes to pain and healing.
Needle Piercing is Less Painful
When you get pierced with a piercing gun the studs used to pierce your ear are fairly blunt, which makes them more difficult to pierce your skin. Gun piercings on ear cartilage can even shatter the cartilage with the force of a blunt stud.
Oral piercings, or piercings that have constant contact with your saliva, tend to heal a lot easier than most other piercings, due to the healing properties of our own saliva. Tongue piercings have the fastest healing duration of all piercings at only two weeks before you can downsize the bar.
Bellybutton (Navel)
For ages 13 and up. Bellybutton or Navel piercings are the first in what we like to call a big kid piercing. These piercings take even more care than a cartilage piercing with longer heal times but are a must have for the trendy teen.
No. But all depends on the shape of your belly button (flat stomach or not). Ask your piercer for advise. Loosing/gaining a lot of weight after piercing can affect the piercing though.
“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.
According to them, the 8 most popular piercings for women to get (beyond earlobe piercings) include belly button piercings, nose piercings, ear cartilage piercings, tongue piercings, nipple piercings, eyebrow piercings, lip piercings, and genital piercings, in that order.
Surface piercings have the highest rejection rate. Surface piercings such as microdermals as well as eyebrow piercings and navel piercings reject the most because they are closest to the surface of the skin.
The daith piercing is an increasingly popular option to treat migraines, anxiety, and some other symptoms. On social media, people may come across images of this unique piercing on the inner ear, alongside promises that it will ease anxiety and improve quality of life.
In general, tattoos tend to hurt more than piercings because the needles used for tattoos are larger and go deeper into the skin than the needles used for piercings. However, everyone experiences pain differently, so there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to how much pain you'll feel from a tattoo or piercing.
Does getting a belly button piercing look good? Yes, because it draws the eye in - AKA it makes you look leaner. It's simple science: the eye is drawn to the piercing so your stomach automatically looks flatter.
Stretch. Pre-piercing stress or anxiety affects your body, restricting blood flow and causing muscle tension. Taking a moment to stretch out your body can release tension and allow you to physically relax. By removing the physical symptoms of piercing anxiety you can reduce your stress overall.
With the immediate pain of a piercing or tattoo, you might opt for more intense relief like the Zensa Numbing Cream 5% Lidocaine (our top choice). You can also apply one during post-procedure recovery to dull pain, like the LMX4 Lidocaine Pain Relief Cream, which contains less lidocaine.