So, not long ago, we discussed a bit about different ear piercings, and we mentioned that we would get into that more in other posts. Well, welcome to an “other post!” Below, we have detailed a handful of common/popular ear piercings (and some that are perhaps not-so-common), and what they are called.


Cartilage Ring - Free Spirit in solid 14k gold
Jewelry in cover photo - Cartilage double piecing Prosperity Mandala in solid 14k gold . Daith hoop - Tribal Beauty in solid 14k gold

Anti-Tragus

We’ve previously discussed the tragus piercing, which is the one that is located on that thick piece of cartilage close to your ear canal. Well, the anti-tragus is a piercing almost directly across from the tragus.

There is a piece of cartilage that sits just above the earlobe (the part of your earlobe where the good old-fashioned earlobe piercings are located) and is almost as thick as that on which the tragus piercing goes. However, unlike the tragus piercing (and most other ear piercings), not everyone has enough room on this part of their ear to get this piercing. It is no larger than other piercings, but the piece of cartilage in which the anti-tragus rests is sometimes too small for some people. If you believe you might be interested in getting an anti-tragus piercing, PLEASE be sure to consult a qualified professional artist first!

Rook

Rook piercings are one of the ones that people sometimes confuse for others (and get confused with other piercings). Some people mistake this one for a daith piercing (another piercing we previously discussed) because it is located at the top of the “fold” of the ear, JUST ABOVE where a daith piercing would sit. If one were not paying close enough attention when discussing these two piercings, one might accidentally get a daith piercing in lieu of a rook, or vice versa.

Rook piercings CAN also be mistaken for snug piercings (which we discuss below), but not as often. For one thing, rooks are vertical, whereas snugs are not so much. For another thing, the rook is located higher up on the ear (again, detailed below).

Tragus stud - Prosperity Mandala in solid 14k gold
Snug

This piercing often mistakenly gets labeled as “a small industrial piercing for the middle of your ear.” Um… not exactly. For those who don’t know, industrial piercings are the ones at the very top of your ear that goes through the cartilage on BOTH SIDES of the very top part of your ear. They usually have rather long barbell jewelry in them, and they are SUPER cool.

Snugs are, indeed, in the middle of your ear. However, while they might appear to the untrained eye like an industrial, there are a couple of major differences. First, snugs are located in a rather painful place. There are many nerve endings where the snug piercing would go; industrial piercings are not quite so painful, because it is more cartilage than nerves. Second, the jewelry that goes in a snug piercing is small and often slightly curved, something like an eyebrow ring. The jewelry in industrial piercings is (as we mentioned above) a long barbell that you can see in its entirety from the front of the ear and is totally straight.

Transverse Lobe

The transverse lobe piercing (basically an upgraded version of the traditional earlobe piercing) is another piercing that can sometimes be confused with an industrial. However, unlike with industrial piercings, the post (or bar) of the jewelry is not visible from either side of the ear. Rather, the ENTIRE jewelry post goes all the way through the tissue at the bottom of your earlobe. That’s right. The WHOLE bar/post is hidden in that wiggly tissue that is your earlobe. And, believe it or not, many people say that this piercing does not hurt any worse than a traditional lobe piercing! Cool, huh?

Trident Piercing

Did you grow up with a place in your heart for the movie The Little Mermaid? Do you have a fascination with mythology, specifically Poseidon? Then, perhaps you have heard of this piercing! The trident piercing is… you guessed it… a piercing that resembles a trident. Don’t misunderstand, however! This piercing isn’t just one into which you can put trident-shaped or designed jewelry! There is much more to this piercing that meets the eye… err, the ear, that is.

A trident piercing is actually very complex. It involves multiple “piercing holes” and, in some cases, two pieces of jewelry. Basically, a trident piercing goes from the cartilage at the very top of your ear and runs all the way down to a spot on the cartilage at the bottom. Where, exactly, at the bottom is sort of up to you. It can either run straight down, off to the side a little, OR it can come down and then through the cartilage just above the bottom of your lobe (roughly the same place where one would get an anti-tragus piercing). The artist pierces the top of your ear three times, leaving three holes for the “tri” part of the jewelry, which can consist of a single piece of trident-shaped jewelry, OR two separate pieces, which consist of a wide loop (for the two outer holes on top) and a long barbell piece (for the middle top hole and the bottom). So, yeah, quite complex indeed, but the finished product is sooo cool!

Daith earring - Tribal Beauty in solid 14k gold
Orbital

Orbital piercings (often mistaken for simple hoop earrings, WHEN referenced or seen by name only instead of pictures or physical examples) are piercings involving two piercing holes side by side and relatively close together. You can get orbitals pretty much anywhere on your ear, so long as there is enough room for the two holes and to fit a piece of circular jewelry. The jewelry fits into the piercing like a rotating loop, so you can twist it around and around in a circle (hence, the name).

And So Many More!

As we said before, we could not get into EVERY kind of piercing in this piece. There are so many, and several have more than one variation, so we simply chose some of the best/coolest/most popular. If you have a unique, or just plain, piercing that we have not discussed thus far, and you wanna tell us about it, let us know! We would heart to hear about it!