All I know is, I love my cartilage piercing, but it still hurts like hell. I've been babying it with antibiotic ointment, but it's swollen and painful again. I don't want to let it close up, though, because after this I know I would never do it again.

I was the first one of my friends to get my ears pierced (at the nurse's office at my school), it was third grade. I remember very distinctly, because I never got to be first at anything again.

I have one set of holes, my mother actually is double pierced.

My second cartilage piercing hurt for a long time, Amy. Did you get yours done with a gun or a needle? That's why I'm delaying so long on the third--want to get it done with a needle, so the cartilage doesn't get smashed.

Also, it was a true pain finding the right comfortable earring for them. The silver's looking a little tarnished, but I really don't want to have to wrestle the damned sleepers back in again. Getting the holes accustomed to the slight curve was a bitch. But posts had backs, and the backs drove into my skull.

It was a gun. And I'm wearing white gold in it now, and keeping it scrupulously clean, and using the antibiotic ointment, but I still have to take it out at night to sleep on that side of my head.

And after three months of not, my neck was completely jacked, so.

After years of not wearing any, I can still put earrings in all of my ear piercings! But now they're mostly a little irritated. Ah well. Science!

I don't wear a lot of jewelry, but I always wear earrings. Love them.

I'm a notoriously slow healer. My "bad" cartilage piercing was sensitive for over a year. The good one, where the cartilage didn't get smooshed too hard by the gun, was only sensitive for a month or two. Both more troublesome than earlobes. But I'm still convinced three is the right number of holes up there.

I started wearing earrings in my lobe piercings when I started at the job again, and had just about gotten them back to the point of no soreness (after not wearing any when unemployed, because why wear earrings when you don't leave home?), and then I got distracted.

Next week, earrings every day, dammit. Maybe even in every piercing.

Happy Birthday, Allyson!

Weirdly, even if I'm in sweats with no makeup on, I have earrings in, all four holes. And now the cartilage piercing, of course.

Silver hoops stay in my 2nd and 3rd holes, just like my silver necklace and 3 silver rings don't come off (unless necessary). The bottom holes are empty or match my outfit.