The conch piercing's name comes from the fact that this part of the ear resembles a conch shell, and the piercing goes through this cup-shaped area, adjacent to the ear canal. At our studio, we start conch piercings with a straight post, usually 14 gauge in thickness. Even with a fully healed piercing, wearing a ring in these piercings can be uncomfortable when sleeping. If you're determined to wear a ring at some point, plan on healing the piercing with a straight post. Like other cartilage piercings, we can do multiple piercings on the same ear in one sitting, but we will not do cartilage piercings in different ears at the same time given the difficulty in healing. You'll need to wait until all piercings on one ear are fully healed before we will do any cartilage piercings on the other ear.
Conch piercings are naturally framed by the rest of the ear, and make for a very striking placement for more decorative post ends, especially some of the more ornate ends we have available from Neometal and BVLA. For more of our options for jewelry for conch piercings, check out our selection of press-fit posts and ends in our online store.
As with all cartilage piercings, stretching to larger sizes can be difficult—more difficult than most other piercings. If you’re planning on going bigger later, you will want to start off larger initially. If you're interested in a larger-gauge initial conch piercing, come in and talk to one of our piercers to find out what your options are. For larger-gauge conch piercings, glass color-front plugs are a good option for a comfortable, lightweight jewelry for the initial healing period.
