got my upper lobes pierced today - so far it's a total of 6 piercings. on the left ear i have two lobe piercings and a double helix, and on the right is just the two lobes. i plan to get another double helix on the right side to match the left when the first set heals. that'll be 8 total - then I'm thinking either my conch, a third helix, or a third upper lobe. not 100% sure which one it'll be, i guess ill have to see but I'm kind of leaning towards the upper lobe or conch because it just looks nicer. people fed helix propaganda to me before i got my double done, but tbh the healing process so far has been smooth, pain-free and forgettable (got them done 2 months ago). however my piercer today decided to check on my double helix and clean it which meant he had to take the jewelry out. let me tell u that was some of the worst pain I've ever experienced in a piercing shop. i forget that a piercing is literally just an open wound until it fully heals but that shit hurt like a dirty bitch. but now it's ok just a bit sore even tho it was stinging for about 30 minutes after he put the jewelry back in. apparently this is normal and fine and I'll still go back in a month from now to get it downsized which i predict will probably hurt like a bitch again. but for now I'm chilling. i do have beef with my lobes tho. not the upper lobes i just got, the og lobes. i got my lobes pierced when i was around 9 years old so it's been quite a while. obv as a nine year old girl i got my ears pierced at claire's because nobody back then knew piercing guns basically inflict blunt force trauma on people's earlobes. mine got infected pretty bad once but have been completely fine since. except when i got my double helix done two months ago i expanded my jewelry horizons and decided to look into getting clicker hoops for my lobes because it would look cute. i went and bought high-quality titanium clickers from a piercing shop and shoved them in my ear - they hated it. for a week they were inflamed, oozing, and so freaking itchy. after a few more days my right side got used to it and i took them out. my left side developed an irritation bump (first ever time this has happened to me !!) and i couldn't put any jewelry back in it for about two weeks. it took a while of inserting for a week, taking out for another week, etc etc so they could get used to it but rn I'm wearing a full set of jewelry so i guess its ok. but my left lobe is royally fucked up. like claires genuinely did something very wrong, any jewelry i use regardless of if its a hoop, a ring, or a stud cannot find the end of the piercing hole for whatever reason. might consider getting it repierced. but for now I'm gonna wait till my double helix and upper lobes heal cause it looks meta as hell. cant wait to have that pierced up baddie reputation.