Piercing Reference Tables

General information, not medical advice. These are typical ranges, not deadlines — a piercing can sit outside its band and still be healing normally. If a piercing shows spreading redness or warmth, red streaks, thick or foul-smelling discharge, a fever, or pain that is getting worse rather than better, see a doctor promptly. Cartilage especially: it has a poor blood supply, infections there are harder to treat, and a delayed one can permanently change the shape of the ear. Leave the jewellery in until a medical professional says otherwise — removing it can close the surface over an infection.

Healing bands by placement

The spread is roughly 6-fold: a tongue sits at 1–2 months while a nipple runs to 12. Blood supply explains most of it — soft tissue heals fast, cartilage is nourished from the tissue around it and cannot be hurried. Judging a cartilage piercing by lobe experience is the commonest reason aftercare stops far too early.

The downsize column is the milestone people miss. Initial jewellery is fitted long to allow for swelling; once that drops, the surplus length moves in the channel and, on oral piercings, rubs against teeth and gums. It is a return visit to the piercer, and it falls long before healing ends.

The full stretching timeline

Done properly, the whole journey is 74 weeks — about 17 months, almost all of it waiting. Notice that the jumps are not equal: the first step adds 0.2 mm and the last adds 2mm, so the same “one size” is a far larger change at the thick end. That is why the rests lengthen rather than staying constant, and why skipping a size near the top is a much worse idea than near the bottom.

A stretch should feel like pressure and never like pain. Bleeding, sharp pain or a raised lip of tissue forming behind the jewellery means go back a size and wait — forcing a size is how a blowout happens, and blowouts do not reliably go away.