This cartilage piercing gallery proves there's a lot more to pierce than just your earlobes! Cartilage is the thick yet flexible tissue found around the ear and in the nose, and while it's a bit more difficult to pierce than the standard lobe, it's worth it if you want an edgier look. The following pages catalog a number of different cartilage piercings. The young woman pictured here has a septum piercing and a nostril piercing.
Tragus Piercing
In addition to the three piercings that stretch from this young woman's lobe to the beginning of her ear rim cartilage, she is also sporting a piercing in her tragus, the flap of cartilage that extends over the opening of the ear canal.
Series of Helix Piercings
The woman in this image has a series of helix piercings running around the outside edge of her ear. A helix piercing passes through the outermost edge of the inner ear.
Nostril Piercing
This young woman is wearing a standard nostril piercing with a captive bead ring.
Rook Piercing
Look closely, and you'll see an example of a rook ear piercing. It's located above the tragus and the piercing is performed vertically. The snug is a variation of the rook that passes horizontally through the cartilage.
Industrial Piercing
An industrial piercing is essentially two helix piercings connected with barbell style jewelry.
Pierce-O-Rama
The woman in this image has nearly every type of ear cartilage piercing known to man, and they make quite a dramatic presentation. It takes a good deal of time to build up to this many piercings because they are done in stages and require healing time before getting the next set.
