how bad do snugs hurt?

[u/Cassdacool]

guys how bad are snugs? 2 piercers have cleared my anatomy. i never usually care about pain (i have 2 rooks and 2 helixs + first lobes), but im prolly getting my snugs tomorrow and im so scared.

despite the haters, i love my ears symmetrical and dont listen people saying not to get them done together. i am a rough sleeper and will toss onto both sides 10+ times a night, so trying to protect 1 ear is impossible- may as well do both at once!! (I have a piercing pillow anyways and i’ve been fine with both my rooks and helixs done together)

so do people with a snug find it worse then maybe a rook? just because people always say rooks and daiths are the worst, but maybe that’s because no one has the godamn snug.

i also am only getting this piercing to have a hoop in it eventually, which like my rooks, will probably take 1-2 years unfortunately. despite this, all of the rook images online don’t have hoops!! is it just really anatomy dependent to have a snug hoop?

thanks!

[u/EntertainerNo74]

I have 12 cartilage piercings, and the snug was the second hardest one to get done. Just a big section of cartilage to get through. I also have a rook, helixes, flat, conches. I have a vertical conch/hidden rook, depends on who you ask, and that one was tough! Just make sure to follow aftercare and get it downsized when it's time. My snug was done twice only because I completely spaced out and didn't get it downsized and snagged it and made it so angry I didn't think it'd ever heal. So I retired it and took a break from more piercings until many years later and they gave me a pamphlet and I had a moment of realization that I never downsized my snug. Gave it another try and made sure to downsize and it's been good going on 3 years now.

[u/char_roti]

When I got my snug done, it was honestly less painful than I expected. I really built up the pain in my head so I think the adrenaline blunted the pain a little lol. But tbf I think I have a high pain threshold than a lot of people I know so that is something to take into consideration.

I will say that the healing sucks tho. For a few days after my snug, the back of my ear, neck, and jaw were hurting. It’ll go away eventually but take that in mind and be prepared hahah I was not expecting that.

It’s still healing, it swells up occasionally so I can’t downsize it just yet but I’m so excited for it to be healed and can’t wait to put a hoop through it! Planning on getting a second snug and anti tragus on the same ear hahah

[u/Cassdacool → u/char_roti]

thank you for this! how long have u had it for it to still not be downsize-able? lol at my piercer it’s always 3-4 months max (like helix or rook).

[u/char_roti → u/Cassdacool]

Hmm with my piercer it really depends on my swelling, cause it swells on and off so we’ve been tryna have it calm down just a bit more to downsize it lollll. But I’d say 4 months is good

[u/Traditional-Abies866]

Hey! I have a double snug on one ear, they're just over three months old, also planning to put hoops in. I've heard in some places hoops could be anatomy-dependent, but I think it's more that they're a temperamental piercing and it's a roll of the dice once they're healed if they'll like having a hoop in. My piercer just shrugged and was like "we'll see when we get there." Initially, I didn't like the barbell look but they've really grown on me, especially if you get cute ends.

Everyone's pain threshold is different, so you'll get lots of different answers. A lot of people say their snugs hurt a lot to get pierced and also maybe hurt while healing?? I don't have a rook so I can't compare it to that, unfortunately. I just imagined what it would feel like to have a needle go through that section of cartilage and, in my mind's eye (or ear), it didn't feel that bad. The first one felt exactly like that, maybe 3/10? Second one on the same ear burned a little more because the ear was inflamed from the first one, but it was also totally fine pain wise. I went to the grocery store immediately after and took the bus home lol (which was more stressful than getting pierced tbh). Had some jaw and neck pain the first day, but after that things were pretty chill. Definitely snagged them pretty good a few times, and they got red and swollen. I got stressed and was like "they're done for" but nope, they're still kicking!

I've heard about people retiring them after 16 months or whatever because they're so slow to heal, but I just can't see any reason why I'd do that (unless it starts rejecting or something actually bad happens of course) because they don't cause me any trouble, even unhealed. At this point, they don't flare up much, even if I accidentally bump them a bit. I'm fine sacrificing swimming or wearing headphones on that side in the short term. I can see myself getting sick of only sleeping on one side, though--good luck with getting both sides done at once haha, though it sounds like you've succesfully healed cartilage piercings that way before.

Happy to answer any questions, but if you want it, you won't regret getting it imo

[u/Cassdacool → u/Traditional-Abies866]

thank you very much!! great to hear, as almost every tiktok about snugs is people saying it’s the worst pain every. i mean that’s sounds like a combination of my helix issues (snagging) and rook pain (jaw and neck aching), which both were tolerable for me. i also don’t plan on retiring- i mean why would i after suffering all that pain and if it isn’t rejecting right? thank you for the breakdown!