I got my ears pierced as a teenager and was a keen earring wearer at first, regularly treating myself to some novelty pair or another (it was the 80s!) with paper round/waitressing/babysitting money but gradually, over the years, wearing earrings became an occasional thing and eventually I stopped wearing them altogether.

Lately however I’ve been seeing lots of ladies – IRL and online – with multiple ear piercings sporting super-pretty hoops and studs. The idea formed to add more holes to my ears but tbh it would probably have stayed an idea if I hadn’t met a friend for brunch last weekend.

Looking at her ears I noticed that she had multiple piercings in both ears (it’s kind of funny how you start to see things once they’re on your mind) and asked her when she’d had them done. Turns out she’d added a few recently and had been thinking about heading to Claire’s Accessories after our brunch to add another one or two. I said that I’d been thinking about adding to my piercings and she invited me along.

An hour or so later and I was in Claire’s choosing from various designs and waiting for a very smiley little girl – who must have been about seven – to have her ears done for the first time. Backing out at this point was not an option, as my friend pointed out if a little girl could smile her way through the process, I had no excuse.

Sitting in the chair as the piercer put the ear piercing thingamibob to my ear my shoulders went up around my ears. “Relax!” she said commanded (er, easier said than done), “I’ll count you in.” Five minutes later and £40 lighter I had two gold stars in my lobes next to the holes I already had and a gold stud in my cartilage, a bottle of aftercare solution and instructions for what to do next (clean and twist a couple of times a day, leave the lobe ones in for at least three weeks and the cartilage one in for at least eight weeks).

I’m not going to lie, they were tender (especially the one in the cartilage) initially and it was hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in that first night but just over a week later the pain has passed and I’m very happy with my new piercings. Spare moments are now spent searching the world online for pretty earrings to put in once I can change them up (I’m all about hoops, stars, triangles and teeny tiny studs) and I’m already considering adding another one (seriously, it’s kind of additive).

Of course I had to ask Team Rock My Style and Wedding for their piercing stories…

Lolly

“I have one in each ear and that’s it. I desperately wanted my belly button doing when I was about 15 but my mum said, ‘Well if you want to be a sheep and follow the crowd, go right ahead,’ which was basically reverse psychology and I’m ashamed to say that it worked. I moved on to wanting my tongue doing then at about age 17 but after seeing two friends’ tongues swell up so that they both needed to be hospitalised I thought better of it. My sister by contrast has three in one ear, two in the other, her nose and had her lip pierced for a while. Clearly my mum’s reverse psychology didn’t work on her.”

Becky

“I’m considering the halfway up the ear cartilage piercing. I have three holes in my left ear and two in my right ear. I also had my left tragus pierced twice but it’s healed now. I had my belly button done at 17. Took it out at 21 because my now husband thought my body looked more athletic without it. I liked the idea of that. I’m not sure I’ve ever looked athletic but one can dream. Ironically I very rarely wear earrings anymore, even though I have five holes to do so. I wear ear cuffs a lot, and so I’m considering the halfway up the ear cartilage piercing. I think I prefer it just by itself. However I do love very small earrings. I’m desperate to find some tiny studs, if I could I’d definitely be rocking all five, plus possible cartilage addition. I’m also contemplating a new tattoo. A geometric lion head. About an inch and a half. Just lines, no fill. Not a piercing but kind of related. Maybe I’ll get them at the same time.”

Lottie

“I have a piercing in each ear and I generally just wear little studs. As a teenager I had a second piercing in one ear but that has closed over. I also had one at the top of my ear, which again has closed over now. It was quite possibly the most painful thing ever and I still have a lump where it was. I didn’t keep it in long as I sleep on my side and it hurt every night! I wanted a belly button piercing at 15. My mum didn’t really want me to have one done but my older sister had done it without asking so she couldn’t really say no. It makes me feel a bit queasy now and I regret it immensely. I remember them saying that if I ever took it out it would just close over like your ears do. They lied! Nearly 15 years later I still have a hole where it was.”

Fern

“I have my ears pierced and have always wanted my belly button pierced. In fact, last summer my aim was to get a really toned, tanned stomach and then get it pierced – I’ve always thought that a bikini, a suntan and a belly piercing looks so sexy – but then I found out I was pregnant! I think I’d definitely get it done later on in life though, as long as I can get the stomach I’m imagining!”

Lauren

“I have both ears pierced and then had a second hole in my left ear which has now healed. I remember thinking I was quite cool as it was a time when gold was quite unfashionable so to have your ear pieced at H Samuel with a silver and cubic zirconia stud was really quite trendy. Aged twenty I had my tongue pierced. My flat mate at uni had hers done and I was strangely intrigued by it. I had to wait for my first student loan cheque of my third year to come in to pay for it. I ate chicken soup for a week and couldn’t drink alcohol for two weeks. It was Little Beanies Lisa’s 21st the weekend after I was devastated I couldn’t drink!”

Lorna

“I only have my ears pierced once now. Although I don’t generally wear any earrings as my ears & earlobes as so ridiculously small I feel self-conscious and feel like they stand out more and I look like Pat Butcher! When I was younger I had my nose and the top of my ear pierced. Like Lottie, the top of the ear piecing REALLY hurt so I gave up on that and the nose piercing tickled so I gave up on that too!”

So that’s us. What piercings do you have? Added a new one recently, or thinking about it? Where do you shop for your earrings? Do share!