Today’s blog is going to be about the Orbital Piercing An orbital piercing is a piercing that enters and exits the same part of the ear. It actually made up of two piercing holes, with one ring going through both the piercings. Orbital piercings can be placed anywhere in the ear but they often located in the helix (outer ear rim) or ear lobe. Both piercings can be done at once or pierced separately. It is also possible to turn a single ear piercing into an orbital by adding another piercing nearby.
The jewelry that is typically used for the orbital piercing is going to be a captive bead ring. Doesn’t meant you have to have a captive bead ring in the piercing though you can you use a circular barbell. All jewelry inserted in a healing piercing should be made out of either 316-LVM ASTM f-138 implant grade Surgical Stainless Steel or ASTM F-136 6AI-4V ELI Titanium.
Jewelry should be “internally threaded”. This means the end ball threads into the post. Never be pierced with “externally threaded” jewelry. This type of jewelry is cheap. Jewelry not made of surgical stainless steel and can cause micro tears in the tissue that can harbor bacteria that may lead to a infection.
Sadly there isn’t really a history on the orbital piercing. However ear piercings going back thousand of years. The ear-lobe was probably man’s first attempt at body piercing due to the ease with which it can be pierced. The oldest mummified body in the world was found frozen in an Austrian Glacier in 1991, tests showed the body to be over 5,000 years old. The body had pierced ears and the holes had been enlarged to 7-11mm diameter. However the orbital piercing is a term that can be used for many different piercing in the ear. It generally refers to a piercing where on ring (CBR) enters the ear through two holes instead of one, thus creating the illusion of “orbiting” the ear.
Caring for your orbital piercing is very easy but does take a degree of patience. The piercing can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to be fully healed “every buddy’s body is different”. Personal hygiene must be kept to a very high standard. Avoid touching or rotating your jewelry, for these could cause some problems during the healing process. If you find it necessary to touch your piercing, make sure your hands are washed, cleaned and dried.
A piercing heals in stages so diligence is required to during the first few stages
To take care of your piercing you can do saline soaks or even a saline spray a couple times a day. The orbital piercing usually heals in 3 to 4 months. As a rule orbital piercing placed in the cartilage will take longer to heal than those nearer to the ear lobe. This is because cartilage contains fewer blood vessels.
While the piercing is healing you may experience some discomfort while sleeping. I recommend either not sleeping on the side that you have your piercing done on or getting a “O pillow”. A O pillow is a pillow that has a hole in the middle of it, your ear will fit nice and comfortable in that hole without you actually laying on the ear itself.
For a complete aftercare instructions feel free to stop by one of the Blue Boutiques and ask one of our highly trained, knowledgeable piercers.
Whether it is your first piercing or 50th the Blue Boutique has the largest selection of high quality body jewelry and highly skilled and experienced body piercers always on staff! Let us help you in making the right decision for your new piercing.