How long does a cartilage piercing take to heal?

*cough* I'm also going to get a cartilage piercing.. how bad does that one hurt on a scale from 1-10, how long does it take to heal (or, I mean, how long until I can change the earring), how long can't I sleep on it for, and which hurts more, with a...

needle, or with a gun??

I just got mine done less than a week ago. I got it done with a gun, ill advised. I got my other piercings with a needle and they went a bit smoother. the gun didnt hurt at first, in fact I didnt even flinch while the needle did hurt on my lobes more than the gun on the cartlidge. I followed the instructions to cleaning it for both piercings and both got infected. my cartlidge is super sweeled and red. it is hott, warm, and hurts worse than most pains I have experienced. the lobe got infected too and I got lumps behind my ear before it finally decided to calm down. six to eight weeks later, in infection in my lobe went away, and I now have a doctor's appointment for the cartlidge because I am scared to do anything to it just yet. I think it reacts to bodies differntly. both of mine got infected because I have super sensitive ears. some people dont have sensitive ears at all.
however, now that my cartlidge is inflamed, I am at a loss of what to do

mine still hurts whenever I lay on it or touch it. but it didnt hurt that bad when I got it done. my bff did it with a earring. :D I dont reccomend that though unless you have alcohol or something to clean it.

mine didn't hurt at all so about 1.
it's a bit awkward to tyr and clean it because the back is so big so sprays are really handy.
mines been done for 3 weeks and it's still kinda uncomfortable to sleep on so I suggest getting it done on the side you DON'T sleep on!
x

I have 2 cartilage piercings. The 1st one, I got it pierced with a gun. It wasn't painful at all at the moment it was being pierced (just like a earlobe piercing). The 2nd one, I got it pierced with a needle. It was slightly painful than getting it pierced with a gun because it's slower when penetrating through the cartilage and the gauge is bigger than the starter studs used on guns.

However, when it came to healing, I must say that the one pierced with gun is more painful as compared to the one pierced with a needle. A slight bump or snagged on your hair could hurt and if you sleep on it, it'll also hurt. It also gave me headaches at times when I slept on it. I didn't have problems with the one pierced with needles though. No pain during healing and when I slept on it.

So in my opinion and experience, I guess that it's better to get it pierced with a needle. But, when it comes to getting a piercing, there is bound to be pain even if it's a slight pinch. Different people have different pain tolerance and some people may feel that piercing with a gun isn't painful while others may feel that piercing with a needle isn't painful.