I just recently got my nose and my tragus (inside piece of ear attached to face) pierced by a professional in a legit shop with a hollow needle. I also got my upper ear cartilage pierced about a year prior to those piercings with a gun at my local Claire's. I would have to say that in my case the upper cartilage was by far more painful than anything I have ever had done. I'm sure it really depends on the person but in my case I had nearly no pain with the later two piercings, as opposed to my upper cartilage. I actually took out my upper cartilage piercing after 7 months and let it heal over because the pain was not going away, I would almost venture to say that the pain was unbearable. I could not sleep on it or touch it. I kept it clean and did everything as directed and it was still excruciating. I am having my upper cartilage re-pierced by a piercer in a tattoo shop because of my great experience with them. I hope it does not hurt as bad but we will see.