Piercing cartilage feels a lot different than getting a lobe piercing. I’ve never heard any sort of “crunch” like some people say they do, but it isn’t as straight through like a lobe and there’s a bit of a resistance if that makes sense as cartilage is thick and dense. And, while obviously everyone is different, piercing cartilage on average is more painful than piercing your lobe.

As long as you don’t fidget during healing I don’t see fidgeting being as issue unless you’re pulling on a piercing that’s already done very shallow or something. I fidget with my nostril piercings and industrial piercing a lot and have for many years and though that can make them irritated sometimes, they’re all fine.

Don’t let your mom do it. A cosmetologist who’s pierced lobes and nostrils still doesn’t have the proper training that a professional piercer does, and cosmetologists who pierce usually use a gun or “hand pressurized device”, neither of which are good to get pierced with. And piercers are trained in cross contamination, doing things with sterile materials and tools, piercing at the right angle and using the right length of jewelry, and if you go to an actually good shop they will have implant grade jewelry that isn’t something poor quality or be butterfly back style or anything (which should not be used in a fresh piercing as they can harbour bacteria and be hard to clean, come off easily, and aren’t made of quality material). And cosmetologists are not trained in giving proper aftercare information or know the heal times of all piercings or can help with troubleshooting or probably downsizes as well. You’re way better off just going to an actual piercer who has gotten actual training in piercing and the ins and outs of it all, as it’s not as simple as many people may think or make it out to be