Piercing #2 - Tragus

Let's stick with the ears for this week's piercing post. This week, it's tragus piercings! I really like this piercing and it's definitely been a more popular piercing over the last few years. The tragus is the peninsula of cartilage that lies directly in front of the ear canal: this is the part of the ear that helps us keep earphones in, as an example. For tragus piercings, jewellery is inserted through this nub of cartilage. It can be rather annoying to wear headphones with this piercing as it gets in the way a little.

The procedure for this piecing is the same as most. The piercer will mark the area where the piercing will be and make sure it's in the right spot to prevent any migration of the piercing. Then, forceps are used to clamp that area (it's not as painful as it sounds) then a needle which I believe is usually 16g (1.2mm). The piercer then removes the needle leaving a cannula in it's place which is a plastic tube. This helps the piercer put the jewellery in. They insert the jewellery, remove the cannula in this process then screw on the ball to the jewellery. It's a very pain free process. The video down below show's how this procedure is done.

The piercing takes 2-4 months to heal but you should not change the jewellery until at least 2 months. I have had mine pieced for just over 3 years now and I haven't changed the jewellery as of yet because it can be a very fiddly process but your piercer should be able to change the bar for you of you are struggling to do so yourself, so always ask.

Caring for the piercing is the same as any other. Always use salt water solution and a q-tip to clean it and make sure you wash your hands before and after cleaning it to make sure you minimise the risk of any infection taking place. The piercing may also be quite tender for a few weeks so try sleeping on the other side of your body as it can be too sore to sleep on the side you had it pierced. I would also recommend not using any hair products such as hairspray during the healing process as it may cause infection and irritation to the new piercing.

Pain wise, this piercing isn't too bad. I would probably rate it the same as a normal ear piercing, if not a little higher in my personal opinion. Don't forget though, each person's pain tolerance is different so it may be different for you.

Piercings #1

So I am hoping to try and do a different piercing each week. Focusing on the procedure, after-care and other bits and bobs that come with having piercings. I will be first focusing on ones I myself have (or have had in the past) before moving on to one's I do not currently own. So lets begin with the simplest one.

Piercings #1

Earlobes

Now these in my eyes are the most basic piercings and most people get these done at a very young age. There are different types of jewellery for ear lobe piercings but it's usually pierced with a stud using a piercing gun. The piercings come in a pre-packaged container and I believe are sterilised in this container before being slotted into the piercing gun and then put in the ears.

After-care & Healing

Normal lobe piercings take 6-8 weeks to heal. During this time the best thing to use on your new piercing is just good old salt water. The salt in the salt water will draw out the impurities in the piercing (any bits of dirt, germs, ect) which promotes the healing of the open wound. It does scab over a little bit but this is due to dead white blood cells (sounds lovely doesn't it?) but it is perfectly normal. The white blood cells are there trying to fight the new object you've put in your body as the body doesn't recognise it. Cleaning with salt water twice a day allows to gently remove the scabs that form but do not by any means pick at them or try to remove them with force. This can cause irritation to the piercing and can promote an infection to take place. When cleaning your piercings, the best thing I have found to use is q-tips which have been soaked in the salt water. Make sure to wash your hands before and after cleaning your ears.

Does it hurt?

Yes as either way, it's a foreign object going into a piece of flesh. I will always say this. Though the pain, isn't that bad in my eyes. I would probably rate it a 3-4/10 (a little like stubbing your toe). It does throb a lot after having it but that's normal, its just your body reacting to something new. The pain for me lasted a few days before subsiding but sleeping can be a little uncomfortable with them for the first few days.