"I've never had a cartilage pierce where the needle was bent by the cartliage." Thats right, my tough little tragus did that to a 14 g needle. The tip was almost bent to a 90 degree angel. This is the tale of two tragi, and the barbells that were inserted.
At A Glance Author Jen Contact JNaldo@Radford.edu Artist Jen Studio Ancient Art Tattoo Location Roanoke, Va I was at home, thinking about what I wanted to do on my day off. There wasn't any cd's or clothes that I wanted, and then, it dawned on me. My ears!I was online at the time talking to a friend of mine and told her about my idea to get both my tragus pierced. Unfortunatly she had to be at work in about an hour, and was not able to join me in my quest,so I called my friend Gretchen and we went down to Ancient Art Tattoo. They also do piercing, and let me say. If you're ever in the Roanoke area and jonsing for a pierce, stop by Ancient Art and ask for Jen. She is unquestionably the best.
I'd talked to a few people about the tragus pierce, and they all said that it was probably one of the most painful piercings and a lot of pressure. I wasn't letting all of the hype get to me just yet, but in the back of my mind a little voice kept telling me that I was in for some major pain, if not discomfort and that hopefully I wouldn't have tears streaming down my cheeks. My friend Gretchen kept giving me weird looks while we were waiting, but I wasn't discouraged. I'd never seen anyone in the area with a tragus pierce, and since I already have my three holes in my lobes gauged, and due to the fact that facial piercings aren't allowed at my work, the tragus was perfect for me.
Much to my surpise, they had a special going on and it only cost me 50 dollars for the piercings and jewerly. I definitly could not pass this up. Jen took the barbells, smaller curved ones, I think they're also used for eyebrow piercings since they're longer than your regular tragus barbell.
Jen pulled out a pair of 14 g curved barbells, stainless steel, and in my mind they were exactly what I wanted. Long enough to see what they were, but not as obvious as the CBR's that I have in my other holes. Jen took my newly purchased jewerly and went to the piercing room to sterilize her instruments and set up her table.
As we waited, I stayed calm and collected, my nerves not acting up until I actually stepped into the piercing room. My palms immediatly started sweating, as did the rest of my body. Jen marked the spots, making them surprisingly symetric. She told me how to breathe, and the first needle began its journey through my impossibly tough cartilage. I almost broke Gretchen's hand squeezing, but the pain was nothing compared to the tremendous amount of pressure/force applied. The second pierce, my left tragus took longer, as Jen was right handed and had to use her left hand for this pierce. The anticipation was worse, for knowing what to expect and the fact that it took almost a full minute to push the needle through. A deep breath exhaled, and I was pierced. Jen went over the aftercare with great detail, giving me her personal recommendations on products to use for cleansing and such. I must say that I'm in love with my twin tragi piercings and definitly recommend these to anyone. The pain is about the same as a regular lobe pierce, with about 10 times the pressure added. As of now, 5 hours later, I can't even tell I got pierced. There is no soreness, no throbbing or anything. As I said before, if you're ever around Roanoke, Virginia, stop into Ancient Art. Jen is the best and she'll definitly give you your money's worth and more.
Now it has been a week since I was pierced and I could not be happier with my newest additions! I've had a range of reactions, everything from "I love it!" to being called a freak, playfully of course, at work. The most commonly asked question posed before me would have to be "Didn't it hurt?". And my answer seems to be a shock everytime. No. It wasn't any worse than a regular lobe pierce, and I've only had about two days total of discomfort. I can now sleep on either side of my head, after some careful positioning of course, with no pain. Using a sea salt compress daily and regular care to not touch the piercings with dirty hands has helped the healing a great deal. The barbells move back and forth with ease and there hasn't been any bleeding since the intial pierce.
To any and all that are considering this pierce, I must say go for it. One of my friends is now going to get her tragus' pierced after hearing about my experience.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me! I'll be happy to answer any that I can! Thanks!!