I don't remember the first time I saw a tragus piercing, or when I decided I wanted one. I thought it looked painful and read some BME experiences that confirmed that. My whole life I've heard that cartilage piercings are really painful, and the tragus is one of the thickest areas you can pierce through. I decided I would just deal with this because I really wanted a tragus piercing... after all it's just a few seconds of pain for something you can enjoy for a long time.
At A Glance Author DeKalb Contact final_answer39@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist April Studio Virtue and Vice Location Atlanta, GA I got my navel pierced in June 2005 and didn't know what or when my next piercing would be. Fast forward to August 2005. I applied to college (I know... very, very late...) and decided that if I got accepted I would get a tragus piercing. They said I would know in 3 weeks if I got accepted. I waited my 3 weeks and nothing happened... then just 5 days before school started I found out I did get accepted. I wanted to get pierced right then and then but I had no way of getting to the piercing studio. I wanted to get it before starting school but unfortunately that wasn't possible.
The Monday after school started I called Virtue and Vice to make an appointment with Bethra, who I've heard was their most experienced piercer. She normally doesn't pierce at their Atlanta studio so I thought making an appointment four days in advance was a smart decision. I had to find somebody to take me (I didn't want my parents taking me, even though they knew I was doing it) and I thought of asking someone from class. I kept putting it off because I was too embarrassed to ask... they might say "Why are you asking us! We've only known you for a week!" On Thursday (the day of the piercing) I asked and two people offered to take me. One of them backed out. The guy that did take me offered to take me in his car but because I didn't know how to get there by car I told him we should take MARTA (Atlanta's subway/bus system). I had already studied the path I should take on MARTA and had checked the distance from my school to the studio on Google Earth (not far away at all). He said we should Mapquest it at school and just go in his car, I should have listened to him...
The first part of the trip went off well. We got to the station where we had to transfer and weren't really sure where to go to catch the bus, but we found it. By this time it was already past my appointment (at 3 pm) and he told me I should call and say I would be late. Again I should have listened to him. After a really long time of waiting for the bus one of the workers told us that "the bus got in an accident and would get here at about... 3:30". :-\! I decided this was the right time to buy a MARTA pass for next week, so that's what I did while we waited. After coming back to where the bus loads up we waited about 10 minutes and the bus got there at about 3:30 (at least they were right about that). We got on and left and I looked outside the window to check where we would have to get off, and we came to a big street and I asked a lady where the street we needed to get off at was and she said "right here"! At least the bus driver also heard us asking and let us off right there. We walked a very short distance to the studio. While we were walking April (the piercer) called me to ask me where I was. She told me Bethra already left, as she was very busy and only stayed about 15 minutes after her appointments were due to arrive. She would be back at about 4:45, though. I couldn't wait that long. I told April that we were right in front and we just had to cross the street to get there.
We had to cross the street in the middle because anywhere else was really far away, and I almost got run over. I just stared at this car that was coming towards me kinda fast, and then my brain kicked in and I crossed the rest of the street. I was glad I hadn't come by myself because the area we were in looked kind of sketchy. We finally got to Virtue and Vice and there was April. I felt so embarrassed for being late (even though it was entirely not my fault... but I tend to not be late for anything) and told her I was so sorry...
She told me not to worry about it and if I wanted she could pierce me. I decided this was now the best option and she told me to choose my jewelry. I knew what I wanted before I got there but there was a really pretty blue titanium spiraly barbell. I immediately changed my mind and decided I wanted that. She told me that it was a bit thick (14 ga) for my tragus, and that it would make my piercing look floppy and just bad. Now that she had told me that I was an "informed customer" and could make my own decision about it. I told her she probably knew better and went with my original option, a 16 ga circular barbell. She had me read information about their autoclave and gave me a starter pack with candy, sea salt, an aftercare brochure, her business cards, and souvenir matches. She then went to put my things in the autoclave and said it would take 20 minutes to sterilize. While she did that I read and signed the waiver. She came back, copied my ID (she had to change the ink thing on her printer, everything seemed to be getting stuck that day) and took almost the whole 20 minutes giving me the preamble speech, going over aftercare in a very detailed manner, how to mix the sea salt, how to wash the piercing, etc. I then asked her about changing my navel jewelry and she told me to wait a bit longer. Then it was time...
We went to the piercing room (having to drag all of my stuff there... :-\) and she opened the autoclave cassette. She told me to sit down while she laid everything out. I was nervous but not that much, even though I gave the impression that I was way more nervous. We talked about lots of things while she was setting up. I told her that getting MOS certified was way scarier than getting pierced (there's way more anxiety and anticipation) and she didn't really know what it was about but when I told her you have to take a test she understood. She cleaned and marked my ear and at first put the mark way farther up than I wanted it. I told her that and she changed it to the center of the tragus, just like I wanted it.
Next she told me to lie down and get ready for the piercing. I saw the needle and I felt better when I saw it was really sharp – that's a sign that it's new and that the piercing would be much less painful. She put the receiving tube behind my tragus and said it would feel odd (it didn't) and told me to take a practice breath, and she would pierce on the next exhale. Now that I think about it she could have tricked me there, but I trusted her and she did it when she said she would. I could feel the needle go through but it didn't hurt much... on a scale of 1 through 5 I give it a 1, while I would give my navel piercing a 3. I said "that's it? that barely hurt at all!" and she told me to not get excited, as the jewelry insertion would hurt a lot more than the actual piercing... and it did, about twice as much. Then she screwed in the balls and told me to look at my piercing to see if I liked it. I liked it a lot, and the guy who went asked me to show him too and approved of it. We got our stuff and went back to the waiting area.
April asked me if I felt lightheaded (I did) and she told me I could stay there as long as I needed until it went away. I said I should probably leave right now (it was late) and we left. While we were leaving the guy asked me if I tipped her, and I went back to do that. She was very grateful for that and seemed surprised. We walked back to the bus stop, and on the way there I ate the candy so I wouldn't feel lightheaded. We got back to the station and went on our own way.
If you want to get your tragus pierced go to a competent and experienced piercer, as this could be the difference between a painful and enjoyable experience. I really want my other tragus done, but because I have some sort of lump in it I have to wait until it goes away. I highly recommend April and Virtue and Vice because of their professionalism and experience. :)
Also... make sure you can get to your appointments on time ;)