I first saw the tragus piercing at my dead end job and fell in love with it..that was about a year ago. Finally last month I worked up the courage (and the money) to go get it done. I'm not much on pain but with my navel and nose pierced and standard lobe stretching without problem I figured I was ready.
At A Glance Author Janae Contact Janae@bme.anon When A month ago Location Conway Arkansas I had just moved to my new town and luckily even though it was small it had 4 or 5 shops opposed to the one I had in my home-town. I called around found what seemed to be the best one. Called a girl I worked with to come with me and decided that it was time.
I went to the parlor and signed in and then I went to the back.
The whole time I had butterfly's but this was the first time I actually felt I needed the piercing and I would be mad at myself if I didn't follow through. So, I did it. I won't lie, it was painful but not horrible. It seemed to take about five minutes longer that I would've liked but when I finally got to hold that mirror up I gasped...I now had the sexiest ear in town and I was so excited. The people who did it were nice and they had a nice shop however there was a bit of a mix-up in explaining the after care. When I was being told about after care the piercer let his apprentice explain it to me. Now, that wasn't the problem. The problem was when she was done he practically disagreed with everything she said and tried to re-inform me of how to take care of my new-found piercing. Normally it would be a good thing to hear the correct after care procedure but at that time I was ready to get out of there as I was still feeling a little woozy from the initial piercing. So I just smiled and nodded and got out as quick as I could. Big mistake.
I got home showed my boyfriend and went to sleep. For the next two weeks the piercing was decent. I loved it but every day it was still crusty and it was sore and puffy as well. Not knowing the after care procedure I figured I'd wash it with soap in the shower and try not to touch it. That didn't work. It started to develop a bump on the outside and when I tried to clean the piercing flipping the ring upwards to get underneath it sent shooting painsout my ear. Instead of leaving the knot alone I started to pick at it. This obviously didn't help the situation and my once beautiful tragus became an eyesore. I was still determined and decided I'd step up the aftercare of salt-soaks but to no avail. I went to the doctor who told me it was pretty much a lost cause.
Unfortunatly I had to take it out. This was a whole other procedure that was actually worse than the piercing. I start trying to take it out and it's stuck so I get some water to loosen up the mounds of crusties and finally it starts to slip out. When the first half of the ring comes out I realize that has just sent the other side through the back of the piercing and now it is stuck. With a lot of ear manipulation and tugging it finally came out. Once it was out I could really get in there and clean my ear up. It was pretty badly infected and took about thirty minutes before I was satisfied. It has healed up these last three days and the bump is gone with almost no hint of a scar. I am coming to regret my decision of removal. At least partly. I really loved the piercing and am considering getting one in the other ear. My doctor said that it would do the same thing. But I believe if I take care of it properly it has a much better chance for survival.
The only thing I would suggest to those who are considering the piercing is really learn the after care. Don't be afraid to ask questions if you aren't 100% sure on what you are expected to do in order to make for a pleasent piercing experience. Also keep in mind that the back part of the piercing is virtually un-seeable (you like that non-existant word?) and this posed many problems for me. Luckily I had my boyfriend there to help but it was difficult to know if I was cleaning properly without being able to see.
Good luck to all those wanting a tragus it is a beautiful thing and hopefully one day soon I will again be able to take part in having one. If you want it, you'll love it.