When I was sixteen I decided out of nowhere to pierce my tragus. I'm the sort of person who gets something into her head and then just does it, and have been lucky that I am happy with everything I've done so far.
At A Glance Author Freya When A month ago Artist Mark Studio Mark's And Punctures Location Bucks Just after my seventeenth birthday in September, I decided to get a forward helix piercing (the little bit of skin above your tragus, joins round with your cartilage). I'd only ever seen it on one person and thought it looked really nice, and would compliment my tragus piercing really well. I decided to have it in the same ear as my tragus because I thought it would look better with them together rather than one in each ear (and because I sleep on the other side!). So it was all decided and I went into Mark's and Punctures, a really trusted piercing and tattoo shop in my town.
It's a walk-in place so I waited for about ten minutes while a guy got his tongue pierced, and was then led through into the back room.
I know everybody says this but cleanliness and professionalism are really important when it comes to body modifications, and you should feel comfortable enough to ask any questions, or to back out at the last minute or whatever. If you have any doubts of worries, just ask your piercer because they'll be able to put your mind and rest and give you proper advice that suits you.
Everything Mark uses it fresh out of sterilisation pockets, and he wears clean gloves for each new thing he touches, etc. So, I felt in very good hands.
So, I laid down on the bed as Mark did a check on my ear. He cleaned it with a wipe, then marked a dot where he thought it should go. I had a quick check in the mirror and it was perfect, so sat back down and we got started.
First he applied the freeze spray to my ear, which just felt cold and fizzy. I don't know if it really does much to be honest, but is a nice feeling and does numb the skin slightly.
Mark then got out his needle, and said because of the part of the ear it was, he would have to do it freehand without using a clamp. This didn't bother me too much, I didn't really see that it would make a difference so told him to go ahead.
Now, my tragus piercing hardly hurt - it was one of those nice, bearable pains. So, I was confident and relaxed with this one...then the needle started to go through. It wasn't a horrendous, agonising pain, but it was quite an intense sting, and hurt more than my tragus did. The needle had to be bent round through my ear which took a while, then the ring was inserted. I was laying there for quite a while, and it did bleed quite a lot (which is weird as it's never happened before..). My friend was there to hold my hand as the jewellery was put in, and I lay down for a while while Mark explained aftercare and everything. My ear hurt quite a bit, and felt super hot afterwards. Mark told me to sit down next to the wall fan to cool it down, which helped!
After a while I paid and left, and it's been fine since. It did bleed for the first three days or so, especially when knocked, but the trick is to just be really careful with it. I didn't move the ring around until after about four days as advised, because it is in such a fragile place there's danger of it migrating if moved too soon.
For the first couple of weeks I was really aware of the piercing - it's on such a narrow piece of skin I felt like I could rip it out really easily. But now I'm completely used to it, and although it is a bit tender sometimes, I am completely in love with it. It's also vital to disinfect it at least twice a day (supposedly four times), with salt water or solution. I've been really quite bad and not done it as much as I should have due to my running out of the cleanser I had, but I've started again with saline solution, so don't do what I did! It really slows down the healing process.
Don't be put off at all by the pain - it is only a tiny tiny amount, and I just thought it was bad because I wasn't expecting any at all. It's about the same as an injection, so really not for long and afterwards the result is fantastic. It was all so worth it. If you're thinking about getting this piercing I would say go for it - it's easy to take care of, in an original place, and can have all sorts of jewellery put in. I really love my forward helix, I hope you do too!