My first but not only piercing was my left tragus. I wanted the first one to be something unique and I'm from a small town, so not very many people have it. Whenever I saw a person that had it, I'd ask them if they found it painful, uncomfortable, did it get infected easily etc. I was terrified by some of the horror stories I heard! Some people said that it bled a lot when it was pierced, that it felt like half their head was going to fall off.. but the most common complaint was the dreadful/cool(depending on the person) noise that the cartilage made when the needle went in. It was mostly described as a "pop"ing noise, but very loud.
At A Glance Author Serra When Six months ago Studio Kreative Khaos Location Burlington, ON One day I was sitting around with my boyfriend, pretty bored, watching a movie and just decided to go right then. He suggested a place not too far from his house, Kreative Khaos, because he had gotten 2 tattoos, his eyebrow, and upper cartilage pierced there and said it was a clean, reputable place. He called while we were on our way over, hoping there were no appointments for the day, and we lucked out because they were empty. As soon as we pulled up to the place, I could feel my stomach jump into my throat and the butterflies floating around. But that all disappeared once I got inside.
I feel so terrible because I don't remember the name of the girl that pierced me, but she was SUCH a sweetheart. We talked for a bit at first, she knew my boyfriend so they were reminiscing, and I got to know her a bit, which was nice. She asked if it was my first piercing and if I was nervous and I said hell yeah. She told me what her experience with it was like because she had both her tragus(s?) done, and told me she heard it was painful too, but it was all hype and that I had nothing to worry about.
We went into the room and she sat me down in a dentist-chair-type-thingy and it was really comfortable. I watched as everything, including the clamps, were taken out of packaging and she walked me through all the risks, kept asking if I had any questions and talked to me about school and how everything was. Because she had both of hers done, she asked what kind of hoop I'd like.. big or small. She even showed me the different ones I could get. I don't really like the look of the bigger hoops, and she agreed so she gave me the smaller hoop, but it had a bigger gage. I highly recommend getting a hoop with a larger gage because then you won't have any problems trying to find an earing that fits! She felt more like a friend, not a stranger. I told her I didn't want to know when it was being done, so she just had me take three big deep breaths in and on the third one I could feel the needle go in.. no scary popping noise though! After it was all done, I had to ask, "Is that it?" It wasn't painful at all! I was pleasantly surprised, actually. She went through all the cleaning instructions with me, took a picture for her portfolio,we had a cigarette together, gave each other a hug and that was it! The whole experience was a really positive one, and it was a great, calm and comfortable environment to get pierced. Since then I've got back to get the frenulum under my tongue pierced, and that experience was just as good, if not, better! I highly recommend getting your tragus pierced, and that you go to Kreative Khaos if you're in the area!
My only piece of advice to you is that, if you are going to ask people about their experience getting their tragus pierced, don't think that yours will be exactly the same. You never know where they went, or what their pain tolerance is like. I had never had anything else pierced, and it didn't hurt a bit. Some people might tend to exaggerate, as mean as that is, just don't let it discourage you.
BUT! The healing process was really difficult for me, because I got blood blisters on the front and back of the piercing. I was warned about this, though, and just went back to the studio and they took care of it for me and gave me some tips to keep it clean. Two words to save your life... SALT WATER!! At the time, I was freaking out and was really worried that I was going to die or even worse that I would have to take out my piercing! Everything worked out for the best, thank goodness, and now, after going through that, I haven't had a single problem with it, not one infection, and I love my piercing. Now I'm the person that people ask about it!