I got my first real good look at tragus piercings about a year ago when I was waiting for my order in a restaurant. The waitress had both of hers pierced as well as a few other piercings in her lobes. If she just had her lobes done it wouldn't have been a very memorable thing for me, but I just loved the look of the tragus piercings. I thought it looked really pretty on her and I really wanted mine done, but thought I never would because I assumed it would be really painful.
At A Glance Author dreamaway Contact dreamaway@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Keith Studio Cowpok Location Buffalo NY Well about a month ago I started thinking about it more and more. I wanted some more visible piercings and my face is not an option because of where I work. I have an eyebrow piercing but I'm forced to wear a retainer. I have several ear piercings and thought a tragus piercing would look nice. I love decorating my ears so I decided to go for it. I read many stories on BME and was really surprised to find that most people claimed it wasn't very painful. I was skeptical though because I have a vertical hood piercing, and several people told me that wouldn't be so bad and I thought it was. So I feared I would be an exception to all the stories I read and my tragus piercing would really hurt. I finally decided it couldn't be any worse than anything else I've had pierced so I shouldn't worry so much.
I put off going for a couple days and my husband gave me some grief too. He wanted to go with me but kept finding reasons to wait another day. Finally I found a good excuse to just go. The earring I already had in my cartilage was digging into my ear and for that reason alone I absolutely HAD to go as soon as possible. The Cowpok is awesome for helping with stuff like that. So at lunchtime I picked my husband up at his work and we went to Cowpok together. I told them I needed a longer earring and I wanted my tragus done too. I decided on the left one because I have one more earring on my left side and I thought it would look really good. He told me he would pierce my tragus first. All of a sudden I got really nervous and wondered if I should just have the problem earring changed. But I knew I really wanted the tragus piercing so I didn't say anything. Keith took me back and cleaned and marked my tragus. After I approved the marking I laid on the table and turned my head a little. He unpackaged the sterile needle and he gave me the usual "take a deep breath..." Before I knew it he was putting the needle through. It didn't really hurt, it was more like uncomfortable pressure. It really was nothing! I was thrilled and amazed. Screwing the end of the stud on was annoying, but not really painful. I got the stud because he told me that in his experience it takes a lot longer to heal with a ring. I think the stud looks great though, I chose one with a pink gem and I really like it. The painful part was next - changing the back of the earring that was too short. That hurt a bit because the back was digging into my ear a little, but nothing terrible. I know my ear will be much better off for it. The funny part is when I was paying I felt the soreness of that piercing but couldn't feel the tragus at all! I went back to work afterward and two co-workers said "ouch, looks like that hurts!" I told them it really doesn't hurt that bad. I don't think they believed me but that's okay, I am the one who has to live with it.
I've had the tragus piercing for two days now and I've had no problems or pain, not even with cleaning it. I haven't even really bumped it. The only time I've come close is when I tuck my hair behind my ear, but I know it's there and it's really not a problem. I was worried about a few things, like talking on the phone, wearing headphones, and sleeping, but none of those have really been a problem. It is a little sore to sleep on, but I don't think it will be long before I can sleep on it with no problems. I think it looks awesome and I just love it. I would say it's been my most positive piercing experience so far. I am so happy with it I am definitely going back in a couple weeks and getting my right one done!