I had wanted my Tragus pierced for a long time (partially due to the fact that not many people I know have it) and finally convinced my mother it was a neat piercing (which took a lot of effort!), who then convinced my father that it was my money and it did in fact look neat (Father had a harder time accepting this). So I made my appointment to get my Tragus and Industrial Bar done (as it was a two for one deal) for the next night - Which was a big mistake considering all the pain I would be in.
At A Glance Author Beanie_lala Contact Beanie_lala@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Beckie Studio The Altered Native Location Orangeville I arrived an hour early because my friend and her mother were both getting pierced (My friend got her Naval done and her mother got her Eyebrow), waiting was nerve racking, but the tattoo artist profiles helped pass the time (But now I really want a tattoo!). After all the paper work and my friends piercing, Beckie called me in (Beckie, by the way is awesome, she is very professional, and she has now pierced my nose, tragus and industrial bar).
As always the Altered Native had awesome service, was very informative and was clean, the needle and jewelry were all packaged up nice and cutely. We had brought my friends siblings with us (8 and 3) and they both were given stickers, which was cute.
I had heard that there was a gross popping sound and that it was a pretty painful piercing, but I have a tendency to under estimate pain and think that it won't be there for long. Ha ha to me, as moving the ring in any certain direction after the piercing caused pain, so much for pain being a momentary thing.
My one friend had gotten her tragus done and said it was the most painful piercing she had ever gotten, but the tragus to the industrial bar was nothing at all. I am pretty much sure I can tackle any piercing and it will not amount to that much pain.
So Beckie cleaned the area on my right side with iodine and marked it (which was awesome, she marked it exactly where I wanted it the first time, without me telling her!!), by this point I was really excited about how it would look and very ignorant to the soon-to-be pain, as my nose had not hurt much and even though the area had much more cartilage, I was oblivious to common sense and reason. It felt like she was taking forever to get everything ready (as I'm not a very patient person), but the whole process was relatively fast.
She told me to take a deep breathe and then counted to three. All was fine and dandy until I felt the pain... well not so much pain as 'pressure pain'. When she began it did not hurt (except for the prick of the needle), but the pressure was so horrible at the time, and the popping sound was so... loud, but kind of satisfying.... My friends (who were watching) later told me how gross it looked, as it seemed that Beckie had to use a lot of force to 'shove' the needle through.
Afterward all I could do was basically choke on air, I had no tears and I did not scream or shout or make absurd loud painful noises, which I'm very proud of! Also I did not experience any dizziness but I swear I saw stars for a bit after opening my eyes after the piercing was finished. Although the pain from the tragus was totally blocked out after I got the Industrial bar a few minutes after. The care instructions where then given out, which is pretty much common sense, salt water soak once a week, and regular cleaning, being careful to mind the crusties.
It bled for around an hour, Beckie said it was weird, as the industrial should have bled apposed to the tragus. Word to the wise, do not drink caffeine before a piercing, it thins the blood. The Taco Bell afterwards was pretty awesome treat also. I was pierced with a ring and not a stud, and I totally love it, it is the cutest thing and it has given me no problems at all (except for the minor sleeping issues, as I got my tragus on the right and the industrial on the left, although its not painful to sleep on the tragus, just annoying if your not used to it)! The only real issue I could think of with it is the whole father disagreeing with it thing, thinking I have too many holes in my head and that it's a 'weird' place to be pierced.
So yeah, go get your tragus pierced, it is awesome and the pain is really worth it if you loved the look and it is not too hard to take care of!