The tragus piercing has become an indispensable part of the range of ear piercings. This piercing is still incredibly popular, and rightly so! But what is a tragus piercing, and how exactly does the placement and healing of the tragus piercing work? We will tell you in this blog post.
What is a tragus piercing?
A tragus piercing is a type of cartilage piercing and falls under the ear piercings. A tragus piercing is placed through the small flap of cartilage at the front of your ear, just in front of your ear canal. This means that the piercing jewelry sits just against the side of your face, which many people find a beautiful and subtle place. Usually a small piece of jewelry is worn in this piercing, but some have enough space to wear two or more pieces of jewelry. When placing your tragus piercing, the needle is inserted in such a way that the final placement of the jewelry is just in front of your ear canal. Do you regularly wear earplugs? Please let your piercer know, so you can look together at how your tragus piercing can best be placed.
Changing a tragus piercing
Once your tragus piercing has completely healed, you can change the tragus piercing yourself. Because the jewelry of your tragus piercing is just in front of your ear canal, this can be a difficult job. Some people find it easier to insert the jewelry of the tragus piercing through the back of your tragus, so that you can screw the ball or accessory on through the front. Others find it easier to change the tragus piercing through the front, and prefer to screw the ball back on through the back of the tragus by feel. It can be useful to wear piercing gloves for this, so that you have a good grip on your tragus piercing. A small piercing pliers or clamp can also help with changing your tragus piercing. In our shop you will find various piercing tools that make changing your tragus piercing easier.
Does a tragus piercing hurt? Healing your tragus piercing
We can be quite brief about whether a tragus piercing hurts: yes, getting a tragus piercing hurts for many people. It is also normal for your tragus piercing to hurt or be sensitive during healing. The pain can radiate to the rest of your ear, the side of your face or your jaw. In general, this pain will disappear just after getting your tragus piercing, and your piercing will only remain slightly sensitive. However, the sensitivity or pain can vary during the healing of your tragus piercing. A tragus piercing is a cartilage piercing, and cartilage piercings have a longer healing period. Cartilage heals more slowly than piercings that are placed in softer tissue (with better blood circulation). You should therefore often take into account a healing period of at least 6-9 months. Don't worry if that period takes a bit longer, that happens more often. Once your tragus piercing has completely healed, the pain will also be gone. Please be careful that your tragus piercing does not get pinched unintentionally, such as while sleeping, when wearing a helmet or earplugs, or while exercising. This can cause your tragus piercing to hurt again for a while. After this, leave your piercing alone as much as possible and keep your piercing clean, then this will usually go away on its own. Are you unsure whether your tragus piercing is infected, or do you have other questions about healing your tragus piercing? Then contact your piercer.
Tragus piercing care. Bumps and other discomforts with your tragus piercing
For the care of your tragus piercing you can choose a saline solution, or a mild piercing soap such as EasyPiercing from Médical Bodyart. In general, your piercing will heal well with a cleaning routine of 1x per day. If you use piercing soap, you can choose to do this in the shower, then you do not have to struggle with a crooked head under the tap. And as with all piercings: during the healing period it is important that you keep your piercing out of the sun as much as possible and do not go bathing/swimming or to the sauna with it to prevent infections.
It can happen that after a while you suddenly see a bump appear around your tragus piercing. Not nice of course, but it happens regularly. There can be several causes for these bumps, often these bumps are caused by a small bacterial infection and/or by excessive scar tissue. In both cases it is usually just a matter of bad luck. Due to the longer healing time, a tragus piercing is exposed to all kinds of external influences that can cause a bump. Usually such a bump does not look very nice, but you do not have much trouble with it. Sometimes they can be a bit sensitive or itchy, as soon as you notice that you are bothered by it more, it is important that you check it with your piercer or skin care professional.
You can try to get rid of the lump on your tragus piercing yourself by using a warm saline solution and compresses, which you gently press onto the lump. The Silicone Healing Discs can also help to make the lump disappear faster. And if you want to be completely ready right away, order our Piercing First Aid Kit especially for cartilage lumps. Then you always have the right care for your tragus piercing at home. In any case, always make sure that you wear good piercing jewelry that offers space for any swelling during healing, but is certainly not too big.
Buy a tragus piercing. Which piercing jewelry is suitable for your tragus piercing?
If you want to buy a new tragus piercing, you have come to the right place! In our shop you will find a gigantic collection of tragus piercings, with tragus barbells, labret rods, click rings and more. When placing your tragus piercing, a standard 1.2 mm jewelry is often chosen, preferably a rod. Labret bars are a great choice for tragus piercings, because of the flat back. But small barbells (also called straight piercing bars) can also be suitable. There are also special tragus barbells, with a short length and a nice figure on the front. Rings for your tragus piercing can be worn after healing. There are beautiful click rings for tragus piercings, but also clickers with straight bars in the middle.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!
