I've always wanted to get lots of piercings - as a kid, I'd bend pieces of tin foil into hoops and tape them to my ear as play jewellery. I had tape all over my cartilage, my nose, my lips, etc. and it was clear that this obsession with shiny stainless steel was innate and inborn; I should not think that I had been influenced by culture at the tender age of 5 when I slept most of the day. Though I loved the look of piercings, of rings and noserings and eyebrow rings and barbells, I never had the nerve to ask until I turned 18 and could do it legally on my own. And then when I did ask, my parents flatly said yes without protest (WHAT?). Naturally, the next thing did was haul myself to the closest piercing parlour.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Mike Studio Adrenaline Location Vancouver BC After getting a relatively painless industrial a month ago, I was obviously itching for more piercings (as I only had one in each ear lobe at the time...boring). I decided I wanted a conch, but was relatively afraid of the pain since the cartilage there is really thick...so I decided that happy medium would be the best: I chose the tragus where the cartilage is neither too thick nor too thin. It would give me a good idea as to what to expect when I do get a conch piercing, and I definitely was going to get it done as test of how painful piercings can get.
I, of course, like the many females that go to the bathroom in swarms, grab two friends to go with me to get my prize (I was getting a tragus and a helix at the same time). I was relatively chill - the "painful" industrial turned out to be no worse than a shot - and plus I was trying to keep it cool for one of my friends there contemplating on getting a helix. I didn't want to scare her. Well, tragus came before helix and the piercer marked my ear. I think he bent the needle a bit so it'd resemble a hook (I guess to prevent the needle from penetrating anything but the tragus) and after a few deep breaths, the thing went in without notice. I winced. Here I was trying to be all smiley and relaxed, but I couldn't help but wince since yeah, it was more painful than my industrial. And there was the slightest crunching sound that would resemble the sound you hear when you chew almonds or something. I don't know about the people who said they didn't feel a thing, but this one hurt much like a vaccination gone bad? You do feel pressure as well as the needle going through skin and bone; I guess the pain is comparable to those numbing shots they give you at the dentist's before you get a cavity filled. Other than that, the pain lasted at most two seconds, and then the ear turns pleasantly warm which does strangely relax you and relieve the previous pain. Screwing on the ball of the CBR was hard on the piercer though - tragus CBR's are tiny. A little tugging followed to get that bead in place and that hurt a little (and I mean a little). I felt minimal pain afterwards, and the helix after that was a breeze. I walked out fully relieved with my two new pieces of metal!
Now I've heard that a few hours after a tragus piercing, your ear would start to pulse and give you pangs of intense pain. That didn't exactly happen with me...the only sort of bad part of getting a tragus is that you can't exactly listen to music afterwards because those ear buds just won't do. And if you get a CBR, the thing kinda sticks out at weird angles for the first couple of hours before falling straight. So you look weird for the shortest time. And there would be the dullest ache - very very tolerable.
As for cleaning, I've been told to use antimicrobial soap once a day and a salt soak and to spin the ring a bit. You can't wash it more often as that would get rid of the good bacteria needed to heal the piercing. Moving the jewellery helps prevent the build up of bacteria in the hole. Warm compresses with tea bags can help with the pain, and I've heard chamomile tea is anti-inflammatory.
I really like the look of a tragus now that I've done it. The experience is one-of-a-kind, and I'll definitely go for a conch within the next six months. If you want to pierce your tragus, don't be deterred by the pain; it's bearable and really quick :) so quick that I hardly had time to say "ow." Meanwhile, good luck with all that you do and feel free to email me if any questions pop up.