Thinking of a new ear piercing

curlylaura · 03-16-2009, 02:58 PM

I'm thinking of getting the triangle part of my ear pierced, I think it's called the tragus, the bit just in front of the earhole.

Has anyone had this done? Does it hurt? Can you hear a crunch when the needle goes through?

I am also considering an ear cuff/belt (?). About half way up my ear but in the skin not the cartilage and tight against the ear not loose. Has anyone had one of these done?

Gemini13 · 03-16-2009, 03:08 PM

I have my tragus pierced. I was really surprised when I got it done because I barely felt the needle going in. And no, you do not hear anything.

Cynaminbear · 03-16-2009, 03:35 PM

A friend of mine got hers done. She was at dinner with her husband and another couple, left after ordering, got her tragus pierced, and returned in time for her meal. I guess it's no big deal.
I want to get my conch done. My SIL and I have plans to get ours done at the same time, but don't know when. She's 1/2 way across the country, so either we'll do it when she visits, I'll have to drive out there, or we'll get it done at the same time but not together.

Befrizzled · 03-16-2009, 03:57 PM

I have my tragus pierced. For easier healing, I'd recommend having it done with a barbell or labret stud instead of a ring and ensuring the quality is good (implant grade 316LVM F-138 surgical steel or 6AL4V ELI F-136 titanium). I had some trouble with mine, but I had poor quality jewelry and poor aftercare instructions. Once I changed those things, it got much better. It didn't hurt at all getting it pierced; I was surprised it was over. Some people do hear a crunch or a pop, but I didn't.

I'm not sure what the second piercing you're talking about is. It might be an outer conch/ear flat, but the ear is cartilage, including the tragus. Do you mean you don't want the actual helix/rim pierced? I have a helix piercing that enters on the flat and exits through the back of the rim. I wanted it really tight, but there has to be some looseness to the jewelry it because it has to accommodate for swelling. It doesn't have to be super loose/big, though. I've had no trouble healing that.

Springcurl · 03-16-2009, 04:05 PM

I've got a tragus and a conch.

A warning: it took my tragus 2 years to heal. Now, part of that was likely my fault. I had long curly hair and gel and hairspray was constantly getting into it and irritating it. But part of it also is that there's not a lot of blood flow to the tragus, so if it's thick cartilage there, it's going to take a while.

My conch piercing healed up in about six months. I had hoops with both my conch and tragus, but I wear barbells now and prefer them.

My tragus didn't hurt at all to have done, but I'm going to be honest and say that healing was really horrible. The conch was slightly more painful. I definitely heard the crunch when it was done. But healing was easier.

Here's a pic:

Starrwithoutnite · 03-16-2009, 06:07 PM

Im getting my tragus and rook done tomorrow so Ill let you know!

Just do it, its never as bad as we make it out to be before the piercings...

delete · 03-16-2009, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Springcurl

I've got a tragus and a conch.

A warning: it took my tragus 2 years to heal. Now, part of that was likely my fault. I had long curly hair and gel and hairspray was constantly getting into it and irritating it. But part of it also is that there's not a lot of blood flow to the tragus, so if it's thick cartilage there, it's going to take a while.

My conch piercing healed up in about six months. I had hoops with both my conch and tragus, but I wear barbells now and prefer them.

My tragus didn't hurt at all to have done, but I'm going to be honest and say that healing was really horrible. The conch was slightly more painful. I definitely heard the crunch when it was done. But healing was easier.

Here's a pic:

The conch piercing is the only ear piercing I've had that I had no troubles with. It didn't hurt and healed super fast.

FloatyTheFish · 03-16-2009, 10:59 PM

I got an industrial and my tragus pierced at the same time on the same ear. Neither of them hurt at all, but the industrial healed beautifully and the tragus took about a year and a half to really calm down.

curlylaura · 03-17-2009, 02:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Befrizzled

I'm not sure what the second piercing you're talking about is. It might be an outer conch/ear flat, but the ear is cartilage, including the tragus. Do you mean you don't want the actual helix/rim pierced? I have a helix piercing that enters on the flat and exits through the back of the rim. I wanted it really tight, but there has to be some looseness to the jewelry it because it has to accommodate for swelling. It doesn't have to be super loose/big, though. I've had no trouble healing that.

The only way I can describe it is the top of the lobe on the outer edge of the ear just before the cartilage starts, it's still just skin. I suppose if you had 3 lobe piercings it's were the third earring would be. But it would be a flat ring but snug-ish with the skin.

Befrizzled · 03-17-2009, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curlylaura

Quote:

Originally Posted by Befrizzled

I'm not sure what the second piercing you're talking about is. It might be an outer conch/ear flat, but the ear is cartilage, including the tragus. Do you mean you don't want the actual helix/rim pierced? I have a helix piercing that enters on the flat and exits through the back of the rim. I wanted it really tight, but there has to be some looseness to the jewelry it because it has to accommodate for swelling. It doesn't have to be super loose/big, though. I've had no trouble healing that.

The only way I can describe it is the top of the lobe on the outer edge of the ear just before the cartilage starts, it's still just skin. I suppose if you had 3 lobe piercings it's were the third earring would be. But it would be a flat ring but snug-ish with the skin.

Ah, gotcha. A lobe piercing is likely to heal quicker/easier than a cartilage piercing. A tragus typically has up to a 2-year healing time, as others have said. A cute little thing, though!

Gemini13 · 03-17-2009, 08:13 AM

Now that I think about it, the tragus did get a small infection shortly after I had it pierced. But I used tea tree and it cleared up right away. I'm surprised to hear how long it took to heal for some of you! Mine only took around 6-8 weeks.