The Tragus Piercing - FAQ

Tragus piercings look interesting. The tragus is the small flap of cartilage at the front of your ear where it joins the head.

It is usually a rounded triangle shape and how far it sticks out from your head depends on your anatomy since not everyone's tragus' is the same size. If your tragus is too shallow or too thin it can affect whether it's possible to pierce the flap or it's ability to keep the jewellery without rejection. Tragus piercings take a longer time to heal than other piercings – up to 2-3 months. It is often quite hard to heal because of the placement.

HOW A TRAGUS PIERCING IS DONE

Usually the area is disinfected or washed before piercing. This is because ear wax and other debris can be full of bacteria which may get into the piercing. Some piercers actually put a cork into the ear canal to keep any skin or debris from falling back into the ear. The piercing is usually done laying flat or on your side with a hollow surgical needle. It is normal to bleed a little after a tragus piercing for a few minutes up to a few hours. The piercing requires a bit of force because it goes through cartilage and it it normal to hear a slight “pop” when that happens. It is not a particularly painful piercing when done properly using a piercing needle. There are some shops (such as highstreet ones we all know) which will attempt to pierce the tragus with a piercing gun. This is usually done by untrained piercers and should be avoided. A sterile needle is the only way to correctly pierce a tragus.

WHAT DO TRAGUS PIERCINGS MEAN

A tragus piercing is the piercing placed upon the little flap of cartilage that is directly in front of the ear canal attached to the head. It is considered an ear piercing, and also considered a cartilage piercing.

IS A TRAGUS PIERCING PAINFUL?

The tragus piercing if done properly should be a really easy piercing to get done. It's pretty thin cartilage that when pierced by a professional piercer it should be fairly pain free. As with all piercings expect a quick pinch and then some slight pulling and tugging on the jewellery during insertion and not much else.

HOW LONG DOES A TRAGUS TAKE TO HEAL?

Most tragus piercings will take roughly around 2-3 months to heal. Everybody heals differently though and at different rates. It's not out of the ordinary to see a little bit longer healing times occasionally. Once you've gone past the 2-3 months and experienced 2-3 weeks without seeing any crust or discharge, and haven't seen any redness or experienced any pain or soreness then your piercing is probably healed.

DO SURFACE TRAGUS PIERCINGS REJECT?

The rejection rate on a surface tragus piercing, as with all surface piercings, is high. Most surface piercings are going to eventually reject.

Usually if you decide to get a surface tragus piercing then go into it knowing that eventually it will probably not work out. With that being said though, they are not impossible to heal. If you decide to get this piercing then make sure you seek out a professional piercer in your are who can help you have the highest success rate possible.

WHAT DO YOU CLEAN A TRAGUS PIERCING WITH?

Professional body piercers and the body piercing community in general recommends using sterile saline sprays for cleaning a tragus piercing. The sterile saline spray when sprayed directly on a tragus piercing helps to flush the piercing and also rinse off any dirt, bacteria, and build-up that may occur on or around the jewellery. Recommended brands of sterile saline spray are Neilmed, H2Ocean, and Sterile Saline Wound Wash.

CAN YOU WEAR HEADPHONES WITH A TRAGUS PIERCING?

As long as your tragus piercing is well healed you should have no problems wearing headphones. When your tragus is originally pierced the piercer will put longer jewellery into the fresh piercing to compensate for swelling and healing. After one month you can return to have that jewellery downsized. During that initial month of healing headphones are not recommended. They may cause a lot of unnecessary trauma to the piercing as well introduce dirt and bacteria. But once you feel your tragus is healed then headphones should not be a problem at all. We hope this has helped answer some of your questions regarding the tragus piercing!