I am overjoyed to say that my tragus, at last has a hole through it. It took a lot of effort, but it finally happened. Here is my incredibly interesting story.
At A Glance Author Katie Contact Katie@bme.anon IAM katiemac When A month ago Artist Derek Lowe Studio Saint Sabrinas Location Minneapolis, Minnesota I never realized that there were so many places on the ear that could be pierced until about 2 years ago. I noticed that one of my older friends had a very different piercing than anything that I had ever seen before. She had her tragus pierced, and though I had no idea what it was called, I thought it was beautiful!
I stumbled across BME one day when I was in the middle of a research project for my geography class on cultural body piercing. Straying away from the topic of historical and cultural piercing, I decided to explore the piercing pictures, and I found pictures of my mysterious tragus piercing. I knew that I really wanted to get my tragus pierced sometime, but I did not count on getting it while I was still a minor. My parents do not really go for piercings you see, but I decided I would give it a try.
I started sending my parents emails with quotes from BME explaining that piercing isn't a bad thing, and pictures of tragus piercings along with little comments like "isn't this cute? " and stuff like that. To my delight, and surprise...they caved! I received permission to pierce my tragus as a gift for my 17th birthday.
I was ecstatic and called Saint Sabrina's like and hour later. My friend had recently gotten a tattoo and a tongue piercing there and I always hear good things about them, so they were pretty much my first and only choice. I made an appointment for the next Saturday, which was 2 days away. All I had left to do was wait...
Saturday came, and my best friend, my dad and I made our way to Uptown, Minneapolis. I filled out my form, and picked out my jewelry, which is an 18g 5/16 inch SS CBR. Now, 2 months later, I think that my ring is a little on the small side, so if you are planning on getting a tragus piercing, and are wondering what diameter ring to get, you might want to go a bit bigger than 5/16. Anyway, back on topic. After I chose my ring, Derek came out, introduced himself, and told me he would just be a few minutes because he had to do a jewelry change for a guy who had an industrial. My friend and I checked out some of their jewelry, and my dad took off because he did not really want to watch. A few minutes later, Derek told me he was ready.
I made my way into the room and sat down on the dentist chair. Derek came in after washing his hands and started the procedure. He told me exactly what he was going to do and showed me all of the instruments he was going to use. He scrubbed my ear with some cold, gooey stuff, and then dotted my tragus with a bit of purple ink, and I made sure it was in a good place. He had me lay down on the chair, and told me he would be doing the actual now. He clamped my ear, which did not hurt a bit. He even told me to tell him if it did hurt, because he would then move it. Since it felt fine, he continued. He got the needle and receiving tube ready and told me to take a couple of deep breaths. On the second exhale, he pierced me.
Honestly, I cant remember how much it hurt, it was done so quickly and all. It hurt some, but not very much, I do not think. The pain came after the needle went through. The damn receiving tube hurt SO badly. It was not sharp pain, but there was a ton of pressure. It felt like he was trying to floss my teeth from the outside or something. It did not last long though. The needle was soon out, and the jewelry was in. I took a look at it and I was thrilled. I tipped Derek and then left.
My ear really did not hurt very much after that. The third or fourth day after I got it pierced, it was just killing me for about an hour, but since then, it has been pretty good. I slept on it the first night with no problem, and I still do.
I never ever wear my hair up, but for the weeks following the piercing, I wore a ponytail every single day. I wanted the whole world to see my beautiful piercing!
My aftercare was fairly simple. I washed my ear with satin soap and did salt soaks for about 10 minutes a day once or twice a day, and I never use the pierced ear to talk on the phone. It really sucks sitting there with your ear in a cup, so I got lazy, and after a few weeks, I did not do it very often. That is probably the main reason why I have a very gross looking hypertrophic scar on the outer hole. I am trying to get rid of that now, and I am currently using vitamin E oil to treat the scar. If anyone has a better method, please email me and let me know!!
The tragus is a very beautiful piercing and I like it very very much. I am excited to further decorate my ears, but I have a feeling my parents are not going to give in for any more. I will be 18 next May, so until then, my piercing activity will be dormant. If anyone has any questions/comments/or suggestions for hypertrophic scar treatment, please feel free to email me!