Hi y’all, been a whole …months, i tried to catch up but I couldn’t but i have something to share with you all today, that is why I’m here.
I am here to share the little experience I’ve gained in this short while of getting a tragus piercing but before i go to into details, a little introduction.
What is the Tragus?
According to Wikipedia, The tragus is a small pointed eminence of the external ear, situated in front of the concha, and projecting backward over the meatus. It also is the name of hair growing at the entrance of the ear.
In simpler terms, the tragus is that hard cartilage right outside the ear canal.
Imagine trying to pierce that hard part and expecting it to just go smoothly with no complications, that was exactly my thoughts and expectations before getting the piercing.
My first mistake with getting this piercing was not doing enough research, for someone that likes to know other people’s experiences concerning some things, i never asked questions or read up any articles or posts about getting the piercing, i just impulsively decided to get it anyway, what’s the worst that could happen right?
My second mistake was not going to a professional to get the piercing, my excuse was he is cheaper and he will definitely get the job done, so i went to a random guy with a gun and normal gun earrings, i let him shoot the earrings into my tragus and couldn’t wait to start showing it off, it is a very cute piercing that deserves to be shown off
What I didn’t know was, because the cartilage is hard, it requires extra force to get the earring into it and also that the earrings use in piercing guns were too short for a cartilage piercing which would be a problem in a matter of days.
So i got the piercing on a Saturday, the only pain i felt was when the gun was clicked and had the earrings in place, the pain is actually not bad, but out of precaution, i used painkillers right after the piercing just so that the pain would be minimal, so i was good to good for the next few days, i could sleep on that ear for two to three days without pain and i was kind of happy. On Monday, i decided to clean the piercing and twist it because I read somewhere that you could clean the new piercing with saline solution and twist it while it is still wet, i did that for some minutes before stepping out for the day, what I didn’t know was my misery was just around the corner.
I woke up the next morning with a nasty headache but I felt, oh well, i had a few drinks the night before and i was probably hungover so I didn’t pay any attention to the pain on my left ear. Wednesday morning, the pain had become worse and i was in so much pain, it made me very cranky and at this time, the side of my face was swollen alongside my tragus, i got to work and complained to a colleague, she offered to help since she has had a couple of piercings herself and she knew how she took care of the pain. Without taking sanitary measures (third mistake) and by sanitary measures, i mean washing or sanitizing her hands, she started to help me massage my face and ear with ice to at least reduce the swelling, at some point, she noticed the jewelry in the piercing was too tight thereby not letting the tragus swell and causing me so much pain, so i agreed to take it out and by this time, the jewelry was already digging into the skin around the piercing because it was too tight, the jewelry was taken out, the area cleaned and massaged some more, the jewelry was put back in which was painful but without the back this time, used pain killers for the pain which would relieve me for about four hours before going back to status quo. Thursday, i was weak with so much pain, I didn’t have the strength to do things and the pain made me so cranky. As at Friday, my tragus was fully swollen, the jewelry wasn’t showing at the other end and it kept on falling off my ear, also, pus was starting to seep out of the piercing, and then i started to get worried, so i turned to YouTube and Google and all the symptoms pointed towards an infection, my worst fear had happened, what to do next? Treatment, concentrated more on cleaning the piercing with saline solution but I wasn’t seeing any improvement so i decided to ask a doctor for help, it was a very awkward experience.
The doctor prescribed antibiotics and also advised that i used methylated spirit to clean the infected area regularly, from research, using spirit is not advisable because it kills both the good and bad germs but who cares, i just wanted my ear back to normal. Within 24hrs of starting my treatment, i noticed a big change, not only did all the liquid substance(pus) stored in my tragus come out, the swelling and pain reduced, i continued this treatment, coupled with cleaning, hot saline solution compresses, chamomile tea compress and vaseline. My tragus is almost back to it’s normal size and i feel little or no pain.
PS: I gave up on the piercing and took off my jewelry to get the tragus treated but luckily enough for me, i could put back my jewelry after my treatment so I’m back to rocking my tragus piercing.
So from my experience, here’s my advice…
- If you would get any piercing(s) at all, go to a professional. A professional piercer or piercing outfit will do the piercing with a needle as against the gun and also use the most appropriate jewelry for the piercing, they will give you tips mostly on aftercare once the piercing is done, if and when any issue arises, you can always go back.
- When you eventually get the piercing done, try not to sleep on the ear like i did, germs from the pillow case can irritate the piercing and can lead to infections.
- Clean your piercing with clean hands and try as much as possible not to touch it, the only time you should touch your piercing is when cleaning it.
- In cleaning, you should use saline solutions, some come in cans but i will advise you make it at home because you need the hotness from the boiled version at home.
What you need: Water, Salt, Cotton balls or cotton swabs. Make sure the mixture is not too salty but must have enough salt in it.
- Saline solution soaks is also helpful in removing crusts around the piercing
The piercing and the area around it is only supposed to swell for two days, any swelling after two days is an indication that something is wrong and needs to be checked.
If it ever gets infected, see a doctor immediately, if treatment requires taking out the jewelry, it’s best to do that to get healing fast, you might get lucky like me to have your jewelry back in the piercing.
Hot chamomile tea compresses and vaseline helps a-lot in the treatment process.
I hope I haven’t discouraged someone from getting a tragus piercing in the future, because it happened to me doesn’t mean it would happen to you. Go to a professional and be very clean about the piercing, you will be good.
Questions and comments are welcome.
Until next time.
Xoxo
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Anu's Blog 