Don’t believe the urban legends about nerves possibly getting hit during a tragus piercing. “I’ll say in over a decade of piercing, I have never ever had anyone have any serious issue with their tragus piercings,” Castillo says. “I think a lot of that stuff was just spread by people who don’t want your ears to look pretty.”
How long does a tragus piercing take to heal?
The short answer: Tragus piercings, and most cartilage piercings, take about three to six months on average to heal, while tragus piercings tend to take at least four months.
“There’s healed, and then there’s fully healed,” says Kelly. “When a piercing is fully healed, you can take an earring out for a long time and the hole won’t close up.” The average healing time for most cartilage piercings is about three to six months, but Kelly says the tragus tends to take a minimum of four months. It’ll take even longer before you can take your earring out without worrying about the hole closing up — or, depending on the elasticity of your skin, your tragus may never get to that point. If you’d like to remove your piercing but retain the ability to put jewelry in later, pay a visit to your piercer, who can help you predict whether it will be possible.
Because many of us listen to music with earphones or headphones regularly, Pearce says special care should be taken. “The contact and pressure on the healing piercing will cause complications such as angle-shifting and even bacterial infections,” he says. He advises switching to over-the-ear headphones, which cause less disruption than AirPods or earbuds. Dr. Akhavan recommends avoiding using earphones for the first at least four to eight weeks, though ideally until the area is completely healed.
“For the first two to three weeks, avoid sleeping on your side to prevent friction on the area,” says Dr. Akhavan. It’s hard, but airplane and donut pillows help. To be safe, give your piercing about a year before taking out or changing out the jewelry.
During that time, Thompson recommends leaving it alone. “Be careful with it. Look at it; don’t touch it,” he says. “It’s there to be admired, not to be played with. It’s not a puppy.”
How do you clean your ear’s new tragus piercing?
The only time you should get close to the tragus piercing is when cleaning it. Both piercers and Dr. Akhavan advise using unscented soap, like Dr. Bronner’s 18-In-1 Baby Unscented Pure-Castile Soap, and water. After sudsing the soap up in your hands, you should “gently massage soap onto the jewelry,” Thompson explains. “Move the soap around the jewelry, not the jewelry around the soap. Keep the stud or hoop stationary and gently move the suds inside and out and rinse. That’s all you need to do.”
You can also incorporate a saline solution into your cleansing routine. Thompson likes the NeilMed Wound Wash Piercing Aftercare Fine Mist. “Use that two or three times a day for the first few weeks,” he says. I like to think of it as another step in my skin-care routine.
How much will it cost?
The price of a tragus piercing depends entirely on the studio you go to as the type of jewelry they use ranges. At 108, for example, the piercing alone will cost you $40, and an additional $120 to $180 will be added on for a stud.
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