Tragus Fiasco

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Monday April 28th, 2008 @ 12:40 AM

Filed under: Ear

I got my tragus pierced in October (for the second time, the first time it was pierced in the opposite ear too shallow and had to be removed). And the thing still isn’t Healed. I believe the piercer used a 16g 1/4″ CBR. I have been good about soaking it in salt water and leaving it alone otherwise, but I’m wondering if it isn’t something else keeping it from healing. I was having a look a few weeks ago, and noticed that the CBR is slightly “bent” (ie: it is not a perfect circle). The part that is bent is directly opposite where the bead is on the ring, so it is naturally the part that wants to sit in the piercing itself. I brought it up to my piercer, hoping he would change it to a barbell, and he said the piercing had to be totally healed first and that cartilage is just a bitch to heal. I try to keep the ring rotated (after I clean it) so that the bent (smaller diameter) part of the ring is not in the piercing…

So my question is: am I just slow to heal (my last tragus was healed after this amount of time), or could this slightly bent ring be an impediment to the healing process? And if so, is it worth the trauma of getting the jewelry changed to a barbell mid-healing?

To just quickly answer the main portion of the question, regarding healing. Most cartilage is indeed a “bitch” to heal. I normally instruct my clients to understand that cartilage piercings can quite often take anywhere from 6 months all the way to a year or longer, to fully heal. This is just the nature of ear cartilage, but also “slower healing” can be a result of other factors as well: 1) How often its bumped/hit, 2) Stress applied to the body (lack of sleep, lack of proper hydration, improper hygiene,etc) 3) Improper jewelry type/quality,etc.

Now without seeing the pierced location up close and personal, its hard to troubleshoot the matter properly. I will say though that using a 1/4″ (6mm) CBR seems a bit too small for my liking, for an initial tragus piercing. If I’m ever using a CBR in a tragus (I very rarely do by the way) I tend to put either an 5/16″ (8mm) or even a 3/8″ (10mm) depending on the thickness/shape/size of the tragus and ear,etc.

Also the statement you made about the CBR being slightly bent opposite of the bead is not an ideal situation. To me that might describe said piercer taking an 5/16″ CBR and tightening it down to a 1/4″ size, or a different bead was used in the 1/4″ then what it originally was made for/with. By tightening/closing the tighter on the smaller bead like that it can if done improperly create that “bent” look you’re referring to.

Now finally you got the piercing done in October, we’re now entering into May, thus making it roughly 6-7 months old. At this point there’s absolutely no reason NOT to just give it a try, just to see if any positive result can come from it.

What I’d personally do is visit a bunch of shops in your area, or anywhere else you might end up. When you visit these shops, they’ll hopefully spark up a conversation with you. To which you can ask for their opinion about your tragus piercing, giving you a 2nd, 3rd, 4th,etc opinion on the matter. Then after you have visited a few shops, logically decide what the overall consensus is on the situation and make your decision accordingly….Personally though I’d say get that ring out and get a properly fitted implant grade internally threaded (or threadless) labret stud, but that’s just me