Tragus piercing in Auckland

What a tragus is, and where it sits

The small flap of cartilage in front of the ear canal, the part you press to shut out noise. The piece sits on its outer face, with a flat back resting just inside.

Is my tragus big enough?

Not every one is, and it’s the first thing we check.

The flap has to be wide enough and thick enough to hold the piece away from its own edge. A piece set too near the edge is the one that works its way out over time. There also has to be room behind it, so the flat back rests on cartilage without pressing on the opening of the ear canal.

There are five times we’ll tell you a tragus isn’t the right call:

• Your tragus is too small or too flat to hold a piece away from its edge.
• You wear in-ear buds every day. A bud presses straight onto a healing tragus.
• You wear over-ear headphones every day. The cup sits right over it.
• The tragus carries significant scarring from earlier piercings.
• Your ear won’t support the look you have in mind. We’ll say so, and show you what it will.

If yours is borderline you’ll get a straight answer, and a look at what else would sit well nearby.

We would rather say no at the table than pierce on a maybe.

Does it hurt? What are the downsides?

Short and sharp, and less than most people expect.

It’s one pass of the needle and over in a moment. The downsides are all in the healing: ten to twelve months, no in-ear buds in that ear for the first three months, and your phone and pillow kept to the other side.

Who pierces it

Tom or Kat, one client in the room, forty-five minutes.

Sixteen and over. Everyone brings photo ID.

What happens at the appointment

You sit at the low table with a mirror in your hand. We check your tragus will take a piece, find the spot, and if you’d like gold you choose the piece, held up to your ear. Then the mark, which you see and agree with before anything else happens.

The piercing is one pass of a single-use sterile needle, and the piece goes in at the same moment. A new tragus always gets a flat post, never a ring, because a post sits still while the cartilage heals. Your checkup goes in the book before you leave.

How long does it take to heal?

Ten to twelve months

1. Day onePierced, and your checkup booked before you leave.
2. Four weeksYour checkup, included. The post is shortened if it’s ready. Swimming is fine from here.
3. Three monthsEarbuds back in that ear.
4. Ten to twelve monthsHealed. A ring or a new style can go in.

How to clean it

Warm water in the shower once a day is the whole clean, then pat it dry with a paper towel. Nothing else goes on it: no tea tree oil, no Savlon, no antiseptic, and no turning the jewellery.

Is this bump an infection?

Almost never.

A bump beside a healing tragus is the usual complication, and it’s almost always pressure: a bud, a phone or a pillow. Taking the cause away is most of the fix. Leave the post where it is, don’t squeeze it, and come in. If we pierced it, the look is included, healed or not.

When can I wear a ring?

Once it’s healed, at ten to twelve months. Until then the post you were pierced with stays in, shortened at your checkup. A ring goes in only after that, never on the day.

Gold can go in on the day, because the piece is chosen before the spot is marked, or at your checkup when the post comes down, priced on the piece alone.

Can I have both ears done at once?

We’d rather not: while a tragus heals you need a side for your phone, your pillow and your earbuds. Book the second once the first has settled, and we’ll tell you at your checkup when that is.

What goes in it

A small flap needs a piece in proportion with it: one well-chosen stone or a fine cluster does more here than anything busy. In titanium, a flat labret with a threaded end or a threadless pin.

Three from the case for a tragus, each pierced in the price

Quad Bead Cluster14k yellow gold · Polished gold · 1.25mm beads$380

Tiny Jeanie 214k yellow gold · White diamond · 3x1.5mm$510

Bayle14k yellow gold · White opal · 7mm$1,050

Pierced somewhere else and it isn’t right?

A tragus that’s crooked, too near the edge or never settled is usually placement, not aftercare. We’ll look at it and tell you plainly what’s going on and what we’d do.

The look is $30, taken off a piercing if you have one with us.

What if I take it out?

A fresh tragus usually closes if it comes out early. A healed one keeps a small mark. Worth knowing before you start.