One of the most popular piercings for ears out there, the tragus piercing is beautiful and subtle. It makes a wonderful piercing for balancing a heavily pierced ear or a lovely statement piece alongside simple lobe earrings. Perfect for both hoops and studs, the tragus piercing is incredibly versatile, offering you the chance to get creative with your earring stack.
In our guide, we're going to be looking at the tragus piercing in detail, from aftercare to jewellery options, and answering your most asked questions about this gorgeous little piercing.
What is a tragus piercing?
The tragus is the very small fold of cartilage that protrudes from the side of the face over the ear canal. It can be rounded or pointed, and varies slightly in size from person to person. A tragus piercing is when this piece of cartilage is pierced for an earring. Because this is a very small area of skin, the jewellery worn in this piercing is typically small to match.
What are the benefits of getting a tragus piercing?
A tragus piercing looks gorgeous, whether you choose to wear an embellished hoop earring or a simple diamond stud in it. Its main benefit comes from its beautiful aesthetics and styling versatility.
Some also claim that getting any part of the ear cartilage pierced has benefits similar to acupuncture. While there is no scientific evidence proving this, many people state they've experienced health benefits after getting their tragus piercing, including things like fewer migraines and reduced stress.
What aftercare is needed with a tragus piercing?
Aftercare is important for all piercings, and the tragus is no exception. As with other ear cartilage piercings, the tragus should be cleaned at least once per day while it's healing, although twice per day is ideal. Use a sterile saline solution to treat the area (we recommend getting it in spray form so you can spritz it on), and if any crust develops, simply nudge it away carefully with a cotton bud.
Avoid twisting, pulling, or even just touching the piercing with your fingers while it heals, as bacteria can easily find their way in from your fingertips. Leaving your tragus alone and spraying it daily is the best way to take care of it. If you'd like additional advice, perhaps specific to your exact piercing, speak to an experienced piercer - they'll gladly help you create a more personalised aftercare plan.
How long do tragus piercings take to heal?
As it's through cartilage, a tragus piercing typically requires between 6 and 12 months of healing time. This is because of the nature of cartilage, otherwise known as avascular tissue. Avascular tissue has no direct blood supply due to a lack of blood vessels, which results in not only a slower healing process, but also fewer antibodies to fight wound infection.
However, this shouldn't be a cause for concern if you take care of your tragus piercing properly. Keep it clean, sterile, and unbothered, and it should heal up beautifully!
How to clean a tragus piercing
As mentioned in our aftercare advice, cleaning a tragus requires sterile saline solution, a cotton bud, and not much else! Once it has healed, tragus piercings can be cleaned in the shower by letting warm water run over the area to remove the day's dirt. If you find that you'd like to keep using the saline solution, then that certainly won't hurt the piercing's health, so feel free!
Cleaning the tragus earring itself will depend entirely on the material used.
Solid gold: Warm water, a few drops of eco washing-up liquid, a good soak, and a soft-bristle toothbrush will leave gold tragus jewellery shimmering.
Sterling silver and solid Argentium silver: Use the same washing-up liquid and warm water method, or use a silver polishing cloth to make silver tragus jewellery shine.
Titanium: Titanium tragus earrings can also be cleaned with washing-up liquid, warm water, a soft cloth, or a soft-bristle toothbrush.
Diamonds, rubies, and sapphires: These stones are hard enough that soft bristles won't scratch them (in fact, the only thing that can scratch a diamond is a diamond). Tragus earrings with these stones can therefore be cleaned just like the above materials.
Emeralds, opals, turquoises, aquamarines, and pearls: These stones are softer and more porous, and should never be cleaned with a brush or soaked. Use a damp microfibre cloth to clean and then dry them immediately, or take them to a local jeweller for cleaning.
For more cleaning tips, visit our jewellery care guide
Can you wear AirPods with a tragus piercing?
When your tragus piercing is healing, which could be for up to one year, you unfortunately can't wear any in-ear headphones, including AirPods. During the healing period, over-ear headphones are a better option, but we recommend trying various pairs on before getting the piercing to help ensure the earcup padding doesn't sit against your tragus.
Avoiding in-ear headphones isn't just for comfort purposes; it's also to prevent the piercing from becoming infected. All that friction and pressure can easily spell irritation, leading to soreness, swelling, and even scarring.
Once your tragus piercing has healed, however, you're welcome to wear any pair of earphones or headphones you fancy.
Can you sleep on a tragus piercing?
Sleeping on a healed tragus piercing is absolutely fine, but you should try to avoid it during its healing time, especially while it's still tender. We understand that this is much easier said than done, so here are some tips:
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Use a neck pillow - The horseshoe travel pillows you take on planes are a great solution for preventing your ear from resting on your normal pillow. Purchase a high-quality neck pillow that's soft and comfortable, and sleep with your ear in the hole.
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Use a piercing pillow - There are specially designed pillows for freshly pierced ears available to buy for anyone who wants to really commit to a safe healing process.
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Tie your hair up and keep your pillowcase clean - If the pillow solutions simply aren't going to work for you, then keep your hair back in a bun or braids and your pillowcase clean by washing it regularly (we recommend twice per week).
How to remove a tragus piercing
First, it's important that you do not try to remove the earring that your tragus was pierced with until your tragus has fully healed, and certainly no sooner than six months. Once six months have passed, it's no longer tender, and you experience absolutely no discomfort if the earring is moved, you can remove the tragus jewellery.
Very often, experienced piercers will use a flat-back stud when they pierce your tragus, also known as a labret stud. Removing tragus piercings takes a bit of patience because of their location by the ear canal and how secure they are.
Before attempting to remove the stud, thoroughly wash and dry your hands. We also advise not doing this over a sink - if you drop the jewellery, it could fall down the drain.
If your piercing is a threadless stud (one end slots into the other), then take hold of the back of the earring with your fingertips and firmly pull the front end away.
If your piercing is a screw stud, then take hold of the back of the earring with your fingertips and twist the front end off.
Getting your fingers into the right position behind your tragus can be quite tricky, as it's such a small area. If you're finding this difficult, we recommend purchasing some labret tweezers. These have been specially designed to allow you to grip the flat back of the stud without your fingers getting in the way. They're very handy and make the entire process quick and simple, regardless of the stud's fastening style. Labret tweezers also make putting in new flat-back studs easy, too.
Is your stud too secure? Pop on a pair of new latex gloves for extra grip.
What types of earrings can you use for a tragus piercing?
As the tragus is such a tiny area of skin, this isn't a spot for big, flashy jewellery. Simple studs and delicate hoops always lead tragus jewellery trends, and we have some beautiful pieces for you to choose from in our collection of cartilage, helix, and tragus earrings. Here are just two of our favourite earrings for tragus piercings:
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Our 18ct gold delicate diamond tragus stud. This gorgeous piece of hypoallergenic gold jewellery is subtle yet sparkling, topped with a lab-grown diamond. It doesn't require fastening - instead, it features a bend in the post that keeps it in place.
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Our silver cartilage hoop earring. The perfect tragus hoop for just a hint of silver, polished to a gleaming shine. Use this in your tragus or your helix piercings and fasten by gently bending the ends together.
All our jewellery is crafted by hand in our London studio by talented jewellers and goldsmiths using either ethically-sourced or recycled materials, including our tragus earrings. Discover our other sustainable jewellery on offer and find your next forever piece.
Shop all cartilage and tragus earrings
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