00:01Since the tragus is a bit closer to the face and more on the inside of the ear,
00:05it can be a little bit more painful than others.
00:08I don't want to mark it too deep or else it will start digging into the side of her cheek
00:12there.
00:12So we want to keep it fairly close to the edge.
00:17I'm Brianna Wise and I'm getting a tragus piercing done today.
00:21It's been about a year since I got a piercing and I'm itching to get poked.
00:25I was inspired to get this piercing because I saw it on a bunch of Aesthetic Ambitions Instagram posts
00:31and I am excited to brighten up that area of my ear.
00:35Overall, I have about 16 piercings, actually 17 by septum, but about 8 on each ear.
00:41I probably waited to get the tragus piercing because I used to wear headphones a lot at work
00:46and actually working in a pandemic at home has allowed me to take the earphones off and now I have
00:52that available.
00:53I'm actually really good when I have a piercing to make sure that I sleep on my airplane pillow.
00:57The airplane pillow prevents your ear from being smashed and pressure that can sometimes build up a keloid.
01:03You've got to be dedicated.
01:05I'm Lucy Dahl, I'm a piercer at Aesthetic Ambition Piercing and Fine Jewelry in Marina Del Rey, California.
01:10I've been working with Brianna since about 2015, so I've been seeing her throughout my entire career.
01:16My favorite part about working in the piercing industry is challenging myself with new styles of piercings,
01:22new different ways to do the piercings.
01:25Self-expression is so important and I feel like a lot of people don't have that opportunity,
01:29so when they come in here and they're excited for new piercings, I see it as their way of decorating
01:34themselves the way they want to be seen.
01:36The tragus on the ear anatomy is this little bit right here in the very front part of your ear
01:42canal.
01:42It's just a little tiny bit of cartilage and it's a very popular piercing.
01:46I choose Lucy for all of my piercings because she is so gentle.
01:50I honestly barely feel a poke and it's done before it's even started.
01:54Anytime I come in to get a piercing, I know I'm in really good hands.
01:59Hi Brianna!
02:00Hey, how are you Lucy?
02:01Nice to see you!
02:02You too!
02:02Alright, so we're doing your tragus today.
02:04I think I'm really feeling going more colorful.
02:08This capri blue option, it pops like crazy once it's on the skin and it would go awesome with the
02:13pieces that you have in.
02:14Yeah, I love that one.
02:15Let's do that one.
02:16Alright, let's get started.
02:18Mentally, I didn't really need to prepare for this. I'm so excited.
02:22Brianna wanted her jewelry a sort of yellow gold.
02:25In cases like these, with titanium jewelry, we can do a process called anodization.
02:30This is an electrochemical process and that gets us a nice imitation gold.
02:36When my clients are laying down and getting ready for the piercing, they'll hear me go over all of the
02:41steps of the process before we actually start anything.
02:44I get her all cleaned up with a sterile alcohol pad.
02:48I let it dry for a bit and then mark out exactly where I want to place it.
02:53After the marker is dry, I wipe it down with an iodine swab, wiping down everything that I could potentially
02:59touch.
03:00For this piercing, we use a tool called a Felix tool.
03:03This is something that we created in our studio.
03:07We found that the Felix tool provided the exact amount of pressure that we needed so that when I press
03:13my needle through,
03:14I can get it through the other side without tenting the tissue.
03:18One of the most common problems that I see with tragus piercings is they're usually too deep.
03:23The jewelry will start to dig into the side of the head.
03:25If you have a smaller tragus, it is something you need to discuss with your piercer,
03:29and they can tell you exactly what size of jewelry that you need.
03:44Once we are through, I transfer the jewelry in with a pin taper.
03:58The post is in and I snap the top little capri blue opal on.
04:03After doing so, I wipe off all of the iodine and any excess marker in the area.
04:11Push it back and she's ready to go.
04:15All right.
04:18Oh my God, I love it.
04:19Yay!
04:20That was the right blue to go with.
04:22Yeah, perfect.
04:23My initial reaction to the final look was that I loved it.
04:26It looks amazing.
04:27I love the color.
04:29Didn't feel a thing.
04:30No pain.
04:31Lucy, such a pro.
04:32The tragus piercing looked perfect on Brianna.
04:34It was absolutely the compliment that she needed to balance out the design of her ear.
04:40Right now, my ear feels fine.
04:41I'm sure if I were to bump it, then I might feel something, but it is just fine.
04:46The only thing I felt was during the piercing, a little bit of pressure.
04:49The tragus is a cartilage piercing, so it does take its time to heal on average six months.
04:53Sometimes it can take longer up to a full year and then some.
04:56For tragus piercing specifically, we recommend a sterile saline spray one to two times a day,
05:03always after a shower.
05:04After the spray is applied, we use a Q-tip to remove any crusties or dried blood.
05:09Other than that, don't sleep on it, don't touch it, and don't wear anything inside your ear,
05:13like earplugs or headphones.
05:14The only concern would be headphones, but I luckily have AirPods, so I can wear it in this ear.
05:19Once the piercing is fully healed and you can downsize the length of the post,
05:23and there's no more issue with contamination or pressure, you can wear your earbuds on that side again.
05:29I really feel like this tragus piercing completes this side and is going to allow me to add a little
05:35bit more color and fun.
05:36She's a really joyous client, and it's nice to see her excited about what we do,
05:40and it feels like we're doing something right.
05:42It's been amazing working with Lucy. I've had her do a bunch of my piercings, so it was a pleasure
05:46again today.
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