Hello

I got my tragus pierced almost 2 months ago (btw totally not painful I was shocked it was over!) and it was healing perfectly fine, I chose a barbell because I read somewhere it helps with the healing.

I sleep it on with no problems at all, until recently I randomly wake up and it feels weird like the ball isn't there I always think it fell or something but in fact it gets pushed inside the piercing! ok no biggie happened a few times BUT today morning it was pushed way inside and there was a bit of blood :( it stings a bit..

I don't want my tragus to be stretched lol I was wondering should I change it to a ring? or maybe a longer barbell? the one I have is kind of long I can move it quite a bit, I read the piercing would be prone to infections with a ring. I know all piercings get infected but there's a higher chance with the ring or something along those lines.

 thanks for reading I'd appreciate if anyone could help me out, there are no piercing studios where I am sooo the only way I can know is through the internet :)

Rings are not more likely to cause infection, rather they can be more apt to cause irritation when they swing.

Get a large disk ends for your barbell, they would be less likely to slip through the piercing.

I already have large disk ends I forgot to mention that, guess they're more of labrets than barbells then? ops ;x

I might end up getting a ring then, I hope it wont irritate it as much since its kind of semi-healed haha thanks :)

or a bigger ball ;o would that be a good idea?

i feel like maybe your jewelry isn't long enough? i don't want to recommend changing it out just yet because it is still fairly fresh.. but i think disks would be better than larger balls cause i feel like the ball might be a bit heavy and tug unevenly at your piercing. and sea salt soak it! it does wonders for irritation and swelling. a chamomile tea bag compress will also help if you're worried about infection, it soothes the skin as well.

I agree with the idea of getting flat disks on both sides (or halfdomes) to reduce the risk of the ball getting imbedded (and it won't stick out as much so it shouldn't get caught on as many things). here are a few ideas: barbell with halfdome ends: http://www.bodyartforms.com/productdetails.asp?ProductID=1956; barbell shaft: http://www.bodyartforms.com/productdetails.asp?ProductID=2688; plain disk ends: http://www.bodyartforms.com/productdetails.asp?ProductID=4310; gem disk ends: http://www.bodyartforms.com/productdetails.asp?ProductID=4319. hopefully some of those help, or give you ideas of styles to look for. : )

 omfg so in the middle of writing this long ass post firefox decides to crash on me! anyways I'll sum it up, basically I took out the bar in my tragus to measure the size and trying to put it back in was difficult, so I pushed a little and felt like a popped something but it came through apparently what I did was poke ANOTHER hole through my tragus? I didn't know that was possible lol I didn't push it too hard I'm sure :(

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/8176/img01107200910280118.jpg (the bloody one is the new whole, and the one above it the old one)

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/659/tragusj.jpg

has anything similar ever happened to anyone?  I soaked it with sea salt water a couple of times, and I will continue to do so I'll leave it alone for now, I just hope I don't end up with a horrible infection >.<

and btw thanks jessicapeak I didn't know that about chamomile I'll try that!

sapphiredonna those definitely helped thanks :)

 

oh lord!! those look VERY upset!!! i've had both tragus's pierced twice (i just had them re-pierced) are you sea salt soaking?? it looks like they might be super bruised and bloody from your picture?? they aren't oozing are they?? the first time i had my tragus's pierced, the initial jewelry i had put in were nostril screws (very easy to clean, but they tend to fall out easier) the second time i had them pierced (about a month or so ago) i had a push-fit labret stud put in. the only down-side is the difficulty of cleaning. is the back of your "bar" flat?? or is it a ball?? if it's flat (disk-like) it shouldn't be embedding into your ear unless your post is too short. and your ear should be swollen so this might be DOUBLE the case. try not to sleep on your ears for right now and be really careful, treat it like a new fresh piercing because that's what it is now..you're basically starting over. if you have issues, see a reputable piercer! you do NOT want bad scarring or infection!! and remember NOT to touch or fiddle with it unless your hands are clean and you're soaking/cleaning it. what are your cleaning methods currently?? PS. switching to a ring WILL cause more irritation to your piercing. And don't take your jewelry out again, you shouldn't have done it in the first place!!

well - your pics do not seem to be 'that bad' to me - but i really do not know anything about tragus piercings per se...  

i have never heard of someone 'accidentally' piercing their tragus, but i guess you did - apparently you have very soft cartilege and there are no pain-sensors there...  bummers...    hopefully you are not planning to do anything else to your ear in the next couple of days...  as has been mentioned - treat the 'new' hole as a fresh piercing and take really good care of it...  now, if you do not like/want to have the two holes in your tragus (or even worse a stretched-between-larger size hole), then i am not sure what to recommend...

personally, i would prolly go to my piercer and have them look it over...  once youre both discussing options - you can also discuss the jewelry situation...  clearly, there was something wrong with the jewelry choices youve made so far - or maybe it was just your USE of the jewelry...  i think someone will need to chat with you in-person and get a feel/see what is happening, so that you/they can discuss the pros/cons of what-how-why you are having issues...

really, you can post more details here - im not trying to discourage you... and im sorry that the long-post youd written got eaten-up by the browser - but try to get to a reputable piercer in person, also, asap...  gl, h.

harold:

well - your pics do not seem to be 'that bad' to me - but i really do not know anything about tragus piercings per se...  

What?!  They look uberpissed!  Bloody, purple holes are no bueno...on any piercing.

i know you may not like this suggestion, i wouldn't, but i would just take it out and let it heal up and try getting it pierced again with a different piercer and better jewelry. do you have stainless steel jewelry in? maybe its a reaction to the metal? i'd try it again with titanium or glass.