To me tragus piercings at all times stood for faculty rebel. One in every of my friends got hers pierced a few weeks after starting our freshman yr. One other got hers done while we were studying abroad in London. I, by all intents and purposes, am what one might call a “late bloomer,” so getting my tragus pierced on the ripe old age of 26 matches right consistent with my personality.

Tragus piercings are generally popular, though. “We do at the very least a pair tragus piercings every single day,” says Cuba Perez, a piercer and the owner of Fundamental Body Piercing in Chicago, who himself has the unconventional ear piercing. “The tragus has at all times been one of the popular piercings across the ear.”

Though every piercing is different, there’s something a couple of snug-fitting tragus hoop or standout stud that thoroughly complements existing ear piercings — or provides an exciting, if unusual, first one. “The tragus, like all other parts of the human anatomy, will vary in size and shape on every individual,” says Johnny Pearce, a piercer at Nine Moons in NYC. “I feel a very important a part of styling a tragus is using jewelry that may highlight and compliment that person’s ear anatomy, literally fitting the jewellery to their ear shape, in order that your client gets a one-of-a-kind curation.”

Last month, I told Beyoncé’s piercer to do whatever he wanted with my ears. After briefly surveying what canvas he was working with, he decided a tragus piercing was the option to go — and when Beyoncé’s piercer tells you that it is best to get your tragus pierced, you get your tragus pierced. He has a reputation, by the best way — it’s Brian Keith Thompson, and he’s the owner of Body Electric Tattooa store that celebrities like Christina Aguilera and Jessica Alba also stop by in Los Angeles. And let me just say: I’m thrilled with the result.

Interested by getting this a part of your ears pierced? Here’s every part you might want to learn about getting a tragus piercing, including the pain level, how long it’ll take to heal, and the right way to look after it.

• Brian Keith Thompson is the owner of Body Electric Tattoo in Los Angeles.
• Cuba Perez is the owner and piercer at Fundamental Body Piercing in Chicago.
• Johnny Pearce is a piercer at Nine Moons in Recent York City.
• Adrian Castillo is a piercer at Los Angeles and Brooklyn-based studio 108.
• Jim Kelly is a piecer at Banter by Piercing Pagoda.
• Arash Akhavan, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist and founding father of Dermatology and Laser Group in Recent York City.
• Michael Jacobs, MD, a board-certified dermatologist, medical technology director at Cortinaand clinical associate professor of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College.

• Which part of your ear is the tragus?
• How much do tragus piercings hurt?
• Are there any risks to getting this part of your ear pierced?
• How long do tragus piercings usually take to heal?
• How do you clean your new tragus piercing?
• How much will it cost, typically?

When you’ve never heard of a tragus before and have not discovered what it’s yet, it’s “the little flap of cartilage on the side of your face that covers your ear canal,” Adrian Castillo, a piercer at Los Angeles and Brooklyn-based Studio 108 tells Allure. (He had the respect of piercing my septum earlier this yr.) Still unsure of what a tragus is? Picture it like this. “An ambulance is cruising by you and you desire to close your ears, it’s that little flap in front of your ear you could press into your ear canal,” Thompson puts it. “It extends out of your cheek and covers and protects your ear canal.”