Originally Posted by
nauticalstar420
Whether or not piercings hurt you is all dependent on your tolerance for pain. If you have a high tolerance for pain, it may not hurt you as much as it would for someone that has a low tolerance for pain. I will tell you though, that piercings through cartilage are a bit more of a shock than other piercings.
Always get ANY piercing with a needle, never a gun. Guns are unsterile and potentially harmful. You cannot get your tragus pierced with a gun anyways.
You should get it pierced with a ring. A ring will allow room for swelling. It will be very uncomfortable if you use something besides a ring and your ear does not have room to swell. After having the original ring in for 6 weeks, you can change it to whatever you want.
Clean it with anti-bacterial soap twice a day for the first week that you have it, then reduce to once per day. Cleaning your piercings more than needed will cause irritation which can lead to infection. I do not personally recommend salt soaks, saline, H2Ocean, or any such product. Anything containing salt is very drying to the piercing and the skin around it. It will peel, swell, and get very irritated if overused. I don't use anything containing salt on my piercings, but if you feel you must, keep its use to a minimum.
Cartilage piercings are prone to infection, so don't put anything that you don't need on it, like tea tree oil. Tea tree oil does not promote the healing of piercings and is not needed. Some say it will reduce keloid scarring, but that is a myth.
Cartilage piercings can take up to a year to heal, so don't lose patience if it does not heal within the amount of time that you want it to. Care for it properly, and it will heal as fast as your body allows it to.
Good luck! :)