When Is It Safe to Sleep On a Tragus Piercing?
Getting a new piercing is exciting, but some responsibility comes with the excitement. You must follow the proper aftercare routine to keep your piercing healthy and ensure it heals without problems. While cleaning your piercing is important, it’s also essential that you don’t put unnecessary pressure on a new piercing. This pressure can change the angle of the piercing and make it no longer perpendicular. It also can irritate while the piercing tries to heal, increasing the risk of rejection or migration.
One way to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on a tragus piercing is to avoid sleeping on it. Read on for our tips and tricks.
How to Avoid Sleeping on a Tragus Piercing
The simplest way to avoid sleeping on your new tragus piercing is to sleep on your back or the other side. However, there’s no guarantee that you won’t toss and turn in your sleep and end up accidentally sleeping on the side your tragus piercing is on.
Therefore, we recommend investing in a round travel pillow for your neck on an airplane. These are sold at most convenience stores, such as CVS, Walgreens, or Target. To use one, place your ear in the center of the pillow. This allows you to rest your head on the pillow but keeps the pressure off the healing piercing.
When Is a Tragus Piercing Fully Healed?
You should be able resume sleeping without the travel pillow once your tragus piercing has fully healed. On average, it takes three to six months, but a tragus piercing may take up to a year to fully heal. If you’re curious about where you are in your healing journey, be sure to have your piercing assessed by your local piercer. They will be able to tell you how long you’ve got left in the healing process and when you can start to sleep on the piercing.
You should avoid sleeping on a new piercing until it's fully healed. Whether it’s a tragus or cartilage piercing, we highly recommend the travel pillow method to keep you comfortable and your new piercing safe. For all your tragus piercing aftercare information, follow our guide, which has a comprehensive list of aftercare tips and tricks.