I Got My First Surface Piercing

In this week’s episode of ‘Hannah gets too easily bored with her appearance’...

Since breaking the boundary of getting tattooed, my previous love and frequency of getting piercings died down. In my original and only post about my piercings, I talked about each of my then 11 piercings, what the pain was like, as well as the healing and my general experiences. I was momentarily distracted by the new and exciting world of tattoos, but with no plans to get anymore than the two I have now, I returned to my piercing-loving ways this week.

One thing that all my piercings have in common, is that they are not surface piercings. In that, they all go through a part of my skin, cartilage, whatever, and come out the other side - there is a back and front to the piercing. What people who are not well versed with the world of piercings may not realise is the difference between ‘normal’ piercings and surface ones. Now that I have one, I thought I’d take the opportunity to tell whoever is interested what that experience was like, and how it differs to getting more conventional piercings.

What is a surface piercing?

The name of my piercing is a surface tragus (pictured below), and is placed in the skin at the side of the ear - I would still technically refer to this as an ear piercing but it is pretty much on my actual face. Surface piercings, though the picture may seem like it is two separate studs in my ear, is simply a bar with two balls on either end - the bar being under the surface of the skin, hence the name ‘surface piercing’. 

People often get surface piercings in places that cannot have the conventional jewellery that goes in one place and out of the other. Popular places include; hips, neck, nape, eyebrow, wrists etc. 

Pain

If you are familiar with the pain of piercings, a surface piercing isn’t all that different. However, it would certainly depend on where you got it done. My surface tragus is in an area where my skin is very thin, so it didn’t take force for the piercer to get the needle in; reducing the pain. If, for example, you were to get a nape piercing (on the back of the neck), that skin is very thick, and would likely be more painful. Anyone considering a surface piercing should also be aware that it takes two incisions of the needle to complete it, unlike the typical one incision that comes with more conventional piercings. My experience was certainly quick and not dramatic.

Healing

Having only got my surface tragus done very recently, I am yet to experience the full healing process. The typical healing time for a piercing is about 3 months, but this can differ. Like any other piercing I have managed to heal, it simply requires that you regularly clean it with warm salt water, ideally twice or three times daily, until it fully heals. 

On thing I have noticed with my surface piercing is that it is far less sensitive to the touch than a lot of my other piercings; especially the cartilage ones, which were very sensitive to the touch and to lie on for a while after they were done. This one is already perfectly fine to touch and lie on, which I am very pleasantly surprised by. There is no swelling, and there has been no puss or blood or anything sinister - hopefully this continues throughout the healing process.

Rejection and Migration

While you might be inclined to think that there are a lot of parallels between surface piercings and normal ones, rejection and migration are were surface piercings largely differ. So to speak, if a normal piercing is healed well and you keep jewellery in it, it can last forever. Surface piercings categorically do not last forever. Due to the nature of the bar being under the skin, the body will eventually reject it - the skin over the bar will thin and the jewellery will simply come out. Therefore, you must keep in mind that it is literally impossible for this piercing to last like other normal ones. 

Unfortunately, each person’s body is different, and there is no telling when and how quickly a surface piercing could migrate. This is definitely a downside and a little frustrating, but knowing that a lot of my piercings could need to be taken out in the future anyway due to jobs and what not, I have always seen piercings as non-committal and am fine with the thought that I won’t have this piercing forever. How the rejection will occur worries me slightly as I don’t want it to be painful or for there to be a scar left, so at the first sign that the bar is migrating, I will probably call it a day and take it out. Who knows when this will happen, but I will probably write a post on it when it does as there seems to be quite little information on this particular piercing from what I have been able to tell from research. Rejection is an inevitable result with any surface piercing, which I don’t think is a fact well documented.

All in all, aesthetically speaking, I am very happy with the new addition to my piercing collection, and am excited that it is my first time with a surface one. I always get such a buzz out of getting something new done and this has been no different. I am looking forward to it being fully healed and enjoying having it as part of my overall aesthetic. I am drastically running out of ear space at this rate and I am not sure what I will get next (perhaps the third whole in my lobes?), but I can confidently say that this will not be the last one I get, and I will of course update you all if I get something interesting done! To people who don’t get piercings I know that this info can be a real insight and interesting to them as it certainly was for me before I had any, so do send any Qs you may have my way!

Love ya lots,

H x