The anti-tragus is a part of your ear cartilage, so yes, piercing your anti-tragus can be painful. Think of it as a 5 or 6 out of 10 on the pain scale – and no more painful than any other cartilage piercing. If you've had another cartilage piercing, this will feel similar.

Your anti-tragus will generally be pierced with a 16 gauge needle, so you're going to want 16 gauge jewelry, which has a post that's 1.2mm thick. The thicker post width prevents the hole from closing in the sturdier cartilage. However, sometimes your piercing will start to close up over time – in that case, you can wear 18 gauge jewels (1.0mm thick).

🚫 Unless you want your piercing to close up though, you should avoid the standard 20 gauge (0.81mm thick) earrings that you typically wear in your earlobes.

ℹ️ Need some extra help with jewelry sizing? We made a whole little guide that answers all of the top jewelry sizing questions we get, just for you.

Your new anti-tragus piercing is the perfect way to show off more unique jewelry styles. You can wear cartilage hoops, flat back earrings, circular barbells, ball closure rings, and curved barbells to your ear party.

✨ You'll just want to make sure your anti-tragus is large enough to support some of the thicker, larger pieces of jewelry – or if your anti-tragus is small, choose more delicate, dainty styles.

Your anti-tragus piercing will take between 2 months and 4 months to minimally heal with proper aftercare. And similar to a tragus piercing, an anti-tragus cartilage piercing can take up to 1 year to heal fully.

✨ It all depends on the size and thickness of your anti-tragus, so listen to your piercer's aftercare instructions.