Hi everybody. Today, I’m showing you exactly how I clean my ear piercings, specifically the tragus and helix piercings. Some of you have asked me how I clean mine because you were having trouble cleaning yours. So I figured I would write an article to show how I clean mine.
I’m going to tell you how to clean a helix piercing and tragus piercing step by step.
Why Proper Helix Piercing and Tragus Piercing Cleaning Matters
Cartilage piercings like the tragus and helix need more attention than lobe piercings. When learning how to clean a helix piercing or how to clean a tragus piercing, understanding the importance of proper aftercare is crucial.
The healing time for cartilage piercings typically ranges from 6 to 12 months, compared to 6-8 weeks for lobes. During this time, daily cleaning prevents buildup, reduces infection risk, and keeps the piercing moving freely so it doesn’t heal in place.
What to Clean Tragus Piercing With
First of all, the first thing I do is every time I take a shower, I use my Provon soap. It’s a really great antibacterial soap, and it does wonders for piercings. So I definitely recommend that if you have a new piercing that you are trying to clean.
When considering what to clean tragus piercing with, you’ll need these essential supplies:
- Provon antibacterial soap (for shower cleaning)
- Non-iodized sea salt (from pet stores or health food stores)
- Clean medicine cup (like those from DayQuil bottles)
- Standard Q-tips (softer ones are gentler on fresh piercings)
- Hot water (as hot as you can comfortably tolerate)
What to Clean Helix Piercing With
The supplies for cleaning helix piercing are exactly the same as for tragus cleaning. I got this big thing of sea salt from a pet store and it works great. Love this stuff.
And I mix it in a little clean medicine cup. I just got this off of a DayQuil bottle that I had in my cupboard. So this is perfectly clean, and I use this for my sea salt solution.
After you have those two things, you’re definitely going to want some Q-tips. Just some standard Q-tips. The softer the Q-tips are, the better, just so it’s easier on the piercings and it doesn’t hurt as much. So those are all the things that I use to clean my ear piercings.
The most common question I get all the time is can I use regular kitchen salt or can I use just regular sea salt. And the answer is no. You can’t use regular salt. It has to be non-iodized sea salt. Iodized salt contains additives that can irritate fresh piercings.
How to Clean Cartilage Piercings in the Shower
Using Provon Antibacterial Soap
So what I do is when I am in the shower I just take a little bit on my finger and rub around the ball and then behind. And then I just take some more clean soap, and I just put it in the little crease right here where my helix is. And then also I rub it around the back. So that is what I do in the shower.
Every time I take a shower, I clean them. You can still clean all of your piercings in the shower even after they heal. I still even clean my belly button piercing in the shower. Provon soap just does wonders for piercings. So I definitely recommend that if you have a fresh piercing that needs to be cleaned.
How to Rinse Without Getting Water in Your Ear
And then some of you asked me how I rinse them without getting water in my ear. And I have a shower head that comes down, the one that unattaches.
And I find it really easy just to hold it right by my ear, holding it this way so the water is shooting the piercings in the front. And then I hold it behind my ear, kind of like this to clean the back of the cartilage. And then I also hold it at an angle to clean behind the tragus.
If you don’t have a shower head that comes down like most people, I don’t think a lot of people do. But if you do have a shower head that does come down a little bit, I would definitely just try to angle your head so the water is hitting the piercing, but you’re not getting water in your actual ear, because I know a lot of people definitely don’t want that to happen. So that is what I do in the shower.
Best Cleaning Solution for Helix and Tragus Piercings
As far as cleaning outside of the shower goes, I clean my helix and tragus piercing morning, afternoon, and night with sea salt. I know there are different types of ear cleansing solutions that you can use. It’s totally up to you what you want to use.
A lot of people, when I got my three lobes done on each ear, they actually gave me a cleaning solution. So if you still have some of that from Claire’s or whatever, you can still use that on your other piercings if you still have it and it hasn’t expired yet.
You can use H2 Ocean. You can use other types of cleansing solutions, but I personally like to use sea salt. That’s what works best for me and my piercings.
The Perfect Sea Salt Ratio
So first off, as always, I am using my non-iodized sea salt. You definitely want to make sure it’s non-iodized. So I just want to show you what this is, the sea salt amount that I put in. About 1/4 of a tablespoon that I put inside there. And then I like to fill it all the way up to the brim with really hot water.
Luckily this sink has really hot water so it works perfectly. Hot water and sea salt once it mixes together makes just the perfect solution, and it feels really good on your piercings. This is my favorite part.
I love cleaning my piercings with sea salt just because it feels so good. So next you just want to fill it up to the brim with hot water, as hot as you can stand it, but not too hot so you don’t burn the piercing.
Then, you’re going to make sure you want to wash your hands really good. I just washed mine, so they’re fine and ready to go. So I’m just going to go ahead and mix up my sea salt solution and then I will show you how I clean them.
How to Clean a Tragus Piercing: Step-by-Step Process
And then once you do that, you’re going to want to take a clean Q-tip. Since I have two fresh ear piercings, I like to use different Q-tips for each piercing because I don’t want to use a Q-tip that I used on my tragus to clean my helix. So I like to do one and then the other, all using clean Q-tips.
Cleaning the Front of Your Tragus
Now I have a clean Q-tip and my sea salt solution that I just mixed. And I just like to stick it into the thing and just spin it around just to make sure that it’s nice and mixed up and that I’m getting some salt water on the end of the Q-tip.
So there we go. And I’m going to start with my tragus first. That’s how I always start. I always like to start with my tragus.
Okay, so here’s my tragus piercing right here. It is 5 days old, so you still want to be really careful with it. And since I have a ring in my tragus, I like to pull lightly with the Q-tip just so I can get behind the ball.
So I just like to go around like this, making sure that you want to move the ring out of the way so you can get behind the ball. And then I just push it back up there.
How to Clean the Back of a Tragus Piercing
And then using the clean side of the Q-tip that we just cleaned the front with, I’m going to use the clean side so we can clean the back of it.
So to clean the back of it, I’m just going right behind my tragus and just rubbing it very lightly behind the back. Since it is still a fresh piercing, you want to make sure that you are going really lightly.
And then I just like to take it underneath and just move it. Another thing that’s really important with ear piercings is when you do clean them, you want to very lightly and carefully make sure that you are moving them around.
The reasoning for this is that you don’t want the piercing to hold the earring in place. So you just want to make sure that you move it around quite a bit. So you’re cleaning it really good, and you don’t want the earring to get stuck in place and then have to have it surgically removed. So you just want to carefully move it.
And it’s to the point where it’s still kind of tender, but it does not hurt as bad as it did the first time I cleaned it. First time I cleaned it, it was definitely a sore one. So again, I’m just going over the whole thing again.
And then there we go. That is how I clean my tragus piercing. Let me show you what it looks like now. It looks really good. Still healing, of course. It is only 5 days old, but it’s healing really well, and I’m really happy with it.
How to Clean a Helix Piercing: Complete Guide
Now I’m going to be showing you how I clean my helix piercing, otherwise known as a cartilage piercing. And definitely compared to the tragus, the helix piercing is definitely more sore than the tragus to me.
I’ve had my cartilage done four times on this ear. And every single time, this one has always been the most sore. So I don’t like cleaning this one as much just because it is more sore than the tragus. But here we go.
Best Way to Clean a Helix Piercing Front
All right, so here is my helix piercing up here. Let me show you what it looks like now. There is a little bit of pus. I’m having a little bit of pus now, which is totally normal with a healing piercing. That’s actually a good thing when you get a piercing if there’s some white pus.
You definitely want to keep an eye out for yellow or green. If it is those colors, you might have an infection. But since it is white, there’s really nothing to worry about. You just want to make sure you clean it really good.
And again, I’m taking another fresh clean Q-tip and taking it into my sea salt. And then I will be doing the same thing that I did with my tragus, just starting in the front. And to do this, I’m just going around this way and bringing it up, making sure that we’re going very carefully because it is still sore.
Managing White Discharge During Cleaning Helix Piercing
Okay, so now that the front is cleaned. And if you guys are wondering, when you are cleaning a fresh piercing with sea salt and you feel a little bit of a burning sensation, that is completely normal.
Your piercing is just healing and the burning sensation that you feel is just the sea salt getting into the piercing and cleaning it. So there’s nothing to be alarmed when you feel that.
The best way to clean a helix piercing when you notice white discharge is to gently clean around it with your sea salt solution. Don’t try to remove the discharge forcefully. Just let the sea salt solution do its work.
Cleaning the Back and Moving the Jewelry
So now I’m just going into the back of my helix piercing and just cleaning the back of it, making sure I get all the way around, picking up the ring, making sure I get it.
And then this next part I’m about to do may be a little bit painful for some of you, but I’m actually going to be taking the ring and moving it just a little bit lightly just to make sure that the sea salt gets in there. So I’m just going to take it and put it back.
So I’m just moving it around just to make sure the sea salt gets in there. My ear doesn’t necessarily like that, but you know, you got to do it to make sure that it doesn’t heal in place. As I move it around, I’m just going to go over it one more time just to make sure if any pus or blood or anything like that came out of it while I was moving it, I just want to make sure that I clean it off really good. And just going in little tiny circles.
Okay, and then that is how I clean my helix piercing and my tragus.
Rings vs Studs: Why I Have Rings
Some of you were asking me why I have rings instead of studs. And the answer is I don’t know. That is just what my piercer wanted to do. And she’s a professional. She’s really good at what she does. So I didn’t have a problem with it.
They aren’t bugging me. It doesn’t feel any different than what a stud would feel like. They just look different because they’re rings and not studs.
And some of you were also asking how come this ring isn’t closed all the way. And some of you were saying it was a nose stud that was in my ear. And the answer is no, it’s not a nose stud. It is an earring and it doesn’t need to be closed all the way.
As long as I keep the ball pushed up against my tragus, then there really shouldn’t be a problem. Just as long as it stays pushed up against it, I shouldn’t have to worry about it falling out at all.
How Often to Clean Tragus Piercing and Helix Piercing
How often to clean tragus piercing and how often to clean helix piercing? I clean it morning, afternoon, and night with sea salt. That’s three times a day outside of the shower.
Sometimes in the afternoon, if I have time, I just quick run a Q-tip over and just clean them off. And then again in the shower, I just clean them with my Provon soap.
I have been wearing my hair up a lot lately just so I can let my piercings kind of breathe a little bit so they can heal without having hair land on them or anything like that. So far, the healing process is going really well. I’m really happy with them.
How Long to Clean Helix Piercing and When Can I Stop
As for how long to clean helix piercing, you should continue cleaning throughout the entire healing process, which typically takes 6 to 12 months for cartilage piercings.
When can I stop cleaning my helix piercing? Most piercers recommend continuing aftercare for at least 6 months, and some people continue for the full year to ensure complete healing.
Even after they’re fully healed, I still clean all of my piercings in the shower. I still even clean my belly button piercing in the shower. It’s just a good habit to maintain.
You guys wanted to know pain levels and both of them I would give a three out of 10. Really wasn’t bad at all.
How to Clean Helix Piercing with Salt Water
When learning how to clean helix piercing with salt water, remember these important points.
The sea salt solution should be warm to hot, but not so hot that it burns. Use 1/4 tablespoon of non-iodized sea salt to one medicine cup of hot water. Let it sit for a minute to dissolve properly before using.
Always use fresh Q-tips for each piercing to avoid cross-contamination. Move the jewelry gently while cleaning to prevent it from getting caught in place. And remember, a little burning sensation is normal when the salt water contacts the fresh piercing. That’s just the solution doing its job.
Quick Recap: How to Clean a Helix Piercing and How to Clean a Tragus Piercing
- Clean piercings in the shower daily with Provon antibacterial soap
- Use non-iodized sea salt solution (1/4 tablespoon salt to one medicine cup of hot water) three times daily
- Always use fresh Q-tips for each piercing to prevent cross-contamination
- Move jewelry gently while cleaning to prevent healing in place
- White discharge is normal; watch for yellow or green discharge
- Wear hair up to keep piercings clean and allow them to breathe
- Expect mild burning from sea salt—this is normal and means it’s working
- Clean for the entire healing period (6-12 months for cartilage piercings)
- Angle shower head to rinse piercings without getting water in ear canal
- Pain level for both piercings: approximately 3 out of 10
- First cleaning is the most sore; gets easier each day
- Rings work just as well as studs for healing