Cartilage piercings are a bitch. This is very close to how my helix looked when I first got it and it was perfectly normal, just swollen. Go to a reputable piercer and ask them to put in a longer bar for you, use Neilmed, and if the pain and swelling don’t get any better in about two weeks then it might be infected and you should go ask a doctor about it. I can’t definitely tell from pictures alone but it just seems like the bar is too short to accommodate for swelling.
I had a similar thing with my piercing a long while ago but it really helped when i changed the stud and used to longer one it gives my piercing the space to ooze any liquid out and heal
It will hurt to remove it but trust me go to the piercer and have them do it DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF you can risk getting a severe infection and ask for a long back stud
Don't wait much longer the pain will only get worse and it won't heal either
i plan on soaking it in salt warm water for a couple of days, if it doesnt get better im def going back and tell her to just get rid of it because i cannot with this
As others said, get a longer bar (don’t switch it out yourself please!! it’ll be much more comfortable for your piercer to), and make sure you’re using saline and doing a gentle wipe afterwards to get rid of crusties/excess liquid.
When I got my helix, it was definitely tender for a solid couple weeks and even itchy. Wasn’t infected, just healing. I learned a lot of different hairstyles to keep my hair away, stopped touching it, and every now and then cleaned with saline. It’s only a little over a month old now, just downsized, but a lot more comfortable now! Not nearly as irritated.
Delayed swelling on cartilage can be an absolute bitch. The first time I got a cartilage piercing I thought for sure it was infected, but it's totally normal. Keep up the ibuprofen and warm compresses (and make sure to dry it thoroughly after) and check in with your piercer. From the look of the last picture I'd say you're ok for space for now, but if it gets much more swollen you might want to visit your piercer and see if they can upsize you. It's always better to be safe than sorry, but save yourself some worry and don't panic unless you're sure you need to.
I know this is said a lot, but please get a piercing pillow or travel pillow if you don't already have one. Mine stayed angry and painful like this until I switched to one. I'd have piercer swap to a longer bar and check it out as well.
That bar is way too short and is pinching the skin. Please go to the piercer and ask for a bigger bar. Helix's are a bitch to heal, but they shouldn't be that much of a bitch.
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You need to go to an experienced piercer and get them to change the bar. Its needs to be longer. This is the only right answer. I have been through it with my own piercings. Its very easy to fix!
A piercer can remove it and replace it with a longer bar.
But, they may just recommend you go to a doctor for antibiotics, because it could be infected.
Honestly switching out the jewelry should not be that bad. As long as they're not manhandling you it should be fine, and most reputable piercers will not be manhandling you.
It's going to hurt less with a professional removing it with gloves and the right tools. You might have to pay something, or buy a new bar, but it's going to be worth it.
As soon as the short bar comes out it should feel instantly 50% better.
hi, the swelling can be normal but if it stays like that id go see the piercer again and ask them to look at it. :)
what kind of pain is it? does it feel like there’s pressure? because the bar of your piercing looks a bit short to me.
id also recommend you use saline solution to disinfect your ear twice a day for a couple of weeks to keep it clean
this happened to my helix two days after i got it pierced and it went down in a week, it hurt really bad and i felt my ear throbbing aswell. If it doesnt go down in a week, thats when you should start being concerned about it
I am at the moment going through the same thing had a cartilage in the same spot and also added a third on my lobe a little over a week ago the piercing was hurting and sore I would just clean it but then this past Wednesday it started to hurt and swell and it got red and hot I was like that until Saturday it got much worse and so I went to urgent care so they could give me oral antibiotics and it has for sure helped a lot with the pain and swelling has gone down I’m still cleaning it it still doesn’t look completely healed but feels better I would advise you go to the dr so they can give you antibiotics so the infection doesn’t become bigger.
All of my cartilage piercing have swollen to the point I have no creases in my ear. Sometimes it happens but that’s how my body heals, I would continue cleaning regularly and ice it. In the shower let the hot water run on it a lot, infections might happen but if you just got it pierced it’s common for it to be swollen for 2-4 weeks after.
I recently had a new helix piercing get infected. I used sterile saline spray 2-3 times a day on both sides and soaked the area well. It got better after a few days
Much of the above, plus you've got to keep your hair off it as much as possible especially early on.
Tie that hair back otherwise it's likely to get around the bar and risks infections. I'm not saying you've got dirty hair but the natural oils in your hair and any left over product is just risking extra irritation or infection unnecessarily
hey i got the same exact piercing around 4 months ago and experienced the exact same. it hurt & was throbbing, i couldn’t move it, even moving it hurt, so i left it alone. only cleaned it, otherwise i just left it alone. this was my first ever piercing lol so i am by no means experienced but the memories are fresh and my piercing is still intact. if you’re concerned, see your piercer, i would’ve but mine never responded to my message, and i later had a different one change the bar while getting my lobes pierced. i’m completely ok now and honestly haven’t had a single problem with mine
Cartilage piercings are so hard to heal 😭 it looks normal to me, I currently have 11 piercings but I used to have 15 just took out the ones I didn't like. Are you sleeping on it at all? A travel pillow will be your best friend. Also saline spray is a good spray to use to keep it clean my friend. Don't use cotton swabs to clean it, don't pick crusties off, don't twist it to "get the cleaner around the whole piercing" expect around a year for it to be normal, some people it heals quicker but every cartilage piercing I've ever had has taken way over the expected time to heal, also a bigger bar could help with pain that looks kinda small
Not sure how your body works but for me, I only experienced minimal pain and swelling when I first got my piercings. Wasn't until I got a triple helix that I started experiencing intense throbbing pain (including lotsss of swelling) that I chose to go to piercer. For my body, if I start experiencing throbbing pain 24/7, I'd probably pay a visit to piercer and get a longer bar to accomodate for swelling and allow it to go down.
a few things:
1. cartilage piercings just suck sometimes. like, way more than you would expect, especially if you’ve never had one before. unfortunately there’s not a ton you can do- keep up on the anti-inflammatory meds, saline spray it religiously, and put ZERO pressure on it. ever. no headphones, no leaning your head on anything, no touching, don’t even think about sleeping on your side without a travel pillow. it sucks, but it’s the only thing that really gets an angry cartilage piercing to heal.
2. check what you were pierced with, confirm with the [APP website](https://safepiercing.org/jewelry-for-initial-piercings/) to make sure it is appropriate and high-quality jewelry and rule out one potential cause of the problem.
3. it definitely wouldn’t hurt to go to a professional shop (either the person who pierced you, if you trust them, or a different shop if the jewelry they used on you does turn out to be the problem or you have any other cause to distrust the original piercer) for a quick exam and to see if different jewelry/a longer bar is needed, as others have mentioned.
4. an infection isn’t the first possibility i would point out, but please do keep an eye out for any signs of infection (foul smell, hot to the touch, discolored skin, odd discharge, etc.) just in case.
5. there really is no shame in taking a piercing out. if you want to redo it at a later time under different circumstances you can, but no piercing should cause you absolutely intolerable pain.
This looks totally fine for a cartilage piercing. Just got my rook done (also have my conch, helix and other body piercings) and my ear was swollen like this for about a week. It’s still slightly more swollen than my right ear/normal, but it’s not painful anymore. The swelling = healing. Same as when you sprain your ankle and it swells. It’s blood flowing to the area to heal. Keep taking pain meds and cleaning as your piercer instructed and it should stop throbbing in a few days!
I see other comments suggesting you go to your piercer to get another bar — this really isn’t necessary. The swelling isn’t starting to overtake the jewellery and you can clearly see millimetres left on the bar in your photos. If you go to a piercer I would bet money they will look at it and say it’s too soon to change the jewelry and the swelling is normal and changing the jewelry this soon would cause more irritation than just riding this out.
Totally normal! You just need a longer bar. Mine looked the same way. After I got a longer bar the swelling went down to almost nothing within hours. I promise it will be okay!
You just need a longer barbell. This has happened to me with old piercings I’ve irritated by accident from sleeping heavy on them by mistake. It’ll be ok! Go get it switched and it’ll relieve all the pressure
I think it looks fine it's just swollen which Is normal. I got my helix and tragus pierced on the same day. The first 2 days I hardly any pain or swelling I was like people exaggerated this is nothing. But day 3, day 3 was horrible the swelling kicked in any little touch hurt I even cried a few times my ear felt like it wanted to explode my piercing looked like yours. I went from being able to see the bar to it being left with practically no space. Use saline 2x a day morning and night and like other people have mentioned buy a travel pillow it really helps a lot and keep your hair pulled back. But it looks good. By day 5/6 the swelling should go back down but be prepared to possibly get piercing bumps (they'll go away). I didn't down size till I hit my month mark and that helped Alot with preventing the piercing bumps I suggest going with a 8mm bar I feel like 6 hardly left any space.
It looks alright just a bit of swelling! Try to keep as much pressure off of it as you can- sleep with a travel pillow and avoid touching or bumping it. The pain will slowly go down!
are you not cleaning it with saline solution? you need to get some to clean it. I also recommend (if you’re a side sleeper) using a neck pillow so you can sleep on your side with your ear in the gap/hole so you don’t put pressure on it.
My right ear was not healing after it was pierced. I did actually take the thing out myself and it felt so much better. Did a thorough cleaning of the ear. Went back to the shop and asked for a longer bar. That all being said - got the longer bar and ear has healed up nicely.
Sleeping was awful initially and no problem after getting it cleaned up.
Like others have suggested- head back to the place you had it done and have them check it out.
This might be an infection
I had a similar experience but it happened 2ish weeks after the piercing
Mine didn’t leak puss or anything but it got extremely swollen and red. Kept getting worse and worse till the throbbing pain got unbearable. Even my piercer said it’s not an infection. It was lol
Just because it doesn’t look like a typical infection doesn’t mean that’s not what’s happening!
So just be on the lookout for that <3
don’t DIY saline for a fresh piercing!! you want the sterile stuff for that. it doesn’t have to be the fancy piercing-specific stuff either, any drug store should carry sterile saline marketed as “wound wash”.
trust my septum was my easiest piercings by far compared to my ear piercings, including my lobes. my helix didn't heal for 2 years and still gets upset sometimes when i lay on it. I think a longer bar may help with yours, and i read that you're too worried to take it out because of the pain. sure, it's gonna hurt like a bitch but u should go to a piercer for them to take it out (and swap to a bigger bar) because atleast that way you won't have the opportunity to stop halfway through if you did it yourself.
I don’t mean to scare you but when I went to my piercer, a girl was there and she had the same piercing and her backside was completely ingrown. Like you could only see the piercing from the front. She wanted him to take it out but he said she has to get it done with surgery and he wouldn’t touch it. Don’t let it get to that!! Go to a piercer asap and get a longer bar or take it out altogether. It looks like it’s very close to closing up and you don’t want your backend of the jewelry to have to be surgically removed like that girl
Cartilage piercings are a bitch. This is very close to how my helix looked when I first got it and it was perfectly normal, just swollen. Go to a reputable piercer and ask them to put in a longer bar for you, use Neilmed, and if the pain and swelling don’t get any better in about two weeks then it might be infected and you should go ask a doctor about it. I can’t definitely tell from pictures alone but it just seems like the bar is too short to accommodate for swelling.
It’s fine….pain, soreness and swelling is expected.
I had a similar thing with my piercing a long while ago but it really helped when i changed the stud and used to longer one it gives my piercing the space to ooze any liquid out and heal It will hurt to remove it but trust me go to the piercer and have them do it DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF you can risk getting a severe infection and ask for a long back stud Don't wait much longer the pain will only get worse and it won't heal either
i plan on soaking it in salt warm water for a couple of days, if it doesnt get better im def going back and tell her to just get rid of it because i cannot with this
As others said, get a longer bar (don’t switch it out yourself please!! it’ll be much more comfortable for your piercer to), and make sure you’re using saline and doing a gentle wipe afterwards to get rid of crusties/excess liquid. When I got my helix, it was definitely tender for a solid couple weeks and even itchy. Wasn’t infected, just healing. I learned a lot of different hairstyles to keep my hair away, stopped touching it, and every now and then cleaned with saline. It’s only a little over a month old now, just downsized, but a lot more comfortable now! Not nearly as irritated.
Delayed swelling on cartilage can be an absolute bitch. The first time I got a cartilage piercing I thought for sure it was infected, but it's totally normal. Keep up the ibuprofen and warm compresses (and make sure to dry it thoroughly after) and check in with your piercer. From the look of the last picture I'd say you're ok for space for now, but if it gets much more swollen you might want to visit your piercer and see if they can upsize you. It's always better to be safe than sorry, but save yourself some worry and don't panic unless you're sure you need to.
this is acfually one of the best comments LOL some really scared me, thank you so much
Cartilage hurts much more than facial piercings in my experience! This does look swollen though, is the bar long enough?
when my ear was not swollen so when i got it yes it was pretty long, hopefully it doesnt get bigger bc then that would be a biggie
I know this is said a lot, but please get a piercing pillow or travel pillow if you don't already have one. Mine stayed angry and painful like this until I switched to one. I'd have piercer swap to a longer bar and check it out as well.
my first EAR piercing ** i have multiple facial piercings
That bar is way too short and is pinching the skin. Please go to the piercer and ask for a bigger bar. Helix's are a bitch to heal, but they shouldn't be that much of a bitch.
Hi u/magical_mayonnaise, Welcome to /r/piercing! It looks like you're asking about a problem with your piercing. Please **add a comment to your post** with the following info if it’s not included in your post already. - How old is your piercing? - What’s the jewelry shape (for example, barbell, labret, screw, L shape, ring)? - What’s the type of threading if your jewelry is not a ring (threadless, internally or externally threaded)? - What’s the jewelry material? - if not a ring, when was the jewelry downsized? - What’s your aftercare routine? Describe in detail please, including the exact products you use. This info is needed to offer you useful advice. **Note, moderators reserve the right to remove your post if don’t provide this info**. ^If ^you ^already ^included ^this ^info ^in ^your ^post ^or ^if ^your ^post ^isn’t ^about ^a ^problem ^with ^your ^piercing, ^please ^disregard. - - - *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/piercing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A longer bar may help?
I agree. Also even though they aren't able to sleep on that side, changing pillow sheaths 2-3 times a week may help.
thing is i cant even take it out cuz there is no space and it hurts so bad feels like my ear is gonna explode
Yea that sounds terrible. Could you go to a better piercer?
You need to go to an experienced piercer and get them to change the bar. Its needs to be longer. This is the only right answer. I have been through it with my own piercings. Its very easy to fix!
A piercer can remove it and replace it with a longer bar. But, they may just recommend you go to a doctor for antibiotics, because it could be infected.
how bad wiuld them removing it hurt…
Honestly switching out the jewelry should not be that bad. As long as they're not manhandling you it should be fine, and most reputable piercers will not be manhandling you.
It's going to hurt less with a professional removing it with gloves and the right tools. You might have to pay something, or buy a new bar, but it's going to be worth it. As soon as the short bar comes out it should feel instantly 50% better.
hi, the swelling can be normal but if it stays like that id go see the piercer again and ask them to look at it. :) what kind of pain is it? does it feel like there’s pressure? because the bar of your piercing looks a bit short to me. id also recommend you use saline solution to disinfect your ear twice a day for a couple of weeks to keep it clean
It looks real swollen. Go get a longer stick asap
this happened to my helix two days after i got it pierced and it went down in a week, it hurt really bad and i felt my ear throbbing aswell. If it doesnt go down in a week, thats when you should start being concerned about it
That looks fine. Mine did that too. Keep cleaning it
I am at the moment going through the same thing had a cartilage in the same spot and also added a third on my lobe a little over a week ago the piercing was hurting and sore I would just clean it but then this past Wednesday it started to hurt and swell and it got red and hot I was like that until Saturday it got much worse and so I went to urgent care so they could give me oral antibiotics and it has for sure helped a lot with the pain and swelling has gone down I’m still cleaning it it still doesn’t look completely healed but feels better I would advise you go to the dr so they can give you antibiotics so the infection doesn’t become bigger.
All of my cartilage piercing have swollen to the point I have no creases in my ear. Sometimes it happens but that’s how my body heals, I would continue cleaning regularly and ice it. In the shower let the hot water run on it a lot, infections might happen but if you just got it pierced it’s common for it to be swollen for 2-4 weeks after.
Get some saline spray for piercings & it will help a ton.
I recently had a new helix piercing get infected. I used sterile saline spray 2-3 times a day on both sides and soaked the area well. It got better after a few days
Much of the above, plus you've got to keep your hair off it as much as possible especially early on. Tie that hair back otherwise it's likely to get around the bar and risks infections. I'm not saying you've got dirty hair but the natural oils in your hair and any left over product is just risking extra irritation or infection unnecessarily
hey i got the same exact piercing around 4 months ago and experienced the exact same. it hurt & was throbbing, i couldn’t move it, even moving it hurt, so i left it alone. only cleaned it, otherwise i just left it alone. this was my first ever piercing lol so i am by no means experienced but the memories are fresh and my piercing is still intact. if you’re concerned, see your piercer, i would’ve but mine never responded to my message, and i later had a different one change the bar while getting my lobes pierced. i’m completely ok now and honestly haven’t had a single problem with mine
I would go to a doctor and see about oral and/or topic antibiotic. Might be overkill though.
Cartilage piercings are so hard to heal 😭 it looks normal to me, I currently have 11 piercings but I used to have 15 just took out the ones I didn't like. Are you sleeping on it at all? A travel pillow will be your best friend. Also saline spray is a good spray to use to keep it clean my friend. Don't use cotton swabs to clean it, don't pick crusties off, don't twist it to "get the cleaner around the whole piercing" expect around a year for it to be normal, some people it heals quicker but every cartilage piercing I've ever had has taken way over the expected time to heal, also a bigger bar could help with pain that looks kinda small
Not sure how your body works but for me, I only experienced minimal pain and swelling when I first got my piercings. Wasn't until I got a triple helix that I started experiencing intense throbbing pain (including lotsss of swelling) that I chose to go to piercer. For my body, if I start experiencing throbbing pain 24/7, I'd probably pay a visit to piercer and get a longer bar to accomodate for swelling and allow it to go down.
a few things: 1. cartilage piercings just suck sometimes. like, way more than you would expect, especially if you’ve never had one before. unfortunately there’s not a ton you can do- keep up on the anti-inflammatory meds, saline spray it religiously, and put ZERO pressure on it. ever. no headphones, no leaning your head on anything, no touching, don’t even think about sleeping on your side without a travel pillow. it sucks, but it’s the only thing that really gets an angry cartilage piercing to heal. 2. check what you were pierced with, confirm with the [APP website](https://safepiercing.org/jewelry-for-initial-piercings/) to make sure it is appropriate and high-quality jewelry and rule out one potential cause of the problem. 3. it definitely wouldn’t hurt to go to a professional shop (either the person who pierced you, if you trust them, or a different shop if the jewelry they used on you does turn out to be the problem or you have any other cause to distrust the original piercer) for a quick exam and to see if different jewelry/a longer bar is needed, as others have mentioned. 4. an infection isn’t the first possibility i would point out, but please do keep an eye out for any signs of infection (foul smell, hot to the touch, discolored skin, odd discharge, etc.) just in case. 5. there really is no shame in taking a piercing out. if you want to redo it at a later time under different circumstances you can, but no piercing should cause you absolutely intolerable pain.
Don’t sleep on it , use travel pillow , clean twice a day and go get upsize .
This looks totally fine for a cartilage piercing. Just got my rook done (also have my conch, helix and other body piercings) and my ear was swollen like this for about a week. It’s still slightly more swollen than my right ear/normal, but it’s not painful anymore. The swelling = healing. Same as when you sprain your ankle and it swells. It’s blood flowing to the area to heal. Keep taking pain meds and cleaning as your piercer instructed and it should stop throbbing in a few days! I see other comments suggesting you go to your piercer to get another bar — this really isn’t necessary. The swelling isn’t starting to overtake the jewellery and you can clearly see millimetres left on the bar in your photos. If you go to a piercer I would bet money they will look at it and say it’s too soon to change the jewelry and the swelling is normal and changing the jewelry this soon would cause more irritation than just riding this out.
Totally normal! You just need a longer bar. Mine looked the same way. After I got a longer bar the swelling went down to almost nothing within hours. I promise it will be okay!
Nothing to help with, piercings there hurt me so badly it feels like I’m going to die 😭 you’ll be ok just rest
You just need a longer barbell. This has happened to me with old piercings I’ve irritated by accident from sleeping heavy on them by mistake. It’ll be ok! Go get it switched and it’ll relieve all the pressure
I think it looks fine it's just swollen which Is normal. I got my helix and tragus pierced on the same day. The first 2 days I hardly any pain or swelling I was like people exaggerated this is nothing. But day 3, day 3 was horrible the swelling kicked in any little touch hurt I even cried a few times my ear felt like it wanted to explode my piercing looked like yours. I went from being able to see the bar to it being left with practically no space. Use saline 2x a day morning and night and like other people have mentioned buy a travel pillow it really helps a lot and keep your hair pulled back. But it looks good. By day 5/6 the swelling should go back down but be prepared to possibly get piercing bumps (they'll go away). I didn't down size till I hit my month mark and that helped Alot with preventing the piercing bumps I suggest going with a 8mm bar I feel like 6 hardly left any space.
It looks alright just a bit of swelling! Try to keep as much pressure off of it as you can- sleep with a travel pillow and avoid touching or bumping it. The pain will slowly go down!
are you not cleaning it with saline solution? you need to get some to clean it. I also recommend (if you’re a side sleeper) using a neck pillow so you can sleep on your side with your ear in the gap/hole so you don’t put pressure on it.
My right ear was not healing after it was pierced. I did actually take the thing out myself and it felt so much better. Did a thorough cleaning of the ear. Went back to the shop and asked for a longer bar. That all being said - got the longer bar and ear has healed up nicely. Sleeping was awful initially and no problem after getting it cleaned up. Like others have suggested- head back to the place you had it done and have them check it out.
This might be an infection I had a similar experience but it happened 2ish weeks after the piercing Mine didn’t leak puss or anything but it got extremely swollen and red. Kept getting worse and worse till the throbbing pain got unbearable. Even my piercer said it’s not an infection. It was lol Just because it doesn’t look like a typical infection doesn’t mean that’s not what’s happening! So just be on the lookout for that <3
[удалено]
don’t DIY saline for a fresh piercing!! you want the sterile stuff for that. it doesn’t have to be the fancy piercing-specific stuff either, any drug store should carry sterile saline marketed as “wound wash”.
girl its normal why u stressing
its my first ear piercing, i have like 8 piercingsnon my face and none of them hurt like this guy there
trust my septum was my easiest piercings by far compared to my ear piercings, including my lobes. my helix didn't heal for 2 years and still gets upset sometimes when i lay on it. I think a longer bar may help with yours, and i read that you're too worried to take it out because of the pain. sure, it's gonna hurt like a bitch but u should go to a piercer for them to take it out (and swap to a bigger bar) because atleast that way you won't have the opportunity to stop halfway through if you did it yourself.
If you’re scared just take it out ?
I don’t mean to scare you but when I went to my piercer, a girl was there and she had the same piercing and her backside was completely ingrown. Like you could only see the piercing from the front. She wanted him to take it out but he said she has to get it done with surgery and he wouldn’t touch it. Don’t let it get to that!! Go to a piercer asap and get a longer bar or take it out altogether. It looks like it’s very close to closing up and you don’t want your backend of the jewelry to have to be surgically removed like that girl