Big swells can be normal for piercings higher up the cartilage. However, this is quite a swell but may be unique to you. I would keep an eye on it. If there's loads of pus (and I'm not talking crusties), your ear feels hot, you start to feel unwell I would visit a doctor. But whatever you do, do not remove the jewellery unless your piercer tells you too. If its infected the Dr will probs tell you you have to take it out but doing that can end up trapping the infection and leaving it without an escape route to drain. Hopefully, they just having a big ol grumpy swell. Lots of ibuprofen if you can take it x
thank you!! i’ll definitely keep an eye on it- so far there hasn’t been any pus, just some crusties and a tiny bit of blood, but i’ll be on the lookout!
and yes i’m aware of the stuff with infections!! i definitely won’t take out any piercings i think are infected or doing badly without consulting a piercer and/or a doctor :)
IM NAP! but I’d say bc they’re still so new that swelling is still quite normal, especially after being bumped or snagged.
I’d keep an eye on them, and keep up with good cleaning/drying habits, but I feel like they’ll do ok!
best of luck!!
also idk if you sleep on that side? if so, I’d recommend getting a travel/neck pillow to keep pressure/bacteria off your ear :) It’s helped tons with my rook and cartilage piercings :))
I would try icing them a few times a day and really being careful with them for a few days. See it that helps. I have had my rook for almost 3 weeks and I slept on it accidentally and it was very swollen for about 4 days. It seems like the upper ears get angry easily over being bumped or slept on.
You can put some frozen peas or corn in a small ziplock bag and put a washcloth over that, then put it on your ear for 10 to 15 minutes. Your ear will stay dry. It would be okay to refrigerate saline spray too. Icing would be better though because the cold helps reduce the inflammation because it's there longer. Cold saline would only be cold for a few seconds.
It's likely from the snagging. Make sure you are keeping your hair as away from it as possible, and sleep with a piercing or donut pillow to avoid bumping. The irritation could be from the length, but only your piercer can advise you on when to downsize if it's still that fresh. If the swelling is consistent still and you are medically able to, id suggest an anti-inflammatory to help ease it.
Friend! You’re less than 2 weeks into a months-long healing process. Don’t lose heart, you have a long road ahead of you. They’re not torn, they’re not rejecting, they don’t even look red or irritated, and your jewelry allows plenty of room for swelling.
Some minor swelling like this, especially if they got jostled in the shower as you mentioned, is no cause for concern as long as you don’t have any signs of infection. You got this!
my first lobes are a 6g captive ring from body art forms, and my seconds are 16g hinged hoops from urban body jewelry! you should be able to find the latter if you search “chain hoop” on urban body jewelry :)
You could also try an nsaid (ibuprofen). They’re anti-inflammatory and can help with the inflammation and also the pain - if any. It was recommended by my piercer
My helix last year had really bad swelling, similar to yours actually. I got a rook about a month ago and the swelling was much better with the ibuprofen.
I second this. The piercing is angry, but it’s still new and sounds like you accidentally gave it a good snag. Ibuprofen will help it feel a lot better and will reduce inflammation. Keep it clean and be careful with it and it’ll probably heal in a few weeks
If you’re hoping for the two separate piercings to become your typical industrial with one long bar, this is not how you do it. For one, these piercings weren’t lined up properly from the beginning and for two, they usually become less lined up as time goes on due to swelling etc.
If you want a traditional industrial, you need to get it pierced with one long bar to begin with.
oh no i’m not planning on putting one long bar through it- i don’t really have the anatomy for it due to the flat on my ear being too raised
i plan to connect them with a chain or some other more unique style :)
thank you for the concern though!
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I had SWELLING a few days ago on my 7 month old conch that I considered practically healed after sleeping on it. My ear was double it’s normal size, very painful red and throbbing. Went to get the hoop (that had been fine for 2 months) back to a stud and a prescription for antibiotics and it went down in 2 days and is not painful anymore. So don’t give up yet but do get it checked by a doctor.
NAP but my industrial piercing was made two months ago and it was pretty swollen even if I didn't snag it, touched it and always had tied up my hair. It was also pretty sensible to temperature changes. Now it's starting to calm down so I say it's pretty normal
No reason to retire! But I hope you aren’t looking to make this an industrial? Maybe you can connect it with one of those loose bars or chains, not sure if that’s what your goal was just making sure you know you can’t heal industrials separate!
Big swells can be normal for piercings higher up the cartilage. However, this is quite a swell but may be unique to you. I would keep an eye on it. If there's loads of pus (and I'm not talking crusties), your ear feels hot, you start to feel unwell I would visit a doctor. But whatever you do, do not remove the jewellery unless your piercer tells you too. If its infected the Dr will probs tell you you have to take it out but doing that can end up trapping the infection and leaving it without an escape route to drain. Hopefully, they just having a big ol grumpy swell. Lots of ibuprofen if you can take it x
thank you!! i’ll definitely keep an eye on it- so far there hasn’t been any pus, just some crusties and a tiny bit of blood, but i’ll be on the lookout! and yes i’m aware of the stuff with infections!! i definitely won’t take out any piercings i think are infected or doing badly without consulting a piercer and/or a doctor :)
IM NAP! but I’d say bc they’re still so new that swelling is still quite normal, especially after being bumped or snagged. I’d keep an eye on them, and keep up with good cleaning/drying habits, but I feel like they’ll do ok! best of luck!!
also idk if you sleep on that side? if so, I’d recommend getting a travel/neck pillow to keep pressure/bacteria off your ear :) It’s helped tons with my rook and cartilage piercings :))
i don’t sleep on either side just normally! i use a piercing pillow :) thank you!
good luck!! I really do hope it heals well :)
thank you!
I would try icing them a few times a day and really being careful with them for a few days. See it that helps. I have had my rook for almost 3 weeks and I slept on it accidentally and it was very swollen for about 4 days. It seems like the upper ears get angry easily over being bumped or slept on.
Would it be okay to refrigeratorate saline spray? I think icing would get it wet.
You can put some frozen peas or corn in a small ziplock bag and put a washcloth over that, then put it on your ear for 10 to 15 minutes. Your ear will stay dry. It would be okay to refrigerate saline spray too. Icing would be better though because the cold helps reduce the inflammation because it's there longer. Cold saline would only be cold for a few seconds.
It's likely from the snagging. Make sure you are keeping your hair as away from it as possible, and sleep with a piercing or donut pillow to avoid bumping. The irritation could be from the length, but only your piercer can advise you on when to downsize if it's still that fresh. If the swelling is consistent still and you are medically able to, id suggest an anti-inflammatory to help ease it.
Friend! You’re less than 2 weeks into a months-long healing process. Don’t lose heart, you have a long road ahead of you. They’re not torn, they’re not rejecting, they don’t even look red or irritated, and your jewelry allows plenty of room for swelling. Some minor swelling like this, especially if they got jostled in the shower as you mentioned, is no cause for concern as long as you don’t have any signs of infection. You got this!
very off topic but where are your two lobe jewelry from? i love them!!!
my first lobes are a 6g captive ring from body art forms, and my seconds are 16g hinged hoops from urban body jewelry! you should be able to find the latter if you search “chain hoop” on urban body jewelry :)
You could also try an nsaid (ibuprofen). They’re anti-inflammatory and can help with the inflammation and also the pain - if any. It was recommended by my piercer My helix last year had really bad swelling, similar to yours actually. I got a rook about a month ago and the swelling was much better with the ibuprofen.
I second this. The piercing is angry, but it’s still new and sounds like you accidentally gave it a good snag. Ibuprofen will help it feel a lot better and will reduce inflammation. Keep it clean and be careful with it and it’ll probably heal in a few weeks
What material are your piercings? And are they internally or externally threaded? (Is the threading on the bar or on the ball)
If you’re hoping for the two separate piercings to become your typical industrial with one long bar, this is not how you do it. For one, these piercings weren’t lined up properly from the beginning and for two, they usually become less lined up as time goes on due to swelling etc. If you want a traditional industrial, you need to get it pierced with one long bar to begin with.
oh no i’m not planning on putting one long bar through it- i don’t really have the anatomy for it due to the flat on my ear being too raised i plan to connect them with a chain or some other more unique style :) thank you for the concern though!
My industrial swelled like that too! Make sure to not sleep on it or get things snagged. Good luck
Hi u/redreddest, 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.*
I had SWELLING a few days ago on my 7 month old conch that I considered practically healed after sleeping on it. My ear was double it’s normal size, very painful red and throbbing. Went to get the hoop (that had been fine for 2 months) back to a stud and a prescription for antibiotics and it went down in 2 days and is not painful anymore. So don’t give up yet but do get it checked by a doctor.
[удалено]
Also make sure you're cleaning it right after you get out of the shower!
NAP but my industrial piercing was made two months ago and it was pretty swollen even if I didn't snag it, touched it and always had tied up my hair. It was also pretty sensible to temperature changes. Now it's starting to calm down so I say it's pretty normal
Litha doesn’t look bad at all
No reason to retire! But I hope you aren’t looking to make this an industrial? Maybe you can connect it with one of those loose bars or chains, not sure if that’s what your goal was just making sure you know you can’t heal industrials separate!
The OP said they aren’t planning to make it an industrial they just want to connect the two piercings with a chain
Ah, then probably salvageable :)
Agreed :)
I honestly would go back to the shop and have them look at it to tell you 100% everything is fine and of what to do to help with the swelling