Swollen Helix/Rook piercing...Help

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DD has both done about 4/5 months ago. First 6 weeks great no issues and she cleaned them as instructed.

Suddenly both started to swell a little and some puss. I took her to the walk in and they told me to use TCP. She has used this consistently for last 5/6 weeks and now they are so swollen especially the outer ear that she is unable to get a grip on it to pull it out.

After googling it's says don't take out at all but it's not getting better just worse.

TIA

I have both these piercings and experienced
something similar. Does she sleep on the side the piercings are on? It's likely due to the fact that they're cartilage piercings. Try salt soaks (tsp of sea salt in cooled boiled water) and use cotton balls/pads as a compress. This will draw any Pus out and also reduce swelling :)!

HTH

She has one on the other ear (fold earing) which has been fine for last 18 months and sleeps on that side.

She's crying in pain now, probably due to all the probing and trying to pull it out. Not the same metal as first one.

I think it's unlikely to be infected this far down the line. But cartilage piercings can take a good while to fully heal, I got my helix and conch done 2 years ago and still have a lump behind my conch. I would say plenty of paracetamol/ibuprofen for pain and go with the salt soaks. TCP isn't recommended by piercers as it can dry them out.

OK. Don't take out the jewellery. If it is infected, there will be nowhere for the pus to drain and it could back up and create an abscess.

Hot compresses with salt water on a regular basis. And if necessary, seek advice from the piercer.

Maybe needs antibiotics now. I don't think TCP was the best thing to use tbh

Ditch the TCP!

Twice a day clean gently with boiled water cooled enough not to burn, with a teaspoon of sea salt (not table salt, it contains additives).
If she can manage to actually dunk her ear into the mug/bowl to let it soak, that's great, although slightly ridiculous to watch. Otherwise use cotton pads/balls.

Then leave it alone. No touching , make sure hair is kept tied back/away from ear, and be careful to sleep on the other side as much as possible.
These things happen with cartilage piercings, it will settle down eventually... Unfortunately they take about a year to really heal, so 4/5 months and still playing up isn't unusual.

i'd stick with salt water only and get the piercing changed, I had mine done and it took ages to feel okay and randomly it would feel bruised and puffy, but not nearly as bad as your dd's sounds, and it is the side I prefer to sleep on, I never even thought about that before having it done!

I had a hoop and ball thing in there and got it changed for a bar and suddenly all the malarkey stopped, so whether it was the metal or maybe the pressing on the ear, or just a coincidence I don't know

And take her to a proper piercing place for a qualified piercer asap to have a look at it - they can advise whether she needs to be taken to the GP, if there's an issue with the jewellery and, if there's a situation where it actually needs to come out and be replaced by a smaller gauge (rare but possible), they're going to have everything there that'll make it safe to do so.

She must stop bothering it, though. And boiled water, salt and bathing is genuinely a million times better than TCP, which does nothing to deal with bacteria inside the piercing. Salt, however, pulls the water out of bacteria so they die.

I got my earlobes pierced recently and ended up with a blister and one ear was swollen, it was really painful. I bought Prontolind Spray from amazon and the blister is almost gone and my ear feels much better. It has really good reviews as well on amazon.

Thank you everyone.

The nurse in the walk in centre recommended using TCP. I will go and get some sea salts now so she can try that.

She also went to a very reputable piercer to get it done and s £60 not cheap either.

Another vote for Prontolind spray - it sorts out my painful and swollen cartilage piercing in just a few days. Agree though it's worth getting a piercer to have a look, to make sure the jewellery fits correctly.

Hi
Can I add a couple of things?
It may be possible for her to visit her piercer to get the bar changed out for a longer bar so that there is more room to accomodate the swelling. If this helps, then she can change the bar back at a later date to suit (which is important) but for now she needs a longer bar to help it heal and stop the piercing sinking into the flesh. If this happens then it can get very nasty and she might end up with deformed cartilage and what is known as a 'cauliflower' ear deformity (think rugby player ears!). It will also relieve the pain to switch out to a longer bar.
Is it a labret piercing (ie is the back of the piercing a flat disc that screws off/front screws off). Hopefully not a butterfly back if its in the cartilage.

Use NON IDODIZED sea salt for the soaks, NOT table salt. It contains some impurities which are not good for a healing wound.
Cartilage can take up to (or even over) a year to heal.

It is usually advisable to keep the piercing in if at all possible, as allowing it to close can trap the infection/pus inside the ear.

If she shows signs of being systemically unwell (fever, nausea, vomiting, red 'track' marks of infection radiating from the ear) get professional help IMMEDIATELY. I had a severe infection when I had my triple helix pierced and ended up on very strong antibiotics for a week, with an ear four times as thick as my other one.
Cartilage has a poor blood supply and it can take a while for things to look better.
In the meantime, ibuprofen and salt soaks, ice to bring swelling down if she can tolerate it.
Hope this helps.

Forgot to add, make sure the earring is implant grade titanium. Its the gold standard for healing piercings. Don't use cheap jewellery or sterling silver/ mystery metal. Even some steel is poor quality.

Thanks again. I'm going to take her back at the weekend and see about the longer bar.

It's the flat back earring on helix piercing in titanium. I did wonder could she be allergic to it as I can only wear gold myself.

It would be very very unusual for someone to be allergic to titanium (its used for internal implants, it is so inert and benign). As long as it actually is what the piercing studio says it is, then I would be surprised if it was an allergy.
The piercer will have the proper tools to get it out, don't worry. They are used to seeing things like this.

Please, please keep a close eye on her. I got an infection in my helix three years after it was pierced. (I reacted to a new bar.) I have a few piercings, so know what to do and treated it with salt soaks. It turned into cellulitis which turned into sepsis and I almost died.

I'm not trying to frighten you, just asking you to monitor it carefully. If her ear swells up and goes red or if you get any tracking across her face or scalp , go to a and e straight away.

Unfortunately, the nurse at the walk in centre clearly doesn't know shit about piercing care.

I'd say get her seen by a piercer tomorrow straight from school - don't wait until the weekend - unless you have a piercing place nearby that's open until late (some stay open until about 9pm).

Bloody hell @Lessstressedhemum. It literally been like this for weeks now but the pain is worse today and it did t help that she tried to yank it out so completely red and swollen. The back of her ear looks like 'Spock'

Go to gp. I ended up taking it out and i needed antibiotics and antibiotic cream.
Certainly don't put tcp on it!
Use salt water ( rock or sea never table salt) if you buy fucidin cream over the counter use that ( it may be prescribed only though).

I was seen at my walk in, they took one look at it gave me meds.
I tookit out as the piercing was the wrong thing for my ear.
Had it redone now, no problems.

First 6 weeks great no issues and she cleaned them as instructed.

Did she then stop cleaning them so diligently, because she thought they’d be healed? That may have been the start of the problems.

Cartilage takes so long to heal. 6-12 months, easily. I know people say 6 weeks is the healing time for a lobe piercing, but I don’t think that’s true either.

Her ears are probably especially angry and swollen due to all the poking and pulling. They will calm down if left alone and kept thoroughly clean. Soap and water in the shower, etc. Don’t sleep on them either.

But if she’s in too much pain and just wants them out, she might have to go back to the piercer.

@Haworthia she continued to clean them everyday, same with the helix in the other ear that's been there for 18 months with no problems.

I've emailed the piercer for advice and will take her on the weekend as she is in college until 5 ish.

That’s good I’m guilty of giving my rook piercing an infection by not being thorough enough with cleaning. I was cleaning it in the shower but not getting right into the nooks and crannies close to the piercing site itself. Anyway, I stepped up the hygiene and saved it without needing medical help.

Hope you get it sorted.

Agree - back to the piercer who will either take it out for her and ask her to wait for it to heal or send you to the doctor for infection control. This happened to me with my tragus and it was abandoned because of infection.

Also I second the no touching. NO TOUCHY!

There isn't necessarily anything wrong with the way the piercing was carried out at all. Cartilage piercings can get irritated; that's not uncommon. They can even ooze gunk and not necessarily be infected (I've had that happen lots of times, but only one real infection [in the tragus] and wow did I know about that). All the pulling and yanking will only have served to irritate it even more.

This often clears up on its own. Hope if not the piercer can advise.