Cartilage piercing

[twinkleto]

Hello all. I had my helix pierced in August and it seems to get infected every couple of weeks... starts off with a burning feeling and then it becomes swollen and sometimes pus-y/bloody. Clears up in 1-2 days. Happens again a few weeks later. It's sore on a day to day basis so I believe that means it hasn't healed yet. Is this normal? Any advice?

Mine gets sore a lot. I give it a good wash with saline solution (I buy contact lens solution for this) and then a spray of wound spray from Boots.

@VerifiedBot2351

Mine gets sore a lot. I give it a good wash with saline solution (I buy contact lens solution for this) and then a spray of wound spray from Boots.

I use that spray too! It's so handy!

Cartilage piercings can take 6-12 months or longer to heal in a lot of cases. You should avoid sleeping on it at all, any sort of bumping/moving of the jewellery will cause this because it's not healed yet. I would revisit your piercer (assuming it was pierced somewhere reputable where they are members of UKAPP) and see what they say. If they aren't, then go somewhere else and seek their advice too just to make sure it has been pierced correctly and your anatomy can support the piercing.
My rook piercing took around 12 months to fully heal and was sore and occasionally wasn't great if I slept on it or caught it but I've never had any problems since it fully healed and that was almost 10 years ago now.

Mine took months to heal properly. Probably more than a year. Took it out when I was pregnant because I suddenly became sensitive to it. Too scared to get it done again because it took so long to heal the first time.

Mine was taking forever to heal, and was sore and occasionally had pus. I had an 8mm earring in, which was too long so it moved around a lot. Once I swapped it for a shorter 6mm one, it healed really quickly.

Yep had mine over two years and I still get the odd infection. It was probably around 18 months that it really started to feel better but that was after switching to surgical spirit to clean infections (which I don’t actually think is recommended any more but it has a bit more oomf than saline!)

Hi. My helix took a year to heal fully.

Can I ask if you have a labret or a hoop? If a hoop, I would go back and ask your piercer to swap for a labret.
Also only use the saline recommended by the piercer. I used neilmed, you can get this from Amazon. Do not use contact lens saline as this contains preservatives and other chemicals than can irritate your skin.

For relief, you can sleep with a travel pillow to take the pressure off the piercing whilst you sleep.

Also, bathing the piercing gently using just warm water and a cotton pad can ease discomfort and keep the wound clean.

Thank-you everyone.

I have a post style earring in, not a hoop. But I wonder if it's too long and if a shorter one would stop it moving.

Worst thing that happened was my two year old "brushing" my hair and catching it on the bristles. It seems to have been worse since then.

I'll persevere until at least 18m after getting it pierced and see how it is then.

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