New Piercing!

[josephenecat]

 One of the local piercing places was having a sale for 30$ so since the only thing stopping me so far was the money I went ahead and did it!  Im super pleased and it hurt for about one second!  Even now its nuthin. :

Comments

[chop_sockey]

Hey! I've been traveling and not around the phone/computer, but here are my thoughts:

First, keep in mind that cartilage piercings have kind of a delayed reaction to being done. The cartilage doesn't get much blood flow, so terrible swelling, pain, and itching often begin five days to a week after the piercing. Molly just had hers done, actually, and day five was horrible. Her ear was huge and red. Her piercer said this was completely normal.

Is it oozing anything other than white or light yellow lymph/a bit of blood? Infection is usually marked by darker pus (typically greenish), and the site of the piercing, as well as most of your ear, would be VERY hot. Also, you might have a low-grade fever if it's infected.

I would be shocked if it were infected, especially this soon. Hair and earwax are both irritants, and it may just be annoyed. Also, your body at this point is trying to get rid of it and will for some time before it heals completely (a year or more for cartilage). Infections in fresh piercings are VERY rare.

Have you been doing salt soaks? If so, how often? This is the key to getting out any grossness that is causing irritation. Also, it's fresh, so use either neosporin (for the first ten days) and then Vitamin E oil. DON'T turn in if you can avoid it. This isn't necessary.

I assume you're stressed from school and holiday travel. This can REALLY piss off piercings, as well.

If you still think it's infected see a doctor for antibiotics, but swelling, oozing, pain, and itching are normal. I would wash and salt soak thrice a day (I've been salting 5 times a day on itchy/crusty days, actually) for a few days and see if it doesn't calm down. This is a tough piercing to deal with for the first month or two.

[chop_sockey]

Also: I would get it changed to a captive ring. That post looks too long, and the barbells can trap irritants and germs. Also, they tend to cause the famous Bump that lots of people get in cartilage piercings a lot more often than rings.

[josephenecat]

Omg Raechel youre a godess. I just got this post and its so funny you described everything that happpened and everything that I did to solve it. I had white yellowy puss, I was red and youre right it started at about day 5. I increased the number of times I did salt soaks and now Im great! I think its all in the clear, im just going to keep up what Im doing and I should be awesome. I was kinda freakin out back then so thanks for getting back!

[josephenecat]

Bump? And when do you think I can change it?