Cartilage Piercing Red & Swollen?!?

Question

I just got the cartilage of both my ears pierced 4 days ago. I got my left cartilage pierced up top and the right one in the middle sort of. The day I got them done were sore as expected. The third day my middle right cartilage became red and sore and it looked sorta swollen. The swelling went down throughout the day, but the fourth day it was once again red and swollen and slightly throbbing. I have been washing them with dial soap 2-3 times a day. I don't think that it is swollen since the piercing doesn't have any discolored discharge. But how do I get rid of the soreness, redness, and swelling? Thanks

Answer 1

did you get them pierced witha gun or a needle? if its a gun maybe thats hwy. but if you got them done with a needle it is alwso normal they are only 4 days old. and wioll be red and swollen for a week.. using a MILD anti bacterial soap is okay... did they tell you abotut he sea salt soaks? take a look at this linkl and do these once a day (preferably at the end of the night) for 15 minutes at a time.. yes you will have to stick the side of your head in the solution as cotton and paper towels can leave lint and cause the piercing more problems.. also what kind of jewelry is in your ears now? studs if so go to a pierce shop and have then changed to a captive bead ring, circular barbell of a straight of curved barbell as these are better jewelry choices for those piercing ( i have learned that from a bad experience) but do the sea salt soaks. they will sooth with the pain and aid in healing. use no peroxides, alcohols or ointments as these are VERY harmful to piercings yes they are good for cuts and scraps... but it will dry out the piercing.. kill the good tissues and good bacterias. they are too strong of chemicals for piercings.


.. sea salt soaks also figth any pending infections! so stick with the sea salt soaks! there is a nice saline spray you can find online called H20cean. which you can use 3 to 4 times a day.. but you still need to so a sea salt soak.. the warm saline solution will create bllod circulation and draw out the lymph (discharge) the lymph is dead white bllod cells.. and shoudl be a white color (much liek puss) if it is ever gree of yellow looking and you also have swelling redness pain. then it is an infection but if you do the sea salt soaks and then you will not have that problem.

for the swelling just take ibuprofen liek advil, ect...

i have 4 cartilage piercings of my own. and 9 piercings all together. but the sea salt soaks are the best thing for them! and email me back! with what kind of jewelry you have and if u used a gun or a needle...

http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Salt_Soaks

Answer 2

Try salt soaks. They help a great deal with sore piercings.
http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Salt_soaks

But you need to remember that patience is key. The piercings are very new and redness and soreness can occur for the first few weeks. Usually sleeping on the piercings doesn't help much so try to avoid that.

But depending on HOW they were pierced can effect this a great deal. Piercings done with the gun heal much more slowly and with more problems than once done by a professional piercer.

Cartilage piercings can take up to a year or more to heal, so you need to be patient and take care of your piercings. If at any time you are concerned something is wrong, see a professional piercer and ask for their two cents on the situation. Good luck.

Answer 3

do NOT use soap, do NOT use alcohol, NO peroxide!!!
It might be infected: did u get the piercings done with a gun? It might not be infected (yet). If you get coloured discharge : take them out immediately, and go see a piercing parlor, just to have them take a look at it... they will tell you, even if you did not get them done there!!!
If you do not have coulored discharge I would wait a couple of days. take advill for the soreness, and clean them for the moment with plain contact solution (generally the cheaper the better) or do sea salt soaks, it is the best way of cleaning it. Do not play with them!!

If it does not get better in the next couple of days take them out....Good luck!!!

Answer 4

when you got them pierced they should have recomended or given you some anticeptic which you shoudl apply twice a day (or something like that). i have both cartilage on both ears pierced (3 in one, 1 in the other with 2 in the middle) and one of mine happened like yours and became irritated and swollen, i just kept applying the antiseptic and washing it regularly and it went down.. obviously if it had of stayed like that for months i would see a doctor as i encourage you too also. dont play with it too mcuh as that also causes infection and dont try taking it out it will mean more infection as your hands are always dirty. good luck and i hope it turns out okay =)

Answer 5

It's infected. Use hydrogen peroxcide a few times a day for one day. then use alcohol as a disinfectant a few times a day for 2 or 3 days. If it doesn't get better by then, see a physician.
DO NOT USE DIAL SOAP! It has deodorant in it and will make the infection worse.

Answer 6

get a special kinda of ear care stuff. and get them checked, the type of earing type u are using u can be allergic to. like gold,nickle,silver. same thing happend to me but i got it fixed that way :)