Tragus... Sounds Like A Dirty Word

I got my tragus pierced nearly a week ago and so far I love it. However, it's being a real pain in the ass as far as swelling and pain in general. I can't really remember how my nipples healed since that was about 6 months ago and I've honestly forgotten and after doing extensive searching I still can't find the answer I'm looking for. So...
How much swelling of the tragus is bad.
Also, if the entier ear is hurting is that bad. I credit this pain due to the trama of the ear anyway... I'm just not sure if it's normal.

Any other tips you guys can offer me. I have a captive ring in it! And am cleaning with H2Ocean which I use for all my piercings and works nicely! Thanks. *I'll post a picture soon so you guys can see it... it's lovely just swollen*

 

hello dixie pixy!
don't worry about it, my tragus was swollen longer than i expected when I got it done too. it was extremely sensitive as well after it started healing up as far as getting caught on things it would swell up again. Give it time and TLC and it should heal up nicely If you're really worried about it i'd suggest checking in with your piercer.
PLUR
.christa

 

i suppose you mean "THC"

 

Cartilage is a bitch to heal. Just keep it clean and don't fiddle with it.

 

I had my industrial done around 3 weeks ago. the second week it swelled up bad, but now the swelling has gone down a lot so i guess the same would go for you too. give it some time and it should be fine.

 

haha!! that would help too

 

r

 

I got a cartilage piercing about 8 months ago and it is barely back to its normal size. I think sleeping on it at night didn't help but aside from swelling I didn't have any problems with it and now it looks great.

 

I had my tragus pierced about a yr ago..
i remember it swelling as well, especially when it got irritated, like when i accidentally hit it really hard, or slept on it for long periods of time, but that eventually stopped..

sad thing is, i only had it in my ear for 3 months because it got infected, and i started to develop "KELOIDS" (your skin starts to grow.. like a bubble around the pierced area). Anywhoo, that was due to the piercer putting the ring on too tight, or so they told me.. because when i went back, he was no longer there. long story short, they had to use plyers to take it out. i bleed everywhere...

 

Well, the majority of the swelling has going down tremendously over the past few days. The pain is almost gone as well. However, you are all saying that sleeping on it kept it from healing well. I've been sleeping on mine some. It's not hurting when I do it though so I guess it's not a horrible thing to do!
I know when I got my nipples pierced (they are still healing, it's been about 6 months) one of them got that bump/"keloid" thing on it. The piercer said it was nothing to worry about. Now, the biggest issue I have with my nipple piercings are some drainage (the crusty stuff) and occasional itching which I guess it due to the fact that they are still healing. But, it was a bitch to get that bump to go away. I think once I stopped stressing it healed up though. I definitely think stress is one of the biggest issues when it comes to body piercings not healing well.

 

I had both of mine done a few months ago and the first two weeks really sucked, but at about week 4 they were almost completely healed. I made myself learn to sleep while cupping my ear with my hand all night, and it seemed to heal right up and stop crusting over and draining. So my advice would be to find a way to sleep so that your ear isn't rubbing against your pillow. If you can't do that it would probably be a good idea to wash your pillow cases with dye-free, perfume-free detergent every few days.

A few more things I did that I think contributed to my fast healing time:
-I only washed my hair with baby shampoo. I also used the baby shampoo to wash the actual peircings in the shower...and made sure to rinse both my hair and ears really well. The chemicals in regular shampoo and hair products can really irritate the peircing and keep it from healing properly.
-I never let my hair touch the peircing.
-I used a saline spray 2-4 times a day. (I'm sure twice would be enough. The reason I used it more some days was because I worked in a bakery, so the risk of getting junk in it was pretty high)
-I'm the type of person that just can't stop fiddling with stuff, so I played with my peircings A LOT. I just made sure that my hands were ALWAYS extremely clean before I would touch my ears. Never touch it with dirty fingers.
-I either slept on my back or cupping my ear so it hardly ever touched the pillow.

Good Luck!

 

I'm the same with playing with my ring. The only other piercing I have is nipples and I can't really touch them in public. You know the whole taboo bullshit! But, I do touch my ear sometimes. I've also had a basic cartilage piercing and I taught myself (this was years ago) to sleep with my elbow in a V shape so that my ear rested in the middle. I've done that with this piercing as well.
Thanks for the baby shampoo tip that's a great one and will start that tomorrow!

 

It is perfectly normal for cartilige to take longer to heal than flesh. It may take anything up to a year for it to heal completely. Just keep babying it with salt water soaks, and do not put any cream on it; it's an open wound, and as such, cream residue will draw dirt to the area and promote infection.

Also, I am assuming you had it done with a needle and not a gun? If it was a gun, yu may have to remove it and start again; guns should be banned.

 

Yes, I got it pierced with a needle. As of now the piercing is healing pretty well. It's VERY crusty though. But, there isn't a whole lot of pain. The only pain I have is from it sticking and not turning properly. (My piercer told me to lift the ring up so that I could get into the actual piercing to clean it properly.) The swelling has mostly gone down as well.
I do have one question though, you said "don't use creams." I've been putting some vitamin E on it every other day. The vitamin E is in a gel almost but it's 100% pure vitamin E. What do you think of that?

Thanks a bunch.

 

Personally, I have never used a cream at all, and in over 20 piercings, have needed nothing more than salt water. I know a lot of people swear by these things, but tbh, if yu take good care of it, they aren't nessecary, and I wouldn't use them for the reason I stated above. A lot of piercers encourage people to buy all these things, but it's really just a way of getting more cash out of clients than anything else.

If yu haven't already discovered this, cotton buds (q tips, whatever) are excellent for cleaning off the crusties. Also, it is not nessecary to turn the ring the whole way through the piercing, so lng as you can feel it move. All that 'turn it as often as possible' stuff is based on an ancient piercing technique, and not really applicable in the same way today. Basically, centuries ago when the only people that worse piercings were usually sailors, the procedure was often carried out with a fishing net needle and the thread left in the healing piercing; obvioulsy, the thread had to be moved daily, as it was porous, and skin regrowth could have embedded into it, making it impossibleto remove; this doesn't apply to modern piercing jewellery. Ergo, one small turn a day will be more than adequate.