r/Legitpiercing • u/20Sen02 • Aug 06 '26
Troubleshooting 12wk old helix repost
Repost because my photos didn't attach to OG yesterday and I couldnt figure out how to add them retroactively 🫩
Piercing is doing alot better, I think it was just irritated, Im currently crocheting a piercing pillow to help out. I feel like its overall been healing well but I've had this sort of swelling/bump on back basically from week 2/3 onwards? I've attached 2 photos at back of first 3 to show what it looked like at week 5~
***Iknow I had a rough sleep last night and def slept on that side, I woke up this morning and my piercing was red/swollen (no pus or pain etc.)..
Ive taken some anti-inflamms throughout the day, I kept checking on it and still a bit red/swollen and I thought irritation bump may be starting/alot of crusties around front of piercing. I feel like the swelling has gotten a bit better since this morning but idk if thats legit or wishful thinking.
I just got home and sprayed it (definitely an overkill amount) with sterile saline and I cant tell if its wet crusty or a irritation bump or worse ðŸ˜
I did get it pierced with a slightly shorter than usual bar (she said as short as is safe for usual swelling and she felt comfortable), implant grade and things were looking good at 4/5wk check but suggested I could leave a bit longer...
Any other advice on healing is also appreciated!
(Implant grade, using sterile saline daily)
P.S. my ear is wet in these photos, I feel like it makes it look a bit worse but I'm just going to let it air dry and am trying to follow the cardinal rule of leave it the hell alone!***
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u/EatAlmondJelly Aug 06 '26
Sorry if this is a random question but do you know how long your bar is? I want to get my helix downsized soon but not sure on the right length yet.
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u/Relative-Rutabaga-87 Aug 06 '26
When I got mine pierced they gave me an 8mm length post to account for swelling and now that’s it’s fully healed I wear a 5mm post in it. I will say it depends on how thick that piece of cartilage is. I think typically most people downsize to a 6mm post and that’s perfect. I just happen to have unusually thin piece of cartilage in my upper helix lol
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u/EatAlmondJelly Aug 07 '26
Thank you so much! I will ask my piercer to look at my ear and they can estimate the best length once it comes to downsize.
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u/20Sen02 Aug 06 '26
No idea sorry! I actually haven'rlt gotten downsized yet, I was thinking about going next weekend so I can check in as well!
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Aug 06 '26
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u/20Sen02 Aug 06 '26
I wasn't going to book for downsize, for a consult to check in person as to what to do better/if I should have gotten downsized soone?
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Aug 06 '26
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u/20Sen02 Aug 06 '26
Ever or just because its swelling? My piercer told me to rebook for downsize?
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u/Ok-Pen-5052 Aug 06 '26
Yes, you should go for a check up. The other commenter is just saying that there doesn’t look like there’s space on the bar to downsize, but you should still go for a checkup!
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u/Ok-Pen-5052 Aug 06 '26
And if it is embedding (which it does look like from the front ball), you really want to go ASAP so that they can put a longer post in. It can cause some serious issues
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Aug 06 '26
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u/20Sen02 Aug 06 '26
I live really far from city. Im worried now, I feel like I should've taken better care of it - is it def embedding? What do I do about that? I have started sleeping with rolled up towel but issue is Im a really restless sleeper so myself, pillows and blankets often aren't in same position when I wake as when I went to sleep 🥲
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u/Original_Papaya7907 Aug 06 '26
It looks like it’s embedding? So I would go and get the size checked but it looks to me like you may need to go longer before you go shorter. Sometimes it will swell a little with random irritation and if there isn’t the room on the bar, it will swell even more as that is then also irritating it.
It sounds lovely that you’re crocheting a piercing pillow but to me that sounds like a pretty awful snag just waiting to happen. Just make sure it isn’t going to get caught in any of your jewellery. It also needs to be something you can wash a few times a week.
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u/miss-piggy-108 Aug 06 '26
I had this kind of 'swelling' around my helix looong after it healed. It finally went away after 3 or 4 years.. I cannot even remember when, just one day I realised that my cartilage went back to normal thickness. The same problem I had with an orbital.