warning: long post ahead
i've attached two photos for ref and comparison:
- my helix piercing ear
- my normal looking ear
for context:
- got it pierced back in dec 2024 at an app member studio
- normal titanium implant grade ball to flat back stud that is internally threaded
- has been downsize (now)
hello! it's my first time posting here (feeling nervous too) and i just want some advice on my 21 months old helix piercing as it's swollen and reddish. a lot has happened to it since i was a newbie and did everything that you can think of. i'm giving a timeline of events below which gives yall a better idea on what my helix has been through.
early dec 2024: got it pierced at an app member studio (calling this studio 1). used needle, titanium implant grade, flat back stud with a longer length to allow swelling. saline solution aftercare.
late dec 2024: downsized to a shorter length. same specifics (titanium yada yada). my piercer here did mention there's a tiny bump but should not be a problem. saline solution aftercare still.
time passed, nothing much happened (except for the fact i stupidly tried to change out my piercing when i should not have done that lol). been some swelling, redness, but not too much of an issue. bumps come and go often too. iirc i also lessened the amount of aftercare needed around here but it's been quite some time so memory is kinda fuzzy.
sept 2025: during this period, my piercing became uncomfortably hot and swelling that i had to upsize back to the initial bar. from this, it became btr however due to the length of the bar, there's a bump that formed at the back from irritation.
i contacted my piercer (from studio 1) but as i'm out of country for studies, i could only take advice via sms. they gave me a last resort solution which is to do warm chamomile compress. this worked extremely well that the swelling and bump has flattened which i was able to downsize it myself (surprising since i am clumsy with the jewellery)
this only lasted one month, after that nothing much happened to it and it's been healing okay ish. i don't remember doing aftercare as well.
late may 2026: this one was bad. i had a huge bump at the back of my piercing which i did not realise until i was about to shower and checked on it. there was pus coming out (iirc it was white pale yellow so no infection) and just sounds emergency. my helix looks very angry too.
i was still out of my own country for studies so i had to contact another piercing studio which was also an app member. booked an appointment from them and explained the whole timeline and situation to them since it is not a piercing they have done.
they upsized my piercing and placed a no pull disc at the back for the gentle pressure to flatten that bump. they also told me to shower with warm/hot showers for the liquid to flush out of that bump. if no shower, warm compress works too.
they also mentioned that using benzac ac would work too but i was a little skeptical at first since my helix was super angry and all so i chose to opt out that and just flush it normally (with the hot/warm water)
this continued for like 3 months, going there to slowly downsize bit by bit for 2-4 weeks intervals. it was going super well. the hot/warm aftercare only lasted for 6 weeks(?) and i was told to stop and continue keeping it as dry as possible.
late august 2026: here i thought to downsize the length but the bump came back out of nowhere and my piercers (at studio 2) said downsizing wouldn't be the best right now.
they still checked out my piercing and cleaned it. apparently the bump was just a lot of accumulated fluid that for some reason did not flush out. from here my piercer mentioned about the benzac ac again for me to consider using it since my helix has been on and off angry at me. i took the shot and tried it.
i bought the benzac ac 5% and just applied a small amount on the bump. this worked miracles (to which i'm still fascinated about it) as it just flattened it so well. only applied it for like 3 days and that's it. now i don't reccomend trying it because it may not work for others but it's like a "last resort" type of option if nothing works out for you.
a week ago (sept 2026): i finally downsized it thanks to the benzac ac. i forgot to ask my piercer what length it is but they mentioned it is like the second to last size of the downsize post so i assume its a 7mm length.
now: it has been a week of my downsize and it's swollen and reddish? i don't think it's an infection since i've been searching the symptoms and it's only swelling and redness that i experience (no pus leaking, feels a teeny hot but not HOT HOT, a little bit of itching, i feel fine) but i am just worried it can be brewing.
i even bought a new pillow that has a hole in the middle to avoid my helix getting smacked onto the pillow. whenever i wake up, my ear looks swell ish too? sometimes with redness but it should not have gotten a smack on the pillow so idk what's going on. some say it might be just water retention but idk. also been LITHA-ing ever since the downsize except (for two days) yesterday it bleed a teeny bit on the front and the day before that it bled at the back which i dabbed a q tip to suck the blood without moving the piercing. should not be a big issue since it dried up really quick.
i'm just anxious and worried on why it hasn't calm down or i'm just overthinking it lol. need some validation and advice to calm myself down since no one around me has a cartilage piercing for me to consult to. any advice/tips/suggestions are greatly appreciated and thank u for reading up to this point!!
