Cartilage question

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Friday February 8th, 2008 @ 1:40 PM

Filed under: Ear

I’ve had this helix piercing for about 9 years. It was done with a piercing gun in a mall when I was 13. Cut me some slack, I didn’t know any better. Unfortunately, because it was done with a gun, I can’t wear real quality jewelry since the piercing is at such a small gauge. Most of the time, it’s okay, or only minorly irritated, but every now and then it really hurts like hell, my whole ear turns red, and it produces a good amount of crud. When this happens, I usually leave the jewelry out for a couple of days, wait for it to calm down, put the jewelry back in, and go on my way. My question, basically, is what should I do? I’m sure the jewelry I have in it (small silver hoop purchased at Target) isn’t helping, but do I have other options, what with the age, size, and crappiness of the piercing? And is there something I could be doing to prevent it from getting all inflamed? Thanks for your help.

I don’t think your assessment of not being able to wear quality jewelry in your piercing is quite right. It might be that you have to stretch the piercing very slightly to accommodate a better-quality piece of jewelry, but even that can likely be avoided. High-quality, implant-grade stainless steel, titanium, niobium or solid gold jewelry is available (in a ring/hopp) down to 20ga, which is the same size as a standard earring.

It is very likely that the quality (or lack of) of the jewelry you are currently wearing is what is causing your flare-ups. It’s also possible that the way the jewelry is made is causing the problem.

Either way, I would suggest getting a better piece of jewelry for the piercing. If you can tell me where you live, I (or someone else) might be able to suggest a good studio to visit to get some different jewelry.

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