Congrats! I've been dying to get a few more piercings but figured I should wait til January because I've got some stuff coming up where a healing ear would be inconvenient. I might get a lobe piercing or two though since those tend to heal much faster. I just need to figure out which shop my old piercer went off to.

A note for those of y'all who want forward helix piercings - if you wear glasses (esp. thicker plastic frames), be careful. I have one forward helix piercing and it took 18 months to heal because my hair and glasses would always bump/snag it and it was just constantly infected and nasty

I got 2 helix piercings at the same time - the other one healed in about 7 months. I technically got an industrial that just so happens to be really far forward due to the shape of my ear, but I never put the bar in because I thought it'd be easier to heal separately. it took so long to heal that I don't think they're still lined up, whoops. (I was aware of the risk of them no longer lining up if I didn't get the industrial bar as my starter jewellery, but I made the decision based on how my body has previously reacted to piercings and I'm glad I made the decision I did). I need my piercer to double check because my eyesight is too bad for me to be 100% sure.

I have 8 piercing in my ears 2 in my lip, my bellybutton and I want to get my tongue done but I'm a little scared lol!

Yesterday, I went out to town and I missed my second piercing cleaning. My ear started throbbing last night... it lasted all through the night and into today. It's still throbbing and my ear is red and hot to the touch. It hurts like a bitch to clean it and touch it.

Any suggestions on what could be happening?

I wear glasses and when I put them on, I'm very careful not to touch or bump it. I mostly bump it when I twoel dry my hair after my shower.

It might be starting on an infection - check for a hair wrapped around it, try twisting it and see if that soothes.

Twisting it hurts. I don't think I have anything in it. I have a bioplast backing

Google just scared the shit out of me. Articles said I can lose a part of my ear if it gets infected. Maybe I should just take out the jewellery?

Hmm, I would still check for a hair. When I got mine, I couldn't lay on that side for about three months, I learned how to sleep on my hand so I could get the pressure off it. XD

I can always call the piercer tomorrow and if it's not better by Friday, I can go to the shop just to make sure everything's ok.

I don't want to lose my ear ;-;

hugs I don't think you're going to lose your ear. BUT I'd definitely see your piercer and ask if it is just lots of irritation or if it looks infected. They have a good eye for it and will have some solid recommendations either way. Remind me what you're using to clean it and how often you're cleaning? (besides the missed time)

Hey you know your body, and it was an informed decision. You made good choice :D Plus I had a friend who had an industrial bar that had enough issues for her first reaction to me mentioning it was "Don't do it man" ...actually it was "Abort abort!!" like she was calling off a missile strike. o-o;;

Wicked! Curiosity: What kind(s) do you have in your ears and lip? oUo

You're not going to lose your ear.

I meant the glasses leg - depending on which pair I'm wearing, my forward helix is done where the leg will constantly press against the ring. Not a big deal now that it's healed, but a massive pain while it was still healing. Also - your piercing is only a few days old, it's very normal for it to get red and throb. Mine didn't start hurting til about a week after I had it done and my entire ear was bright red. It's just your body reacting to the foreign object in it, kind of like how a fever works. Just try not to touch it. Twisting it will just pull bacteria and crusties into the hole and irritate it more. I always found it soothing (especially on dry/cold winter days) to put some warm water, salt, and chamomile tea(bag) in a bowl and then just stick my whole ear in the water for as long as I could stay still.

yeah, I decided I'd rather have 1 healed piercing than 2 failed ones lol. Thankfully it worked out and both healed well. I'm definitely hoping that they're still lined up though because industrial bars are just so much fun! I'm not sure if my job would be cool with it though... They're fine with the separate ones, but that's a loooot less obvious than a giant metal bar crossing through my ear.

In my left ear I have 3 in my lobe and an industrial and in my right 2 in my lobe and the helix, and in my lip I have my labret and one on the left side. Would love to get my nose and tongue next but I'm a chicken lol Also from your picture I think a tragus piercing would look good and a daith!

Just read your posts more carefully. Don't take out the jewelry. If it's infected go see a doctor if it continues to worsen. BUT leave the jewelry in (especially if it's infected so it can drain.) So sayeth my (reputable this time) piercer. I mean always ask your own piercer and/or doctor.... but that's the rule I got drummed into my head XDD

That is a good point. Here's hoping that the industrial works out for you and that your work won't pitch a fit!!! I do love the look of industrials =u= I hope you get a chance to properly enjoy it ^-^

O-o That sounds glorious! Both your piercings and your suggestion. I still really like the forward helix idea but the daith =u= Yesssss a small seamless ring. Boom sold. Oh oh oh! Ok: what about the daith and actually a second helix. A stud below the current piercing. (love the username btw)

My ear is better today. No more throbbing and I can't tell if it's red or not. I only cleaned it once so far today, as I read for the whole afternoon and ignored my birdie (he would destroy my book if I had let him out). The piercer gave me a bag of sea salt and told me just a pinch of salt with some warm water and clean it three times a day.

I can imagine a tongue piercing would hurt. It wasn't so bad for my nose. On a scale of 1-10, for me it was a 5. People usually rate it around a 4-5.

Yeah, I honestly think my company should be fine with it. I'm an engineer so you'd expect that I would have to look super professional, but half the guys (and a handful of girls, including me) have visible tattoos and it's never been an issue.

Oh man, I've always wanted a daith + rook piercing but my ear isn't built right for a daith, and I just know I'd hate how nasty the rook would get (my forward helix crusties LOVE lurking there). I also want to get a tragus, anti-tragus, and/or inner conch piercing, but I can't because I have to wear earplugs at work sometimes and... well... that just wouldn't play well with any of those 3 healing piercings. If only I'd started getting pierced earlier :(

I have my septum, nose, lip, left tragus, left rook, left helix, right helix, ears stretched to an inch, nipples and bellybutton pierced! I may some more ear piercings done in my right one, since it looks a little barren compared to my left ear. xD I have a pretty high pain tolerance, none of mine really hurt me, except my nipples. The pain I experienced was a 20/10. I love them, but if one of my barbells fell out, I would NOT get it redone, lol.

I could not imagine the pain someone would feel for their nipples or genitals.

Those are a lot of piercings XD

My pain ratings are a bit out of whack so piercings are no big deal for me basically since any discomfort is fleeting. That being said I would NOT EVER have the guts to get nipples Ahhhhhhhhh ok just thinking about it. They are pretty awesome though so serious respect for going through with those. XD

How is your ear feeling now? Sorry for the delay the alert got buried U-U;;

I'm glad your work is pretty chill oUo And I am so sold on the daith for me still =u= I'm just sorry about the earplug issue for you >n< Trobulesome reasonable objections. D:

Yeah, it's always surprised me how chill all the companies I've worked at have been. I always expected to have to dress professionally and hide all body mods. Go for the daith! It's so cute!

bahaha I was actually discussing nipple piercings with 2 coworkers today. They were initially embarrassed to say the word nipple in front of me because I'm a ~lady. Gotta love the south. One of them then decided to bring up how he'd once seen a show (prob fictional) where a dude had to have his nipple piercings yanked out because they couldn't get the jewellery out. I still cringed so hard. I have a crazy high pain tolerance but nipple piercings scare the living hell out of me.