I really, REALLY wanted my Helix pierced. I've wanted it done ever since high school. I decided to get it done and I've had it for a year and 6 months (I also didn't know I was diabetic at the time). The piercing was very painful and I couldn't touch it at times. Then, it started getting better where I didn't feel any pain for days on end. I thought, great! It's healing, but then all of a sudden, I couldn't even tap my piercing and I was waking up with blood on my pillow. I decided to take the piercing out Sunday night to see what was going on (it really hurt taking it out). There was lots of blood and I have this huge red bump on the back of my ear and the front. I thought it was a keloid that was inflamed. I tried to put the piercing back in, but it wouldn't go through the hole without tons of blood. So, I said "Eff it!" and I left it out.

I went to the clinic on Monday and the DR there said he wasn't sure if the infection was cased from yeast, or bacteria and the bumps should go away.

I had an appointment with my family Doctor today and I had him look at it. He said it's a bacterial infection and he gave me antibiotics.

No matter what piercing I get, they always get infected. I had my ear lobes pierced in grade 4. They were badly infected and my mom had to squeeze the pus out every night. I got my nose pierced two years ago and that got infected, I took out the stud and I got it redone after I tried piercing it myself. The second time around, no problem. I can always try getting my Helix re-pierced in the future when my sugars are under control.

Ugh, I hear you on piercing problems. I have auricular rosacea that didn't really develop until I hit about 28 or so. It's to the point where my ears are red and puffy all the time, sometimes bleeding, most of the time with crust/drainage (ewww tmi I know). I want a nose piercing so bad, just a tiny little silver ball or maybe a diamond, but I'm afraid it'll make my nose all infected the same way. My ear piercings don't hurt at all, but I'm afraid piercing my nose will cause my nose to start up with the rosacea and that would just be shit because I already have nil confidence in my appearance.

However, on the rosacea front, I happened to use a sample face wash the other day that had clary sage in it and I noticed my ears' swelling went down that day. So I ran my ass over to Whole Foods to order some clary essential oil in hopes that will fix things. If it works, I may think about getting my nose pierced, for all that I'm a big baby when it comes to pain, lol.

I don't think a nose piercing will cause rosacea around the nose. If you have a dermatologist or family Doctor, you can always ask to be sure. I love my nose stud, but it tends to get really smelly.

I can tell you that Buddy is very disappointed my helix stud is gone. He's looking for it lol

I had a helix piercing when I was about 12 and ended up taking it out because it was both poorly done, and causing me a lot of pain. I have seven piercings now (three of which are cartilage ones), and my tragus took forever to finally smarten up and heal. I almost took it out like three times, haha!

You could try getting it pierced with a gold ring/stud? I have a lot of problems with keloid scarring with my piercings, and I have had zero issues with my nose (which has a gold ring in it), the gold just tends to be a bit less harsh than the steel ones. Thankfully with nose piercings, even if something does happen, or it doesn't work out for you, they usually heal up super quick, and they're easy to re-pierce should you decide to.

Absurd question but I can't have gold jewelry, I'm apparently allergic to anything but pure gold and surgical steel, could it be something as simple as you're allergic to the metal going into your ears? Keltoids typically resolve themselves, I was put on sulfa based antibiotics for one of mine and I found out the hard way that I'm deathly allergic to sulfa.

You might have a metal allergy. I have very sensitive ears which I learned recently. If I'm wearing a metal I'm allergic to, it burns and itches and gets infected. Try finding a metal you aren't allergic to, like titanium or niobium. The only metal I can wear is niobium.

I have very sensitive ears too. I can't wear junk earrings from Claire's or Ardens. If I do, it has to say surgical steel post. I'm wearing surgical steel in my nose and there's been no further problems with it. I'm very leery about sterling silver and don't want to buy it.

I don't know if you guys can see these pictures. They're off my FB account. These were taken Sunday night.

Pic 1

Pic 2

That looks like a combination keltoid and... zit. More like a keltoid.

What is a keltoid? I tried googling, but all I get is keloid.

I might be misspelling it. It's a bubble of fluid that's not an infection and typically goes away on its own without issue, it can manifest as an infection, diagnosed as such and be nothing remotely like. But if you have blood with it, I'm loathe to say that's what it is.

Yup.. there was lots of blood when I took it out. It was so painful, I couldn't even get the stud back in. I may re-pierce it in the future.

How old's the piercing?

It was a year and six months.

... Ew.

Yeah, that's no good. It should have been healed completely by now.

It could be the fact that I'm diabetic too? I know everything takes twice as long to heal. I went for gum grafting surgery on November 28 and my gums are still tender.

Yeah, unfortunately.

Owie that looks painful! I would go back to your piercer and ask what they suggest and if it's normal for it to look like that and heal like that.

So I see a lot of misinformation regarding piercings here and on the internet in general, so thought I'd offer some knowledge I've gathered over the years.

First off, piercings should always be done by a professional - no one who uses a piercing gun can be considered a professional. Places like Claire's are butcher shops. I have a friend who managed a Claire's once. She disclosed that their piercing training consists solely of piercing a dummy a few times with the gun, and then they're free to go out and piercer crying children. Piercing guns cannot be sterilized and cause blunt force trauma to the body, and can actually shatter cartilage. Think of it like shoving paper into a 3 ring binder because you can't find a hole punch. A single-use hollow piercing needle, on the other hand, creates a small incision that allows for high quality jewelry to be inserted. Piercing guns also use low quality jewelry that, quality issues aside, often does not leave enough room for swelling, which ends up with embedded earrings and a not so fun trip to the doctor. Also keep in mind that not all piercers are equal - some use low quality crap jewelry and perform all sorts of dangerous (e.g. scoop piercings, finger microdermals) or badly placed piercings just to make a quick buck, so you have to do your research on piercers well.

Silver jewelry does not belong in fresh or unhealed piercings, nor should it be worn long-term in healed piercings. It can actually permanently stain your skin black.

Surgical steel is actually crap as well. "Surgical" is a term designed to make the material seem safer than it actually is.

It's implant grade steel that you'd really want in a piercing, along with implant grade titanium, high polish niobium, high polish solid (aka not plated) gold, or high quality glass. Reputable body jewelry companies include Anatometal, Body Gems, BVLA, Industrial Strength, Intrinsic Body, Neometal, all of which has to be purchased through a reputable piercer as they only sell wholesale to piercing professionals and a few online body jewelry companies.

Any mass-produced jewelry from chain stores like Claire's, Hot Topic, etc. is low quality junk that you run the risk of being sensitive to, or your body gradually building up a sensitivity to over time, hence why you could be ok wearing cheap jewelry for decades, and then suddenly wake up one day with red, oozing lobes. As for piercing bumps, only a small fraction of them are actual keloids. Keloids don't go away, they're solid scar tissue that have to be surgically removed or frozen off by a medical professional. The most common piercing bump is simply an irritation bump caused by improper jewelry material / type, improper aftercare, improper placement, or trauma, and can be treated by removing the sources of irritation. A lot of people also self-diagnose irritation as "infection" and freak out. Infections cause intense pain and swelling, and your piercing will start leaking dark yellow or green, foul smelling pus. In case that happens, you MUST go see a doctor ASAP to get treatment.

And yes, your health will absolutely affect your healing time, but the healing time for piercings is usually much longer than people think. That whole spiel about how you can change the jewelry after 6-8 weeks? Total bull. NEVER change your jewelry yourself unless you're fully healed. Lobe piercings take a minimum of 2-4 MONTHS to heal, and (ear) cartilage piercings take a minimum of 6 MONTHS to heal, but often upwards of 1 year.

Is this a keloid on my ear?

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t34.0-12/16468904_10158223060425077_2110037918_n.jpg?oh=e3bec75cc159464852ba8a5d91aa8fe6&oe=589740F5

Doesn't look like it. Most likely just an irritation bump, or at worst a small localized infection that can be zapped fairly easily with antibiotics.

Have you ever had a keloid before? Most people who get them are genetically predispositioned to them and you would definitely know that you're prone to them by now.