I just need to complain for a minute because I'm probably annoying everyone in my life right now but it's all I can focus on. I had an ear cartilage piercing that got infected recently, and I guess I didn't catch it fast enough, because by the time I went to urgent care my ear was so swollen they had to cut the jewelry out and I had already developed cellulitis. So now, 3 days after that, I'm just waiting for the antibiotics to do something and cycling through ibuprofen and acetaminophen, applying warm compresses all day while not having the guts to try and drain the abscess myself a little -- which doesn't seem safe to me, but the ear doctor recommended it. It's seriously so painful, I can't even get proper rest because the pain wakes me up at 1:30am and I can't go back to sleep until I apply heat again. I've all but lost my appetite too, so I'm completely exhausted. It seems like such a small issue but I can't think about anything else anymore. My dishes are piling up and my trash is so full I have bags on the counter I've just not thrown away. I've fallen behind on homework and am slacking off at my job... I just want this to be over with already. I just needed to shout into the void about it for a minute. :')

[-Pan] I feel this. It took my cartilage over a year to heal fully. EVERY time I went to change the earring out the new one would catch the back side and like lift it off and out therefore reopening the non healed wound the piercing causes. Lots of mild infections with that. If you can find it try Sea Spray for piercing cleaning, it's what finally helped mine heal up and now I can switch earrings out as I please.

Thanks, I will definitely look into it. I've always used different variations of salt water to clean my piercings, and I usually heal easily with minimal care so this is unusual for me. It's my 13th piercing I think and it's the only time I've had one get infected, but of course it got wildly out of hand! I think the main reason it got infected is for some reason I keep rolling onto that side in my sleep... even the morning after they had to rip the jewelry out of my ear, I woke up on that side by accident 🤦‍♀️ so I probably won't be getting another piercing in that ear for a veryyy long time, if ever. Before it even got swollen it had been really, really red and pretty painful for a few days... so if I ever notice that again I'll be going to urgent care much quicker than I did this time. If I had gotten on antibiotics sooner I might not have ended up with a huge abscess. 😣

-Pen

I would explain to your teachers that you are dealing with a bad infection and they should be willing to give you time to make up your homework, I would hope! Also, just do a little at a time, if you can. That makes a big difference. Don't look at the big picture, just think to yourself what the smallest job is and start there. :)

I hope that your ear is doing better now!

Awww friend, that's awful! I hope screaming into the void of Subeta helped a bit!

And you are definitely allowed to feel a bit out of sorts, you have a literal infection in your head. Please take the time to take care of yourself (:

I have a pinched nerve in my shoulder, and it's miserable. Hoping it gets better soon.