Cartilage piercing

I had the cartilage in my right ear (up at the top) pierced nearly 14 weeks ago, with a gun (yes, I know this was unwise!). It bled slightly during the first night as I rolled onto it in my sleep, but has given me no problems since then - no discharge, no pus, nothing. The swelling took a few days to go down but was gone relatively quickly, and throughout the 12 weeks healing I cleaned it and cared for it as instructed.
However still at 14 weeks it is still very painful - untouched it doesn't hurt at all, and moving the stud around doesn't hurt either, but afterwards my ear feels almost bruised and hurts for ages, with a dull ache. This possibly isn't helped by the fact I roll onto my right side every night so it's possibly bashed in my sleep.
I'm sure it's not infected, and I suspect the wound itself has healed. I'm looking for advice as to how to reduce the 'bruise' pain. Would changing the stud to a ball closure ring or equivalent be advisable, as these are apparently easier to sleep on, or should I stick with my current silver stud? And is there anything else I can do to help reduce this pain!
Thank you