Hi I recently have had my cartilage pierced on my right ear only and it does not hurt at all right now and most of the time it doesn't hurt at all but it is sore when I touch it and it is too painful to spin the studs so I just leave them alone and try to clean them as much as I can with the anticeptic and I have to be gentle. Sometimes my ear will itch during the day and it will sometimes be sore for a little while after cleaning them and then everything is fine. Also when laying on the ears they are a little sore but again not bad. How long will this pain last? I only got the piercing 6 days ago. I am not going to remove the earrings yet but when I am able to remove them I want to know if I am going to have a LOT of pain trying to get the back off. I had my ears pierced at Claires and they use a stud and it has a lock backing which is so hard to get off without tugging at the ears. Ouch! Will I eventually be able to touch my earrrings without pain, will I always have pain when laying on the side of my cartialage piercing? Thanks and I will be looking for your response..

Cartilage piercing seems to be more painful and take more time to heal. I've had mine pierced several times. It does get less painful. I know it's painful but you should turn the earring anyway. Later you might try small hoops to make it less painful to lay on. You shouldn't change the earring for about 6-8 weeks. If you notice redness, swelling, or discharge you should see a doctor. Otherwise, be patient. :O)

Thanks for your response. I am able to spin the back of the earrings with little pain but the fronts are too painful to even touch. I rub the front and backs very gently with a cutip and there is not much pain but as I try to spin the studs in the front it feels tight and hurts to the point where I won't even try to turn them at all. The pain is less today and it doesn't hurt much at all, I may try to turn them in a little while.. My ear has not been itching and I have no pain, redness, swelling etc. I laid on my ear some last night and it did not hurt either but I try not to lay on it as much as I can't help because I don't want to irritate the piercing. Thanks for your response..

Well I just pierced my own cartilage yesterday. Maybe the reason I don't feel this one at all, is because clairs pierced another spot on my ear, and now I have a really bad infection. Haha<--really not funny. Um I'd say to either use poroxide or sea salts to clean the piercing, sea salts tend to speed healing. Even though it hurts, you should spin it a few times a day because your skin can begin to attach to the piercing, which will only make it worse. I'd look up signs of infection if the pain doesn't go away soon. Total healing time (this doesn't mean pain at all) of a cartilage piercing is about 6 months.

Good luck with it!

Oh! Also, remember NOT to use like metals or anything in there for the first month or so. Make sure its gold plated.

The pain is less when I sleep on it now and I really can't feel it as much.. It never was that painful but just a tiny sore when I touch it and more when I try to wiggle it. Without touching it I wouldn't know that I had it the piercing at all. It seems to not hurt as much when I touch it though but a try not to touch it a lot. I had little brown crusts around the piercings for the past few days and I clean them off, its annoying.. but my mom who got her cartilage pierced the same day I did doesn't have any crusts building on or around her piercing I wonder why. I have been cleaning it really well and I hope that it does not get infected, I don't see any puss, blood or anything like that yet so maybe I won't get infected. I clean the ears with unscented antibacerial soap and then I use the Claires antiseptic. I read that sea salt patches help to heal the wound well but I have no tried that yet.

Um you I got my cartilage peirced yesterday with a needle and yes it hurt for about 5 secs.its swallon and it hurts when I clean it but hey it's a hole in your body thts not sapposed to be there.yes it will be sore for a bit I guess I got to clean it for six days but after that I'm in the clear hope I don't get an infection thts the only thing I'm worried about ty.

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Originally Posted by brandy681

Hi I recently have had my cartilage pierced on my right ear only and it does not hurt at all right now and most of the time it doesn't hurt at all but it is sore when I touch it and it is too painful to spin the studs so I just leave them alone and try to clean them as much as I can with the anticeptic and I have to be gentle. Sometimes my ear will itch during the day and it will sometimes be sore for a little while after cleaning them and then everything is fine. Also when laying on the ears they are a little sore but again not bad. How long will this pain last? I only got the piercing 6 days ago. I am not going to remove the earrings yet but when I am able to remove them I want to know if I am going to have a LOT of pain trying to get the back off. I had my ears pierced at Claires and they use a stud and it has a lock backing which is so hard to get off without tugging at the ears. Ouch!! Will I eventually be able to touch my earrrings without pain, will I always have pain when laying on the side of my cartialage piercing? Thanks and I will be looking for your responce..

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HEYY! :D yeah I got my cartilage peirced 4 times on each side. Your pain is normal. It'll go away in like a weeks or so. And it will somwat ache when u take the earing out. Its all good.

OK this is just my experience, I have 3 piercing on my right ear 2 on the cartilage and lobe.
With the cartilage the first couple of weeks it was pierced it was really sore and painful to touch or spin. No discharge or lump just sore and maybe red. Suggestion: just clean and don't touchor itch it with your dirty hands. Don't change earing for about 2months. For me it took about 4months to completely heal cause on the 2nd month I changed the earing and it got infected. When you change it I suggested titanium earing or gold cause some people get allergic reactions to cheap and crap 2 dollar stuff.

I think the sadist thing about piercings is that most people don't know the worst way to get your ear pierced is by a gun, which is used my many places such as Claire's, Wal-Mart, and other places that only do lobe or helix (aka cartilage) piercings.
Healing time will of course take a good bit longer then regular lobe piercings since the cartilage is harder to heal. Also, it takes different amount of times for different people to heal. I've just got a snug, and its going to take between 8-12 months to heal. When it feels painless, and you can move it with no problems then its healed. Remember though, they heal from the outside in. So it could look fine, but still take care of it and baby it, until its painless. But the recommended time before changing it is around 2 months.
If you think its infected DO NOT TAKE IT OUT. Go see your doctor, and get some anti-biotic, or salves for your ear. If you take out the earring, your risk the chance of getting the infection stuck in your ear.
Also, you may be having more problems with your ear because you could be allergic to the metal. The best type to use would be titanium which is completely hypo-allergenic.
Hope this helped in some way.

I haven't had my cartilage pierced (getting it done tomorrow at 16gauge)
But id guess it's the fact that you got them pierced with a gun that's making it worse, the stud is a blunt object that is literally forced through your ear.

The stud probarbly doesn't have enough room to allow for any swelling so the pain could be caused by pressure.

Maby pop into a proper piercing place, tell them you got it pierced with a gun and ask if they can change the stud to a steel, titanium or PTFE cbr (captive bead ring)

PTFE would maby help your jewellery from sticking

Even if they can't change the jewellery they will know what you can do

By the way if you are using ear care solution STOP immediately it will irritate your piercing, instead remove crusties with a cotton bud and warm water use a mild antibactiral soap, rise carfully then soak your piercing in a sss (1/4 teaspoon sea salt in 8oz of boiling water, left to cool) for 10-15 minutes only clean and soak once or twice a day to avoid making things worse.

Sea salt soaks my grumpy piercings very happy

I got my cartlidge pierced as well, when you got it done at clairs did they use a gun to pierce it? When I got mine pierced, my piercer said that when you get that part of your ear done with a gun it takes a much longer time to heal. Using an actual needle is more effective in the healing process, and it takes about 4 months before you can lay comfortably on it, possibly longer if you got it pierced with a gun.

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Originally Posted by brandy681

Hi I recently have had my cartilage pierced on my right ear only and it does not hurt at all right now and most of the time it doesn't hurt at all but it is sore when I touch it and it is too painful to spin the studs so I just leave them alone and try to clean them as much as I can with the anticeptic and I have to be gentle. Sometimes my ear will itch during the day and it will sometimes be sore for a little while after cleaning them and then everything is fine. Also when laying on the ears they are a little sore but again not bad. How long will this pain last? I only got the piercing 6 days ago. I am not going to remove the earrings yet but when I am able to remove them I want to know if I am going to have a LOT of pain trying to get the back off. I had my ears pierced at Claires and they use a stud and it has a lock backing which is so hard to get off without tugging at the ears. Ouch!! Will I eventually be able to touch my earrrings without pain, will I always have pain when laying on the side of my cartialage piercing? Thanks and I will be looking for your responce..

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My pain went away very fast but I was told it is crucial to the healing process to spin the studs when you clean them so the skin doesn't infuse with the stud. With the papers I got to go with my piercing it says "if pain exceeds 24 ours after piercing or is sensitive to the touch or affects sleep to take out the piercing immediately and see a physician" so it sounds to me like you have an infection. But I am no doctor. I hope I have helped. Good Luck!!

This post is about 2 years old. I doubt she still has pain

I had the same problem when I had mine just pierced. The truth mine healed after a year. Like healed totally. You should really avoid sleeping on the side where the piercing is. That's no. 1 thing that you have to avoid. And leaving it alone is the best thing to do. Though everyday I pour some antiseptic on it.

I had my ear done 5 days ago and it didn't hurt much when I had it done ( by. Gun ) but at the moment it's really sore to touch to twist and it hurts like a throbbing sensation after cleaning it has anyone else had this experience and what did you do to solve it. Or if it's normal to be sore how long does this last? Ps. The woman who did it for me said to leave it in before changing for 6weeks I wasn't sure if this was right? Livzz <3

I've just got my cartilage pierced, once 3 days ago and another below it yesterday, and yeah, it will hurt for a while, probs swell a bit and be red but it will go away. I got my cartilage pierced 3 months ago by my best friend who is a freelance piercer, and it swelled, even bled a bit, but it healed perfectly by just leaving it alone as much as possible and by cleaning it.
For cleaning, I agree with the people above, salt+water is the best option. It's stopped all of my 7 piercings becoming infected. If it swells a lot, loosen the piercing a bit and it'll go down faster. And generally keep it clean. But remember, however much it hurts now, it will be fine within weeks and you'll forget about the pain. Until you get another one that is, just make sure you go to a piercing shop rather than Claires next time yeah?
Xxx

I have five cartilage piercings and you they hurt a lot for about a month to be honest and eventually you will beable to take it out I had a lock back too but it hurt a little to be honest but I got over it and some advice make sure if you put a loop in it that you get a tight fit cause if you don't it really hurts to sleep on.. oh and yes you will eventually get to sleep on it the pain will go away in about another 4-5 days..

I guess it is different for most people because when I got mine pierced I could turn it right away and it did not hurt. And I could sleep on it on the first night

Okay well I got my cartilage pierced day before yesterday and I took it out like twice because when I got home my mom didn't like the earring so she made me take it out in put o hoop in. it hurts still today it kills me to sleep and I can't touch or anything. I clean it twice a day. I am 15 and I did this in class at school I really don't think it is smart to do it in class I think you should let someone who knows what they are doing do it. Don't let one of your friends do it. And I didn't clean my ring out before I did it so make sure you clean it and I know it isn't infected because I have been watching it everyday. Well I hope it stops hurting soon. I also haven't told my dad I pierced it yet so my dad is going to yell I hide it from him everyday and plan to hide it until I build up enough stength to tell him I did it well got to go in school

First off if its itchy don't scratch it. I learned the hard way. It will get irritated easily. Turning it will hurt for first while. What helps though is when you clean it and its all wet around the piercing it makes it easier to turn the ring. Then just during the day turn it a few times. I changed mine after 3 weeks. And I've had it now for 4 weeks. It will suck to change the stud that's in it now,but don't worry it takes time and patience to get the ring out first time.Sleeping on it gets easier,it will go from pain, to kind of numb feeling so hey its like the cartalidge it not even pierced. Good Luck, and don't worry ^_^