I just got my third hole done at Icing by Claire's today (8-20-10) and she said it would go through a little bit of my cartilage. Its only been about 7 or 8 hours since I got it done... but my right side doesn't hurt at all. My left side however started throbbing after I cleaned and turned it. Its very tender and sore especially when I touch it. Is that normal? And I've read a couple of things about how you shouldn't use the ear cleaner they give you? Why not? Thank you for your help and I look forward to reading your answers.

The reason it hurts so much is because it was done with a gun. Cartilage isn't designed to stretch and that is what a piercing gun does. Getting pierced with a needle removes the appropriate amount of tissue to better accommodate (sic?) the jewelry, thus comfortability and a quicker healing time. The best thing to use to take care of your new piercing is to wash with antibacterial soap and use a sea salt soak on the piercing. Painwise, cartilage areas are definitely more tender.

Ok. Thank you so much! :) and should the soap be un scented?

Yes. Any fragrance contains alcohol, which you do not want near a piercing. We recommend Dial brand or the generic is fine as long as there is no fragrance.

The seal salt is a good idea, but you can cause major damage if you don't use the exact correct solution. It is best to use a contact solution with a PH stabilizer. To apply, you want to to soak the end of a q tip in the solution and then push it directly above the piercing to seep over the earring. DO NOT twist the earring. That's another horrible thing to do. You don't want to irritate the healing process.