I got my cartilage pierced about 5 months ago and recently it got snagged on my shirt. It was sore and swollen but now it's less sore but there is a major bump on the back of the piercing. Does that bump eventually go away? Should I remove the earring and let the hole close altogether?

If you want to keep the piercing, hold a warm compress to it three times a day. Also, to ensure no infection sets it, make a mixture of 1tbsp salt to 4 tablespoons of water, use a q tip to wipe this mixture around your ear, or invert a cup, held to the side of your head and soak the piercing. Do this once when you wake up and once before bed.

I'm guessing this is upper ear cartilage? Did you have it done at a piercing shop, or a place at the mall where they use a piercing gun? I--and a lot of people I know--who got their cartilage pierced with a gun have been very prone to infection and calcium deposits, hard bumps under the skin that can be caused by damaged cartilage (which can happen by the way a piercing gun crushes the cartilage).

My guess is that however it was pierced, when you snagged it, you damaged some cartilage and caused a calcium deposit on the back of the piercing. Or, it could be an infection (though I'd expect it to be red and burning if it was actively infected). I would recommend keeping a piercing out of it for awhile and cleaning it well with ear care solution, peroxide, or alcohol to see if the bump shrinks.

I am not a doctor, can only give you advice from my experience... I got my cartilage pierced around 1998 and only wore something in it for maybe five years then intermittently after that. During all that time, I had a big bump on the back and it was constantly getting swollen and infected even if I just slept on it. Hopefully yours is just an infection or something that'll heal up; I still have a slight bump on the back of my ear and the hole has finally almost closed up (though I pushed an earring through it a couple weeks ago). Chances are, though, you might have some damaged cartilage that could keep bothering you. Pretty much just keep an eye on it and if it gets infected (bright red, painful, swollen, stinging, etc) have a doctor take a look at it. :)

-tmk

Peroxide in a piercing can cause internal chemical burns. NEVER use peroxide on a piercing.

Thank you, themisfitkitten and EmoPrincess! I don't think it's infected.. I think you're right on the damaged cartilage themisfitkitten. I'm sad it seems I have to deal with this bump forever. I will try the warm compress and saline solution EmoPrincess :)

EmoPrincess - thank you for that tip, both on my behalf and on that of anyone else who may have seen what I said. Although I have heard that you 'should' just use ear care solution, I wasn't aware that peroxide could actually be harmful and certainly wouldn't have suggested it if I'd known. :)

-tmk

That's all right, most people, even some piercers make that mistake because we all put it on shallow cuts and whatnot. Thing is, when it's trapped inside the body as in a deep wound, such as a piercing, it could be dangerous. It's a common mistake

Lillyanne, no problem. Come back and tell us how your piercing is doing.

I'm happy to help and hope it will work out for you!

-tmk

I got my cartilage pierced about 12 weeks ago and I'm not sure if I can take my earing out yet because there is a bump on the back of my piercing and when I take the earing out to clean my ear and put it back in I always puncture skin on the back of my ear and its only been out for like a minute! Help!

It needs to be in for 8 weeks so you may need to go back to the place where you got it done to check on it. Keep doing warm water and salt to help swelling stay down and keep it clean with either a cloth like a tissue or cotton ball with the solution.

I got mine a week ago and its now swollen and red. I got it checked by the place I went to and she took it out and cleaned it then put a new one in to replace the one I had in as it shrunk when it swelled up. She said it was OK and will go down in a week or so. I am doing salts and cleaning it three times a day and even have a cloth on it with the cleaning solution cause it feels better.

I just don't know if I should do something new or different while it heals. Its red and swollen but I know that is normal.