right guys! sorry for the massively long post, but here's the deal - this is my 2nd (or 3rd, if you count my scaffold/industrial as 2) cartilage piercing - my snug. i got it pierced last tuesday, so around about a week ago now. i hadn't had any problems with it in the last week, except the ball on the inside of my ear coming off - twice. :|
this was obviously a pain for me because it's such a hard spot to get my hands into (which were clean, don't worry!), and because the balls are so tiny. but anyway, i've been SSS it twice a day for around 5-10 minutes, then cleaning it with the solution my piercer gave me with a cotton bud. when the ball came off the other night, i had so much trouble getting it back on - i had to maneuver my ear which meant tugging on my piercing slightly :/ it hurt for a few hours later, then i went to bed. when i woke up in the morning my ear was completely swollen. like, really massive and red. and as the day had gone on, it was hurting so much it was getting to be unbearable (i'm the type who can't swallow tablets - and i don't have any liquid ibuprofen).
getting to my point! i wanted to know if you guys thought the swelling is normal? i mean to me it doesn't feel particularly normal - it feels a bit more swelled than it should be. it's caused me to wake up in pain numerous times last night, and it's still aching really bad right now.
here's a picture the day i got it pierced:
i42.tinypic.com/t7mp8m.jpg
and here's one from this morning before cleaning it:
i39.tinypic.com/k00ggy.jpg