Swollen snug?

[kawaiitako]

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

[kawaiitako]

also just realised i should've posted this in the aftercare thread, oops :|

[Boo]

Snugs are notorious for swelling, a lot! With the added trauma of getting the ball back on it's normal for it to have reacted the way it has. I'm not sure what the solution is the piercer gave you but the 2 soaks a day are enough, you may also want to use chamomile tea bag compresses and keep up the ibuprofen for the swelling, keep an eye on it to make sure the bar doesn't start to embed and be careful not to sleep on it etc, hopefully it will start to calm down a little but you'll find it could well be swollen for a long time to come.

[Elelia]

Exactly as above. You're just going to have to be patient.. Snugs nearly always have a very long and painful healing process.

[kawaiitako]

oh joy, haha :P i was just getting really worried because it's hurting quite a lot, and i've never had that sort of pain with my other piercings when they swelled :/ but that's good to know that it's normal! thanks guys! :3

[kawaiitako]

oh and raven, i was beginning to think maybe my bar might be a little bit too tiny! when i move it slightly to clean i almost always get pus/lymph? (pretty sure it's lymph) coming out of the outside hole - i might go back to my piercer tomorrow and ask him about the bar. and he gave me this little white bottle, it just says 'after piercing solution,' and it's by a company called studex - he gave me that when i got my industrial pierced, too.

[Boo]

Oh my life, put that solution in the bin, it's nasty chemicals don't use it. Don't move the bar either, there's no need to touch it, soak, rinse, leave it alone. Also consider a better piercer, no one should be giving you that stuff to put on your ear!!

[kawaiitako]

yeah i've been considering going to a different piercer for a while now, he was convenient because he's just in the center of town, and i've been there for my other 6 piercings so i assumed he was alright ('cause i've been going since i was 15- didn't know any better!) - and he actually told me, for both my industrial and my snug, that i could go back a week later to change the bar to a smaller one! he also sort-of pierced my nose with a gun? he didn't use the gun, just the compartment thing where the earring stud is located (just without the butterfly back :|).