Bloody Swollen Helix Pain... Infection?

[Hayley_Flo]

Hey guys, I got my second helix pierced last Friday and it has been a complete nightmare!

First off I hardly ever bleed for piercings, but when I got this done It looked like I'd been in a horrific accident and I could feel it dripping down my ear. There was a LOT of blood. With my other piercings I'd sometimes see a bit of dry blood and that's it but this was completely different. Has any one experienced a heavy bleed when getting pierced? (UPDATE: It hasn't bled since)

Secondly the pain. I hate to sound like a whiny little bitch but this constant throbbing is killing me! Asides from the bleeding, getting it done was no real problem but now my ear is just a throbbing, burning mess. Again, I haven't experienced this before so any advice to stop the pain? Will normal paracetamol do? I don't have any in the house so haven't tried it yet.

Thirdly the swelling. Over the last couple of days my ear has gotten pretty big. It's red and puffy and sore and very unhappy. How do I get this to go down?

Fourthly (is that a word?) as I'm writing this I just touched the side of my neck and I can feel a small round lump sort of under my ear at the back of my jaw. WTF!? I don't think that was there yesterday. Is that my glands? Does this sound like an infection? HELP PLEASE!

(Just adding that the guy who did my piercing has got a pretty good reputation and did all my other piercings no problem. I've been cleaning it once a day with salt and water with a cotton bud/swab thingy. And sorry If I sound like a whiny piece of shit, like I said, I haven't really had any negative piercing experience asides from the odd flare up so I have no idea what to do!)

UPDATE: It's only three days old, am I ridiculously overreacting?

Thanks in advance and sorry again for the whining!

[Blendy]

We can't really assess your situation fully without pictures.
All piercings can bleed. I've had some bleed a lot and some bleed very little or not at all.
Don't sleep on that ear, don't touch it, and put SS solution into a cup and dunk your ear into it at least twice a day.
I'd suggest going and getting it checked out by a different piercer and seeing what they think of it.

[Hayley_Flo]

Thanks for the advice. I'll take some pictures after work and update.

Luckily I don't sleep on that side anyway so that's a plus!

[beautiful-disaster]

And use fine sea salt

[Hayley_Flo]

And use fine sea salt

Thanks, we've actually got some in the staff room...

I wonder how crazy I'll look at work with my ear in a mug!

[beautiful-disaster]

I know all my cartilage piercings felt really hot for around a week, maybe this will be the same with you. My scaffold felt like it was on fire! Didn't help I caught it in my hair the day i got it though :/

[Thehorror]

Those bump things... Just behind your ears, where your skull comes to a point? About half the size of a ping pong ball?

I have those too. They come and go. My doctor says its just a build up of fluid. They come and go. Nothing to worry about unless it hurts.

[Abby1213]

Ugh wish I had some advise! I just got my second helix done and it's been a breeze so far. Hopefully yours feels better soon. :-/

[Hayley_Flo]

Thanks for all the replies!

It's actually gotten a tiny bit better throughout the day. The swelling has gone down quite a bit but it's still burning and throbbing like a bitch. Did find some nasty dried blood (and maybe pus? ew) in the back. Oh and the lump on my neck/jaw is still there. I'll attach a pic.

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Christ I think the picture is going to be huge. Apologies in advance!

[Hayley_Flo]

I know all my cartilage piercings felt really hot for around a week, maybe this will be the same with you. My scaffold felt like it was on fire! Didn't help I caught it in my hair the day i got it though :/

Hopefully the burning/throbbing will go away soon. I feel like ripping my ear off!

Getting new piercings caught sucks! The day I got my conch done I got a load of hair stuck around it and foolishly tried to tug it loose. Pure agony. I screamed like a banshee!

Those bump things... Just behind your ears, where your skull comes to a point? About half the size of a ping pong ball?

I have those too. They come and go. My doctor says its just a build up of fluid. They come and go. Nothing to worry about unless it hurts.

That is a perfect description. It only hurts when I touch it... so I guess I should stop touching it!

Ugh wish I had some advise! I just got my second helix done and it's been a breeze so far. Hopefully yours feels better soon. :-/

Thank you! And I am extremely jealous of your happy helix!