text: Tragus Piercing Stud Change [HELP]
  Thread: Tragus Piercing Stud Change [HELP]
  I got my Tragus done 6 days ago, everything went perfect, there was little pain, no swelling, no blood and I had no problems with it.
  As I never got the chance to choose the stud that it was originally pierced with, yesterday I went to the shop I had it done and asked if I could buy only a stud (Ball) and if they could change it (after all, yesterday I was experiencing nearly no pain at all and it wasn't swollen or anything). The receptionist then went sterilized the stud and got some gloves and proceeded to change it. When she tried to unscrew the original stud it was really tight so she pressured a lot and it was kinda painful, a bit of blood came out and when she got it out (after much pain) she inserted the new jewelry and also struggled while doing it, moving the piercing a lot and causing a lot of pressure. In the end she got the stud changed (the original piercing hasn't been removed), I continued with my aftercare (like 3 sea salt soaks a day) and I noticed it got really swollen and I was experiencing a lot of pain.
  Last night I found it really hard to sleep, and the pain was unbearable, today it still feels like last night and it is really swollen.
  I'm not playing with it or touching it at all, the only thing I've done with it are the sea salt soaks.
  I highly doubt that it is an infection, and I have history of my other piercings swelling up (but none started to swell up after 5 days)
  I was wondering if there is some I can do to reduce the swelling or pain of it? (I'm allergic to NSAIDs, Non steroid anti inflammatory drugs, so therefore I can't take any aspirins or those anti inflammatory drugs)
  10-31-2013, 02:07 PM #2
  Cold compresses, keep hydrated, sleep with your head elevated. Is there enough room on the new bar? It's swollen because it shouldn't have been changed. Cartilage can take anywhere from six months to 18 months to heal.
  Done all those steps, the bar is the same as when I got it pierced, I haven't removed it, only the stud got changed.
  Is there any other steps which will lower the swelling?
  I've read about tee trea oil, Is it worth it? will it help with this more than the other steps I'm following?
  No tea tree oil is too harsh, just be patient and give it time!
  Okaaay, then I'll just be doing my same routine.
  Is this swelling a gateway for infection, do I have to worry about something else happening?
  Originally Posted by Andrew2xtreme
  Nope. It's totally normal.
  10-31-2013, 08:09 PM #7
  Oh you wrote it like the whole thing got changed.. I still kinda stand by what I said. The end shouldnt have been changed at 6 days old either. And I totally don't have a clue about the medical side of things but there are arnica tablets which can reduce swelling, sell them in Boots. (Obv I don't know whether you can take them or not so thats down to you knowing your allergies/checking whats in them).
  Last edited by SleeeepyHollow; 10-31-2013 at 08:11 PM.
  10-31-2013, 10:06 PM #8
  Alright! thank you, I'm not allergic to arnica and I'll be sure to pass by boots and buy some tomorrow.
  Also, there's this hot transparent liquid coming out of my piercing, think it's just plasma.
  10-31-2013, 10:15 PM #9
  Yep the clear liquid is lymph an overproduction of white blood cells your body produces when healing something.
  Just soak twice a day tops or rinse in the shower. I tend to find my cartilage piercings take a good 6-9 months to settle fully.
  11-01-2013, 03:33 AM #10
  Okay, just woke up and the swelling has taken up the whole bar, and when I clean it there's quite an amount of blood. Does that mean anything?