Double Conch Issue? (With pics..)

Hello!
I had a double conch done in early march. It is undoubtedly my favourite piercing. However, I'm having a couple of issues with it - even though it was an absolute star in the first month, despite it not being cleaned (i was in hospital, and the nurses didn't want to give me hot water with salt in...)

The back of my ear (it's my left one) is discoloured and purple. The 'upper' one is also raised, fairly red, and up until 2 days ago was discharging a white liquid thing (which I presumed was normal?? - i've also had the crusties). (This is delightful...)

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what it could be, as well as how I could make it 'better' because out of all my piercings, I don't want to lose this one.. :/
My mother's (mum's) opinion is that it's attempting to migrate, my body is rejecting it, or it's infected...
Thank you :biggrin:

EDIT: I didn't know if it should go in here, or in Fashion and Beauty... But as my ear could be poorly.. I've put it here.

(edited 10 years ago)

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Reply 1

TheZoo

Hey, I just saw this so thought I'd help out if I could. I'm not an expert but my boyfriend works in a body-art studio (mainly tattooing but he used to do piercing) so I asked him what he thought from the description/photos. Obviously not being able to see it in the flesh, it's pretty difficult to tell, and every piercing is different, so don't take any of this as fact :P but this would be the general observation:

He said that there is next to no risk of rejection/migration for conch piercings because of the depth of location. It is, on the other hand, double conch is quite a high risk piercing for infection. It doesn't look infected, and the crusties/white liquid is quite common, but infections aren't always obvious early on so if you are concerned it's best to pursue it now rather than wait for it to worsen.
I'd go straight to your piercer if you are really concerned, or if you aren't near the original piercer or want a second opinion, go to another reputable shop and ask what they think.

The purple colour is quite unusual since it was fine in the first month, but it may be some kind of bruising because the piercing got caught on something (maybe when sleeping) or got knocked? The risen bits look like hypertrophic scarring from the photos, but it's quite hard to see (that could also be caused by some kind of trauma like a knock). Hypertrophic scarring is pretty easy to get rid of so don't worry too much if it's that! (if you have a few piercings you've probably had it before)

It doesn't look like too much to worry about, but the best thing to do is go and ask your piercer to take a look at it. It's hard to tell from the photos and you don't want to listen to someone on the internet and then end up having a problem! I feel like this is a really long post so if you want any other advice just ask :wink:

Reply 2

Oddities

It's okay! It's nice to have a long post! Thank you ever so much :smile:

I normally end up sleeping on that side - however I've been careful not to knock it - the only time I can think of it being knocked is either a) getting changed, or b) when the surgeons were taking the tape of my ear or moving me from table to table (but, obviously, I wouldn't be aware of this!!) and c) My hair pulls it a bit..

Thank you again :biggrin:

Reply 3

Juno

Sleeping on it will upset it. You really must try not to.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 4

Oddities

Original post by Juno

Sleeping on it will upset it. You really must try not to.

Posted from TSR Mobile

I know I shouldn't sleep on it.. I just go onto that side when I'm asleep.. :frown:

Thank you

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 5

Juno

Original post by Oddities

I know I shouldn't sleep on it.. I just go onto that side when I'm asleep.. :frown:

Thank you

Do you have long hair? If so, get one of those plastic hair clip things and bunch it all up onto that side. You then won't roll onto it, because it will hurt. If you have short hair this could also work, but the clip won't stay in as well.

Reply 6

Oddities

I've got some of those! I have long hair, yes :/
Thank you :smile:

(and sorry for being a pain.. )

Reply 7

LavenderBlueSky88

Wow cool piercings Btw :smile:

I had my conch done a couple years ago and I remember it took an absolute age to heal. It looks like you've just got a bump/small keloid on the upper one. It'll probably go down, don't worry about migration, it's pretty rare for conch piercing to migrate or reject.

I used to make a rock salt/boiling water combo in a bowl and stick my entire ear into it for 10 minutes a day for a good few months (after it had cooled a bit!). They'll settle eventually, just make sure you're not knocking them or sleeping on them. (I always catch the back of mine with my hairbrush - ouch!).

Reply 8

Juno

Original post by Oddities

I've got some of those! I have long hair, yes :/
Thank you :smile:

(and sorry for being a pain.. )

It's probably best to not use your favourite clip in case you break it :sadnod:

And you're not being a pain. You seem to actually care about your piercings (rather than getting it done with a gun at Claires)

Reply 9

Oddities

Most of them are broke anyway.. I have a great habit of standing on them. :P
And I do care about them :smile:

Reply 10

Oddities

Sorry to be a bother.. Would any suggest witch hazel (either cream, or solution) to try and get rid of it? If not, what?
Thank you :smile:

Reply 11

consumed by stuff

Don't know why I thought a double conch was a gunt .

Reply 12

Oddities

Original post by consumed by stuff

Don't know why I thought a double conch was a gunt .

nope.. it's a piercing..

Reply 13

consumed by stuff

Original post by Oddities

nope.. it's a piercing..

No wonder she was baffled when I had a go at her for wanting to get fat. Turns out she just wants a piercing.

Reply 14

Pinchy

Thezoo gave the best advice. Im a body mod artist and that info was correct and very good advice :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 15

Oddities

Original post by Pinchy

Thezoo gave the best advice. Im a body mod artist and that info was correct and very good advice :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Thank you

I've not gone back to the piercer, as it settled down a couple of days ago (and I've not had time to go back), but I've cleaned it a couple of times each day... However my brother wacked it earlier on today which aggravated it.. So it's gone back to how it was... (oh the joys of siblings who don't know what the word 'no' means...)