The Student Room Group

Infected Tragus Piercing

Hey,

I've had my tragus done for around 6 weeks now and I've recently noticed a lump where the hole of the actual piercing is. I rang up the place where I got it done and they said it could be a keloid and told me to put Hydrogen Peroxide on it for a week or two.
It's been a week and it doesn't seem to be going down! It looks much bigger, actually!

My friend, who has had the same problem with her helix piercing, told me she changed the jewellery and it sorted itself out after that.

What do you reckon I should do? Leave it for a week and see what happens? Change the bar now??

Thanks for any suggestions!!

x
Reply 1
whats the bar made of? is it possible your alleric to it?

he did say two weeks so wait another week and see, if not go to your chemists and see if you can get something better.
Reply 2
What is a tragus?:confused:
Reply 3
Go and see your piercer!

A lump does not suggest it's infected. The signs of that are redness, pus and lots of hurtiness.

I would recommend doing warm salt soaks twice a day, and putting a hot compress on it.

Changing the jewellery yourself is risky, as you don't want to introduce anything nasty to cause an infection. Also, bumps can be caused by the jewellery being too large or too small, and you probably won't know which.
Reply 4
Hi,
tragus [tráyguss]
(plural tragi [tráy jī, tráy gī])
noun
part of outer ear: the pointed flap of cartilage that lies above the earlobe and partly covers the entrance to the ear passage


[Late 17th century. Via modern Latin from Greek tragos ‘goat’, also ‘hairy part of the ear’.]


-tragal, adjective
Reply 5
I think the bar's made of titanium?? I'm not entirely sure.

Tragus is that cartilage bit near the entrance of your ear lol.

Yeah, I would have gone to see my piercer except I got it done at a place near my uni and that's four hours away lol!

So, I should go back to cleaning it regularly on top of the Hydrogen Peroxide?
Reply 6
Well, go and see any piercer near you. They should be happy to answer any questions, although may charge a small fee for doing anything.

Your bar should be titanium, but if you're not sure go to a piercer and see what they say.

I'd say stop the hydrgen peroxide, and just use warm salt soaks (1 pint water to 1 tsp salt) and hot compresses.
Reply 7
Ive got my ear pierced with a scaffold and my ear went like that. It was mainly due to swelling. Make sure you have a titanium bar or stud whatever in your piercing as they are non-stick and helped my ear heal much quicker.

Hope this helps

Zav

EDIT: Just seen your post, only use salt water it much better than anything else.
Reply 8
its possible youre alergic to it, try surgical steel when youre able to change it.
definatly keep it clean and carry on with what youve been told. if i remember rightly those piercing are notorious for swelling
Reply 9
dh00001
its possible youre alergic to it, try surgical steel when youre able to change it.
definatly keep it clean and carry on with what youve been told. if i remember rightly those piercing are notorious for swelling

NO!

It's stupid to change from titanium to surgical steel.
Reply 10
Juno
NO!


It's stupid to change from titanium to surgical steel.

Agree stick with the titanium
Reply 11
Juno
NO!


It's stupid to change from titanium to surgical steel.
calm down....... why?
Reply 12
Ok, cool. Thanks everyone for your replies.

I'm gona clean it on top of the Hydrogen Peroxide for another week, I think. If it gets any worse, I'm gona be making a trip to my nearest piercer place.

Thanks again!

x
Reply 13
dh00001
calm down....... why?



People are generally allergic to nickel. Stainless steel has more nickel in it than titanium. Titanium is better.


1. Not infected.
2. Not a keloid.
3. No hydrogen peroxide.

It's probably just a boil or hypertrophic scarring. Stick to 2 warm sea salt soaks a day, about 10 minutes each time. Don't touch it with dirty hands or mess with it. It's a common problem with cartilage piercings...I've had bumps on my tragus, rook and industrial. They went away after a few weeks. Leave the bar as it is unless you think it's too small/too long, then go to your piercer and get them to change it.
Reply 14
clean it twice a day at least with salt water, warm if possible. make sure the jewellery is large enough to accommodate the inevitable swelling. it doesn't sound infected, you'd know if it was. your ear would feel hot, it'd be red, it would REALLY hurt and you'd probably have a bit of pus and/or bleeding if it was really bad. lumps like that occur on cartilidge piercings, i've had them on new piercings and then again on ones i've had for over two years, it's really nothing to worry about, they come and go! once a piercing is healed i've found tea tree CREAM can reduce them, though not ideal for a piercing that hasn't healed. plus cartilidge is prone to flaring up frequently, i really wouldn't worry yourself.
Hm...whatever you do , DONT put hydrogen peroxide on it. WAY too harsh :s-smilie:
Sea salt soaks and tea tree oil on it daily, keep this up. Change the bar to something biologically compatible (maybe PTFE or BioPlast) and if nothing, go to the piercer.http://www.bodyjewelleryshop.com
Go on there, and go on the forums. Try the healing and aftercare, people seem to go there when they have probs with bumps and stuff. Sign up cause the people there are really helpful.
Reply 16
zav
Agree stick with the titanium

yeah...i thought all peircers used titanium anyway