Cartilage piercing infection?

Cartilage Piercing Infection ?

• Right before Christmas ( about 2 months ago ) I self- pierced my cartilage. I iced my ear, cleaned my ear, hands, needle and the jewelry. I have been cleaning it 2-3 times everyday with ear antiseptic from clarie's . But now i have a red lump on the front of my ear above the piercing and a little lump on the back, my ear is swollen and red. Its been this way for a month now . I took the earing out today and tried to fit a straight earing in it, and it wont go in because i changed my earing 2 weeks after i had it pierced with a curved barbell . Please help me, don't call me stupid, cause you're only pointing out the obvious, thanks :)

• Answer:

  Oh these things happen... It could be that the area healed into a lot of scar tissue, but let's deal with it like it's just swelling. Put some ice on it to get the swelling down, then switch to wearing a hoop that's high in gold. It may be that your body's reacting badly to the current post that's in there. Keep the area (and your fingers) clean and free of harsh chemicals. I'd suggest switching away from the solution Claire's gave you to hydrogen peroxide. It fizzes like crazy, but it does the job well. Now... there is a way to get it to heal really quickly, but it may be a bit hard to get (depending on your area) and don't use it all the time for everything. Look on google images for comfrey (it's a plant). If you've seen some near you, go grab some (the young leaves aren't as prickly) and mash it into a paste. Apply for a few minutes to a few hours. Keep in mind that the above will make it heal really _really_ fast and make sure there's no dirt in there, as it'll get sealed in. Now, you may be wondering why you can't use this plant to heal everything... You can, people have been doing it for centuries, but they've also recently found that the plants have a tiny bit of a compound that may cause cancer. A tiny bit of it in a tiny amount applied to a tiny wound for a short amount of time limits the risks pretty well, but it's better to be aware of all the risks than not, right? I hope this helps!