I got my tragus pierced in January 2012 with a CBR. Seven months later I changed the jewelry to a micro bananabell because it had developed a keloid/bump/hypertrophic scarring (whatever you want to call it) that just would not go away despite SSS and good care. I again changed it to a regular curved barbell because my piercer said the jewelry was too tight and it wasn't draining properly. That was fine but since it started to heal better I put in a mini horseshoe. All hell has broken loose because there are keloids/bumps on both sides; the one on the outside is red and a decent size. I use H2Ocean for cleaning them but I haven't had time to do SSS yet. Honestly will the soaks help or should I change the jewelry again? I'm going to go back to my piercer and ask, but I figured I open my question up in case anyone else had a similar situation. Also, what kind of validity is there to using tea tree oil and tea bags, things like that?
I know this piercing can take up to 18 months to heal (I'm on month 15.5 now) but this is getting ridiculous....
Thanks for your help!
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
In cartilage piercings the good aftercare and the cleaning for the whole healing period is key to avoid all those issues.
That is why the proper jewelry stud/barbell has to stay in for 1 full year and sea salt soaks should never be stopped.
Bumps that do not ooze and stay for a long time are hypertrophic scarring bumps. The sooner you start treating them the better.
99,99% of the times changing the jewelry too soon or bad jewelry shape or moving the piercing a lot is what triggers hypertrophic scarring bumps and also 'feeds' it so it can get even bigger.
For old bumps it will take double the time to treat them.
Of course sea soaks twice a day help a lot. Chamomile soaks work as great.
As for the tea tree oil, this is the last thing to use if nothing else worked. It's a harsh antibacterial which can burn the skin and leave nasty scars so use just a tiny bit with a q-tip 2 times a day.
I'd change the jewelry back to a stud/barbell because no matter what you do to treat those bumps a hoop will keep to maintain them or make them even bigger as the jewelry is moving around and also from the natural curves that the jewelry has.
Best of luck.