So I got my cartilage pierced in two places in my right ear in March. Helix piercings to be precise. I went to a professional piercing parlour, and the piercers used needles, autoclave-d instruments, and I went the extra mile and got titanium earrings (er, bars, the jewelery is surgical grade titanium, anyway), because my body is a bit retarded when it comes to healing.
I'm not sure the exact length of the barbells I have in at the moment, but they're over, or at least, 10 mm long. Up until a few weeks ago, the piercings were finally seeming to (almost) be healed, but then I had my hair dyed, and I guess some of the dye got on the piercings and irritated them, so now they're swollen and irritated (and irritating) again.
I'm just hoping for any tips/experience people might have with helix piercings. My cleaning regime is 2 teaspoons of salt into a cup of boiling water, cotton balls dipped in the solution placed on the ear for 10 minutes, and then cleaning the area further with the saline solution with a cotton bud after the 10 minutes.
I really just want these healed, because it's summer and I want to be able to go swimming!
(Also I'm considering changing to a captive bead type titanium piercing to see if that would help with the healing. Any opinions on captive bead vs barbell for healing times?)
I'm not sure the exact length of the barbells I have in at the moment, but they're over, or at least, 10 mm long. Up until a few weeks ago, the piercings were finally seeming to (almost) be healed, but then I had my hair dyed, and I guess some of the dye got on the piercings and irritated them, so now they're swollen and irritated (and irritating) again.
I'm just hoping for any tips/experience people might have with helix piercings. My cleaning regime is 2 teaspoons of salt into a cup of boiling water, cotton balls dipped in the solution placed on the ear for 10 minutes, and then cleaning the area further with the saline solution with a cotton bud after the 10 minutes.
I really just want these healed, because it's summer and I want to be able to go swimming!
(Also I'm considering changing to a captive bead type titanium piercing to see if that would help with the healing. Any opinions on captive bead vs barbell for healing times?)