Cartilage Piercing Healing: What's Normal, What's Not and How to Get Your Piercing Back on Track
If you've ever found yourself staring at your cartilage piercing thinking is this normal? Trust us, you're not alone.
One of the most common things we hear in the studio is:
"My piercing was doing fine... and now it's angry again."
The truth is, cartilage piercings can be a little dramatic. They're so cool and so worth it, but they definitely test your patience from time to time.
How long does a cartilage piercing actually take to heal?
We'll be honest, probably longer than you'd like!
Whilst lobe piercings can heal relatively quickly, cartilage piercings are known for taking their time. Cartilage piercings can take anywhere from 6-12 months to fully heal, sometimes even longer depending on your lifestyle, body and aftercare.
That doesn't mean something is wrong, it just means cartilage likes to work on its own schedule.
What's actually normal?
This is where most people panic unnecessarily.
A little swelling?
Normal.
Some tenderness?
Normal.
A bit of crust?
Also normal.
In fact, crust is simply your body's way of healing and protecting the piercing. Healing isn't always linear, especially with cartilage.
One week, your piercing will seem completely settled then you catch it on a jumper and suddenly you're back to square one. Unfortunately, that's normal too.
When should you be concerned?
Most bumps we see are irritation bumps.
These can happen because of:
- Sleeping on your piercing
- Snagging it
- Touching it too much
- Missing your downsize appointment
- Putting pressure on the area
The good news? Most irritation bumps will improve once you identify and remove what's causing them.
The aftercare advice we wish everyone followed
When it comes to healing, simple really is best.
Spray your piercing with sterile saline twice a day, keep your hands off it (even if they're clean), avoid twisting, turning or fiddling with the jewellery and try not to overdo it.
One of the biggest mistakes we see is people throwing every healing hack they find online at a piercing that's already irritated. Most of the time, your piercing wants less intervention, not more.
The thing that makes the biggest difference
If we could give every cartilage piercing wearer one piece of advice, it would be this:
Stop sleeping on it!
A piercing pillow can make an enormous difference to healing, irritation and long-term comfort. You'd be amazed how many piercings improve once the pressure is removed.
Don't skip your downsize appointment
When your piercing is first done, we fit a longer bar to allow room for swelling. Once that swelling has gone down, the jewellery needs to be shortened.
Leaving a long bar in for too long can cause unnecessary movement, irritation and healing delays. Downsizing isn't an optional extra, it's part of the healing process.
Still struggling?
First things first: don't panic.
Cartilage piercings can be frustrating and healing isn't always straightforward.
Sometimes a downsize or a tweak to your aftercare routine is all that's needed to get things moving in the right direction again so don't worry ❤️
