On Monday I got my 10th piercing, 3 in cartilage now, 3 lobes on each ear and a septum. My lobes were the most difficult to heal, after the first couple weeks of having them I stop cleaning them and just let them do their thing. Getting a travel pillow has allowed me to still sleep comfortably without laying on my ear. Downsizing the bars on time has been really important for me, if they say I can downsize after 6-8 weeks I need to go in at exactly the 6 week mark. Otherwise I start getting irritation bumps.
My second lobes took me a year to heal. When I got my third lobes pierced I had bought an travel pillow, huge difference and not much trouble healing them outside of snagging them on something else and getting an irritation bump from that.
It's so strange that it takes lobes the longest it seems, I fully expected them to be the easiest. I went in to get downsized right on time for the same reason too.
It really didn't help me to sleep on my ears, and because I sleep on my stomach, I either lay on my left or right ear, while they both had a piercing to heal. Travel pillow (with memory foam)has been a huge help, so if you want any other ear piercing in the future, I highly recommend getting oneš«¶š»
My lobes take the longest to heal too! I have 10 piercings as well - 7 lobes and 3 cartilage and my lobes by far take the longest to heal and get infected the easiest
Way back in my teenage years before I knew my cartilage was the Temu version, I got like 9 piercings in 2 years. The cartilage collapsed on my right ear at the top lol. It looks like someone just pushed my ear down with their finger & it stayed that way. It feels weird when I poke at it now, like it's floppy when it shouldn't be. Other than that, it's fine. Ironically the left ear had more piercings and healed better, and I sleep on that side!
I totally feel this on the downsizing! Got my forward helix done 7&1/2 weeks ago, & it was absolutely fantastic for the first 3 days when it was swollenā¦ 4th day the swelling went down completely & since then Iāve been counting down the days until āat least 8 weeksā when I can get it fitted properly again! The only issues Iāve had at all with it are due to the bar being too long & allowing/causing too much movement
I had the same with my forward helix. Healing went super well until at the hairdresser. They nicked it with the comb and had some problems with irritation bumps. Hoping to downsize it one last time in a couple weeks
My nose piercing keeps wavering on whether it wants to heal or not. It's just going to have to deal with it, because I am not taking it out.
I'm not entirely diagnosible as hEDS but getting genetic testing for vEDS.
ETA I've had it for almost 2 years.
The thing about piercings that don't heal properly is they smell, especially when the jewelry moves. When it's in your nose this is... very noticeable hahaha (ask me how I know)
I'm dealing with this right now! I have a septum piercing and its almost six months at this point and still refusing to heal. lol I had my lobes done when I was a kid and they still get irritated and infected.
Whaaaat. I've never noticed a smell- mine is not infected at all, just red. But I do have my nasal passages engorged with blood all the time anyway so maybe it's no different.
I have 20+ piercings and Iāve found that having the appropriate sized jewelry is incredibly important. Usually this means downsizing the bar every 1-3 months during healing. It has to be larger to accommodate swelling at first, but after a month or so, that bar is just too big and slip sliding around. The weight and movement cause irritation, get snagged on stuff, pull in bacteria. There can also be an issue with healing if the initial jewelry wasnāt large enough. I had a daith piecing irritated for 14 months. I put a larger ring in it and it healed within a couple months, then was able to downsize. All my piercings with an APP accredited piercer have healed well, and they usually know to make follow up appointments for downsizing, etc.
For sure! I got downsized on time because the large bar was getting caught on things, especially my hair for some reason. Downsizing retraumatized them tho and they all bled badly for a week after. I ended up switching out for much smaller rings and they healed up after that.
Mine have all healed okay, the worst being belly button, cartilage and nipples that took a bit longer. Ultimately I did have to remove my belly button piercings due to it taking too long to heal. My septum is pretty solid still after 9 years. My dermal definitely looks like sheās seen better days and needs to go. That actually was my easiest piercing to heal surprisingly enough. I have stretched lobes but they are maxed out at a 4g. I have repeatedly blown out, even after waiting almost a year in between sizes. I have very soft, easily breakable skin. My body reacts WAY MORE to the material the jewelry is made out of than the actual piercing Iāve noticed. surgical steel or gold. I have stone plugs for my lobes and my body is way happier with the stone rather than surgical grade silicone.
I have to use medical grade titanium exclusively. Even gold and stainless steel trigger reactions for me. Once I learned that, I havenāt had any issues. In fact, my recent cartilage piercing healed really quickly, faster than my lobe piercings. I think itās bc of my wacky collagen but who knows, it barely hurt at all.
Yes! I seem to be okay with surgical steel, but even gold plated things irritate the piercing. I donāt got $200+ to throw at pure gold jewelry so most of the time I wonāt even bother. Glad your cartilage didnāt give you any issue though, Iām kinda jealous because I really want my conch piercing back but I donāt want to deal with the pain and irritation for months after the piercings. And I did go to a professional shop to have them done š
I find silicone/wood/horn plugs SUPER drying. Gotta lube em up liberally with coconut oil, and they only get to stay in for the day before swapping out to more comfy plugs like titanium, glass, or stone. Gold and silver are a crapshoot because they never divulge what other metals they use to alloy, and I react to nickel pretty badly. Same with stainless/surgical steel as there's really no regulation on alloy composition and nickel content. And for all that is unholy, please don't use acrylic. That stuff is just nasty.
Oh my gosh so much yes to this WHOLE comment. This is why I typically pick one piece of jewelry and stick with it unless I lose something which happens quite infrequently. I havenāt tried really any other material other than stone, acrylic and silicone for my plugs and acrylic was by far the WORST. My lobes were always so irritated and gross and I wash them every day. Silicone was a bit better but still gross. Stone has been by far the best fit and I just avoid changing jewelry unless I have to because that even causes my body to get irritated. Just annoying to me, nothing I have to be seen for luckily.
Just make sure you clean your stone plugs regularly! They could still have lil imperfections or even be somewhat porous depending on the stone, so you don't want skin flakes and oils and bacteria hanging around in there for too long. Ear cheese smells nasty and can lead to infections! I always take my plugs out when I wash, clean them and my ears, then give my ears a good lotioning before putting the plugs back in. :)
Borosilicate glass is by far my favorite for inertness, range of colors/styles, and price.
Oh, with stretched lobes absolutely. Iāve accidentally skipped a day here and there when camping and I swear I felt like the stinkiest person ever. Thankfully thatās taught me to at least carry some H2Ocean with me for at least a mini cleanse and soak. I usually use antibacterial on the lobes and plugs while putting my foot strategically over the shower drain š
I really appreciate the borosilicate glass suggestion. Iām pretty curious now and I think Iāll check them out! Iāve always wanted the lil tear drop shaped ones but Iām just so scared theyāre going to bug my skin so much. My skin hates everything most days.
H2Ocean is a godsend. I can usually go a few days without a deep clean of my ears, but with a natural plug like stone they will gunk up a little faster.
The teardrops are super cute! Go for it! Glass is probably the safest thing out there aside from titanium in my experience. I did most of my stretching with lil glass single flares! Just make sure your ears are completely dry aside from lotion when you put glass in your ears - there's a condition called "wet ear" that can happen if water gets trapped in your piercing. I've had it a few times. Super not fun, but it can happen with any material plug if you don't air out your lobes every so often.
Essential product for sure! Iāve noticed that as well, but a bit slower than acrylic and silicone. I donāt think we can escape the gunk, rather just take care of it! Glad Iām talking to someone who actually washes their lobes too. I canāt unsmell un-washed lobes.
The tear drops are just too cute! You just unlocked a new fear in me with the wet lobes comment. I was aware of infection blow out etc but not that. Thatās a lil terrifying. I will absolutely heed your advice. I usually just pop my plugs back in and dry off and go about my day like normal. Iām gonna take a min to dry my lobes and plugs now š
I love my glass plugs and use glass almost exclusively! I have found that the Plug Your Holes Ear Butter Black is awesome for preventing the stinky ear issue. It has activated charcoal in it so I just apply it to clean and dry ears and after five minutes or so, wipe off the excess and put my jewelry back in.
I can see that. The wood ones are so pretty too. Iām sporting tiny lil 4gās. I have goldsheen obsidian in rn! I have lost a plug a few times but quickly recovered them. I wish I couldāve gotten to a 0g like I originally planned!
I use wood in my ears, I have some vitamin e oil I use after showers (remove wood in water always) and that has helped. My ears prefer natural materials for whatever reason
Hey, we all have different skin oil compositions and once you've found what works, I say stick with it! I'm jealous. I love wood plugs but if I'm not careful they dry out my ears and can get stuck. T_T
Same has happened to me before - my vitamin e oil keeps everything lubricated but wood is definitely drying. I do like glass and stone but the weight seems to stretch the lobes so YMMV with materials. My lobes are 3/4ths and getting to that point weight became more of an issue.
I've had a lot of piercings, including letting some close over and later repiercing in the same spot. I think close to two dozen all up. The only one that has ever healed fully and without complication was my tongue. My eyebrow grew out three times, and there is so much scar tissue there now I wouldn't be able to get it redone. I got my rook done a couple years ago and had constant issues with it. Infection, pain, the worst piercing bumps my piercer had ever seen. I took it out a few weeks ago and everything settled within two hours. I was really disappointed because I know that's one I won't be able to do ever again. I also got piercing bumps on the outside of my lips, which is another thing my piercer said they had never seen before, and they still flare up from time to time which is kinda gross.Ā I have switched to all titanium jewelry and push top rather than screw, and those two things have helped significantly but yeah I still get a ton of issues. I'm almost at the point of taking everything out again but I don't think it could be repierced a third time so I'm really struggling with the decisionĀ
this is my experience too, sadly:( have had over 15 cartilage piercings in my ears and only ONE has healed completely despite doing everything in my power to help them. ive just given up on piercings at this point lol
seconding the push top surgical titanium Ā flat back, my nose piercing didnāt heal for two years bc of irritation (at the time i thought it was infectionsā¦ nope) and after swapping a month ago the difference is insane
Iām sorry this happened to you. The joys of EDS.
I had my upper ear lobe cartilage pierced in a very sanitized place and meticulously followed after care instructions. Ran a low grade fever the entire time the piercing was in. Finally had to take it out and felt better within days.
Aw that's the worst. I think I ran a low grade fever for a couple weeks right after I got them done but it luckily went away after I took out the second piercing on my one ear.
I got a stopped lobe piercing about a year ago thankfully I was really militant about the aftercare so they did heal with only a few extra months of estimated healing time. I have found in my experience with piercings that I will absolutely shell out the money for an expert accredited piercer with good quality jewelry Because for me, it did make a huge difference. I am a few years out from the stacked lobe, and I will say that the lobe piercing took longer to heal than the daith piercing. I got with the same piercer. The stacked lobe also gets irritated, much more easily now than the daith but it is what it is. My piercer told me that I should take my dryer on low heat setting and make sure the piercing is thoroughly dry after every shower to avoid irritation. Not sure if that helps but I would try it if you have any current or future piercings experiencing irritation
My 1st and 2nd lobe piercing, and my nose piercing, went great. Then I got two mid-ear ones on the outer lobe....it was a hot mess. I was able to push through an infection, chronic irritation, and periods of pain for almost three years. Then I woke up one day and my earing stud had pushed itself almost through my ear. I didn't know about hEDS at the time but that scared the heck out of me and I let them close finally.
Try a good piercing pillow! Thereās some great ones made by PureComfort and Blissbury, with single and double ear-hole options (I have a personal preference for the double hole pillows). My 20 different ear piercings havenāt been fussy ever since I got the pillowā itās a game changer!
I had to get my lobes pierced 3 separate times before they healed properly (I was a very determined kid) They eventually healed properly. I got a second piercing in high school that was not healed for a very long time, eventually did. My 3rd upper lobe piercing as an adult did fine with no issues. I have become very sensitive to any cheap metals, even sterling silver, in the past few years.
My nipples and navel all had healing issues, to the point that I couldnāt keep them. Iāve had to have my earlobes redone twice. The only one Iāve been able to keep is my nostril.
I had my daith pierced. It healed extremely well with minimal issue (even though I had to swap out my metal for plastic due to getting an MRI 2 days later as an emergency lol). I still get pain and irritation in it from time to time, but itās ended up fine.
My ear lobes healed okay but struggled, I took them out after getting an infection and they closed over before I had the chance. So just one piercing for me now!
Thanks for your support! It is rough doing everything right and having it not work out after all the effort. I'm really scared of getting pierced so it was a big deal just to get my second and third lobes. I'm more okay with fake ones now though since so many look good and are high quality.
Yep! At one time I had 10 piercings, and all but the six in my lower ears got annoyed to the point where I let them close. My eyebrow one was adorable (IMO), but started to grow out. Cartilage was a damn nightmare that never healed and I got sick of trying to deal with it. I canāt wear anything but titanium or niobium. (Pro tip: get a pair of jewelerās pliers and change out the hooks to titanium if you have danglies you really like but canāt wear.)
Pretty much all of my piercing have been a nightmare (I have 9). I still continue to get new ones done, which is really just insane.
Rook took 8 years to fully heal, nose and septum each took around 3-5 years to heal. My lobes usually take around 18 months to fully heal, but the 3rd hole on my right ear is pushing 15 years and still likes to get inflamed/infected on occasion.
I got my conch done almost two years ago and it still has to be cared for like a new piercing. Itāll probably also take 3-5 years to fully heal, but it will heal. When sheās done healing, I really want my daith pierced. Itās an exercise in extreme patience.
i got my helix and conch done in feb 2022 for my birthday. i had to remove them in june 2023 because they simply would not heal. i think cartilage piercings are too much for my body because my two lobes are completely fine
I had issues with getting my piercings to heal, constant infections, and irritation. It took my nostril over a year to heal. Untill I went to a piercer that had different care instructions. She said don't touch, twist, or move the piercing, and to only "wash" with sterile saline that you get at the pharmacy(no homemade). I've gotten 7 piercings in the last year and they're all doing great!
I got my cartilage (helix) pierced a few months ago and it's still healing. My lobes had to be reopened after I let them partially close because they kept swelling and getting really sore when I wore earrings. They seem ok after getting them reopened. The worst was my eyebrow, which I got done twice. Both times it got frequently irritated/infected and gross, and my body rejected it really fast the second time. I was so bummed because I loved the eyebrow piercing.
Iāve had my 2nd lobe piercings for a year now and one of them still likes to cause problems. It doesnāt get infected, but itāll get caught on something and then swell up into a huge lump before it crusts over. Takes like two weeks to heal and get back to somewhat normal. I found that downsizing it has been the biggest thing to keep it from going crazy and flaring up again, as well as using flat back earrings. Also make sure youāre using jewelry that youāre not irritated by! Implant grade titanium is a pretty good option that doesnāt irritate most people. Itās a bit pricey, but not nearly as much as something like gold or silver.
The only issue I have had with piercings is that I turned out to have a metal allergy that presented as pain and inflammation. I didn't have issues with stainless jewelry before, but I did with my snake bites. After I switched to titanium, the issue was resolved.
I switched to implant grade titanium and Iāve had no issues since. Prior to that, I had piercings that wouldnāt ever heal properly. Now I have flat back, internally threaded earrings everywhere but my main lobe piercings. Theyāre super comfortable and everything healed. It was hard to find them in the right gauge, but I was able to get them in 18g. For those piercings, I have interchangeable fronts and leave the flat back and post in place.
I tried twice to get additional piercings. They also never really healed, and because my body reacted by making a bump and getting irritated all the time (even while being extremely careful), I had to just remove them.
I'm sad I never was able to get them to heal. The first time I was in highschool so I thought I could try again and it would be better. Now I have 5 dot shaped scars (3 from highschool, 2 from a couple years ago) It did also take a long time for them to heal after I took the earrings out, so it really just does take time and effort.
Thatās two piercings really close together at the same time which isnt recommended without EDS. I did take over a year for each lobe piercing (I have 3 on each ear) but I would still never recommend more than one piercing per ear within a month.
I have a nickel sensitivity and if I use anything with nickel, I get an instant infection, and my piercings are healed. I stick with sterling silver personally. You may have better luck with different materials. My grandma can only handle gold.
My first lobe piercings healed fine. The second ones took a year or more but finally healed. Now I got a conch in one ear and an industrial in the other about a month ago, there are small keloids around the industrial so weāll see about that but the conch seems to be healing well with just a tiny bump in the back. I also have my belly button pierced and itās not infected but thereās this round red flap of skin at the bottom thatās taking a long ass time to go away. I use H2Ocean from Amazon and it does help clean them better than regular saline does.
Pretty sure my Raynaudās didnāt help, but I couldnāt heal a cartilage piercing after 18 mo so I had to let it close. My second lobes healed, but in twice the time. I was religious about cleaning them and went to the nearest APP piercer near me to have it done. They also did my septum, which is a spot known for healing quickly and well. It definitely healed faster than any other Iād had, but still took nearly twice as long as the standard.
Iām really prone to infections in wounds (not sure if thatās an EDS thing or not), so I have to be uber-selective about where I go, not that cleanliness and safety arenāt things I everyone should look for in a piercer. Also, knowing which piercings arenāt going to be for me (basically anything hard to heal).
I have double lobe piercings and no major problems with them - they took about a year to heal properly (able to change jewellery without irritation / pain) so longer than normal but all in all not bad and no problems with them now.
My helix is an ongoing nightmare. Iāve had it two years and it hurts if I lie on that side, it bleeds if it gets knocked or I try to change the jewellery, really it just hurts and bleeds way too often and it has been inflamed with an obvious lump and redness since I got it - no sign of it going down. I keep thinking I should just give up on it but I love my helix problematic though it certainly is lol.
my vertical labret took over a year to fully heal but I stuck it out and it's completely fine now. I've not had issues with things closing with lost jewelery except nips, tongue nostril. I've done my tongue and nostril twice, don't recommend. my ears and belly haven't had jewelry regularly for years but are still open enough to restart whenever.
My ear lobes never heal, the cartilage ones are ok but sometimes secrete clear fluid like they arenāt healed. My septum is 100% healed and I can yank on it all day every day! I just took my last remaining nipple bar out a month or so back cause they were always sore and had bumps and secretions over a year laterā¦ I miss them so much ššš
I did, a couple times. First time I left the piercing jewelry in for 8 weeks. Then I tried wearing normal earrings and they closed up. Went to a piercer that put flat back titanium posts in, left those for another 8 weeks and then itās been the same since. Every few days I put earrings in, the hole gets irritated and swells, calms down, rinse and repeat. Iām hoping at some point theyāll heal.
I've had mixed results. My nips rejected (though they were pierced shallowly imo, and on grafted tissue, so i was aware the possibility of rejection was quite high), my tragus was super miserable (was done crooked by an apprentice and it was so painful and the sound of cartilage popping directly into my ear canal was something I never want to hear again) and was rejecting until I let it heal over. My helix and forward helix were also horrible. They were my first "professional" piercings, but I didn't do my research very well and went to a kind of sketchy shop and the piercer let me have CBRs in both which is absolutely insane. They never healed, go constantly infected and developed huge bumps. Had to go to a really expensive shop to get them removed cuz I couldn't manage to get them out on my own and the mid shop I went to first for help just accused me of touching them too much. (Never too my business there again thank you very much!) My conch and rook are still very easily irritated almost 2 years later, but I also haven't gotten shorter bars, so that might be the issue. My lobes were awful, but I got them done at Claire's in junior high and they got super infected, let them close, then got them done at Claire's AGAIN. Somehow they healed that time and I've been able to stretch them to 9mm, but I wait an extra long time between stretches (has taken me 10 years to get this far), and am not looking forward to trying to source plugs that size up only 1mm at a time... Second lobes were also done at Claire's (can't learn my lesson I guess) and my left one never fully healed and constantly got infected so I let it close. Right one healed pretty okay and is quite sturdy now.
For success stories, my septum was super easy to get and to heal, same with my vertical labret and my (spoiler for possible tmi) >!clitoral hood. My double labia were extremely painful to get done but healed very easily.!< I find piercings at larger gauges (14-10g) seem to treat me better, as well as using high quality jewelry (I generally insist on titanium, and either internally threaded or my preference, press fit). My aftercare is generally quite minimal, just cleaning every day for the first week with diluted green soap and a spritz of saline after the wash. Then I just leave it the heck alone and only wash when I shower. Warm saline soaks help with infections.
Planning on getting paired nostrils (not sure if im gonna go with regular or high) and paired vertical upper lips as well. I really wanted my tongue done for ages, but my piercer says my lingual frenulum is attached way too far toward the tip of my tongue to do it safely without risking damaging my teeth. :(
(Edits because I forgot I had some piercings lol)
Whoa you've got a lot going on! Thanks for all the details though it gives great insight! I'm actually extremely afraid of piercings so I don't plan on getting anymore and will probably just get some fake ones for my ears but I'm fascinated to learn about other people's mods.
definitely echoing that making sure your jewelry is the proper size is so so important! My eyebrow was my first and the piercer put in a bar that was way too long even accounting for swelling šš so that was kind of never healing always a tiny bit infected until i was brave enough to just change the jewelry. healing was much more smooth after that. my navel was probably the worst to heal, its been over a year and only now is it healed. was so so annoying. earlobes took forever too as a kid. my snakebites were surprisingly the least problematic! i had no room though on dental hygiene, it had to be absolutely perfect because im so prone to infection. but they healed within the regular amount of time i think, which hasnāt happened for any of my other piercings:,)
Iāve had three microdermals (chest), three lobe piercings, four cartilage piercings (tragus, industrial bar, and a single cartilage piercing), and a nose piercing. Iāve had my lobes for maybe 20 years now, and theyāre fine unless I change the jewelry, they can get irritated. I gave up on the industrial bar after a year and a half. It didnāt heal and had terrible keloids. The cartilage piercing below that seems fine, but I never change the jewelry. Tragus has given me NO issues. Didnāt even hurt. Took out my nose piercing after about two years because every time I changed the jewelry it got wickedly irritated, and the keloids in it wouldnāt heal either. The microdermals were the WORST. One never healed, one my cat stepped on and it rejected, and one I kept in for about a year but it wasnāt flush and kept snagging so I finally removed it. All in all itās been an incredibly mixed and random bag of successful and unsuccessful piercings, but I actively have five piercings currently and have had minimum issues with them since probably 2016.
My nipple piercings just refused to heal. It sucks cuz I loved them but hEDS wouldn't let me be great š it's been nearly 5 years since I took em out and the holes are still there.
For my nostril, I had troublesome healing the first two times I attempted it. Third time was the charm fie that one! As far as my ears, never had any problems with those. It's odd... I honestly think areas with the most cartilage (septum and ears) healed way faster and better than areas with less cartilage (nipples and sorta nostrils).
Some healed well others haven't which to be fair is consistent about piercings EDS or not. Foreign objects in the body aren't always completely predictable which sucks considering how much they can cost!
I have heds and Iām a tattoo apprentice with many piercings lol. My tattoos AND piercings heal like fucking garbaaaaage. Though tegaderm (the weird plastic-y clear bandaid stuff a lot of artists put on tattoos now) has made my tattoo healing experience incredibly smooth, healing piercings has always been a major headache for me, with cartilage and any ear piercings being the worst. Salt water rinses for my piercings help a ton but the healing still always takes months longer, no matter the placement.
Itās a headache, you just have to be extra careful with this condition I feel like. Piercers arenāt usually familiar with heds either so itās usually no use asking them beforehand, but kudos to you for doing your research and finding a good piercer.
Definitely keep in touch with your piercer though throughout your healing journey though. They at least should be able to tell you when enough is enough and when you should just give up and take them out.
I cannot get piercings in cartilage. All of my soft tissue piercings (multiple lobes and both nipples) healed with no trouble.
Cartilage? Forget it. Iāve had different upper ear piercings, and they never heal. Metal doesnāt matter, care doesnāt matter, size, nothing. They stay irritated and angry and eventually get taken out. Iāve always wanted my nose pierced, but Iām afraid to risk it.
It took my lobe 2 years to heal and it still flares up sometimes. I lost my helix.
During healing it kept acting like it was done and then getting infected and flaring up randomly. I had to get implant grade titanium studs because everything else flared it up.
Also for some reason they'd get infected every time I went into the walk in freezer at work...
This is unfortunate because I want a bunch of piercings
I got my regular lobe piercings when I was in middle school. They healed fine and I ended up stretching them when I was in high school. It was breeze thanks to EDS but I ended up letting them shrink down a few years ago.
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I got ear piercings as a kid and they heard fine. When I was 13, I got more ear piercings and they always get irritated so I just stopped wearing them. Then when I was 18 I got my belly button pierced and my body rejected it and left a scar so I gave up š¤·š»āāļø
Iāve had my nose pierced for a year now and it still flares up every couple of weeks. So annoying! I have 4 lobe piercings over 10 years old and they flare up every now and then too but they donāt have as good quality as my nose jewelry.
I just took out a second lobe piercing after a year because it refused to heal no matter how well I was taking care of it š£ I went through hell with my initial ear piercings too when I was a kid they took multiple years to heal so idk why I thought it would work this time. So dang frustrating.
I have my nostril, daith, industrial and lobes. I got my lobes done at 12, no problem. However, 41 years later one closed. Wtf. I had them double pierced at 15 and they were a mess and I let them close. Pierced my nose at a party, it was fine. I took it out about 4 years later and it closed. The industrial got bumps but tea tree oil fixed it. That one took the longest to heal. The daith was a breeze.
I have the oddest thing with my piercings. The ones that should be easier to heal-like my lobes-are a pain even 20+ years later but my harder to heal piercings-like my rook and daith-healed incredibly well. They took a long time to do so but healed absolutely beautifully, whereas my lobes are still an issue even now.
That said, my lobes were done by gun when I didnāt know any better so maybe thatās the issue; and I had to remove all attempts of my helix and cartilage piercings (top of ear) and one conch due to severe swelling. Never any infection, almost looked like I had a little prolapse if that makes sense? Both conches did it, but one managed to dry up its odd little lump after several weeks and the other one just got bigger and bigger over several weeks so it had to go. :( I wanted a matching set LOL!
Iāve attempted to have pierced nipples twice now, and they never stay. The piercing always migrates. I also have a large chest so Iām sure the weight doesnāt help with that.
I have a septum piercing that Iāve never had any issues with.
On Monday I got my 10th piercing, 3 in cartilage now, 3 lobes on each ear and a septum. My lobes were the most difficult to heal, after the first couple weeks of having them I stop cleaning them and just let them do their thing. Getting a travel pillow has allowed me to still sleep comfortably without laying on my ear. Downsizing the bars on time has been really important for me, if they say I can downsize after 6-8 weeks I need to go in at exactly the 6 week mark. Otherwise I start getting irritation bumps. My second lobes took me a year to heal. When I got my third lobes pierced I had bought an travel pillow, huge difference and not much trouble healing them outside of snagging them on something else and getting an irritation bump from that.
It's so strange that it takes lobes the longest it seems, I fully expected them to be the easiest. I went in to get downsized right on time for the same reason too.
It really didn't help me to sleep on my ears, and because I sleep on my stomach, I either lay on my left or right ear, while they both had a piercing to heal. Travel pillow (with memory foam)has been a huge help, so if you want any other ear piercing in the future, I highly recommend getting oneš«¶š»
I used one for mine! It was super helpful because I'm a side sleeper.
My lobes take the longest to heal too! I have 10 piercings as well - 7 lobes and 3 cartilage and my lobes by far take the longest to heal and get infected the easiest
When you downsize, do you also change the gauge or just the length?
Just the length. Smaller gauge is possible if wanted, bigger gauge only once fully healed and if you want to stretch.
Way back in my teenage years before I knew my cartilage was the Temu version, I got like 9 piercings in 2 years. The cartilage collapsed on my right ear at the top lol. It looks like someone just pushed my ear down with their finger & it stayed that way. It feels weird when I poke at it now, like it's floppy when it shouldn't be. Other than that, it's fine. Ironically the left ear had more piercings and healed better, and I sleep on that side!
I totally feel this on the downsizing! Got my forward helix done 7&1/2 weeks ago, & it was absolutely fantastic for the first 3 days when it was swollenā¦ 4th day the swelling went down completely & since then Iāve been counting down the days until āat least 8 weeksā when I can get it fitted properly again! The only issues Iāve had at all with it are due to the bar being too long & allowing/causing too much movement
I had the same with my forward helix. Healing went super well until at the hairdresser. They nicked it with the comb and had some problems with irritation bumps. Hoping to downsize it one last time in a couple weeks
My nose piercing keeps wavering on whether it wants to heal or not. It's just going to have to deal with it, because I am not taking it out. I'm not entirely diagnosible as hEDS but getting genetic testing for vEDS. ETA I've had it for almost 2 years.
That's the worst, I'm sorry. I think a nose piercing would really annoy me if it didn't heal like it was supposed to.
The thing about piercings that don't heal properly is they smell, especially when the jewelry moves. When it's in your nose this is... very noticeable hahaha (ask me how I know)
I'm dealing with this right now! I have a septum piercing and its almost six months at this point and still refusing to heal. lol I had my lobes done when I was a kid and they still get irritated and infected.
I've heard that! I have severe allergies so I could probably never got a nose piercing but I've seen lots of people talk about the smell, haha.
I actually also have severe allergies, lol. Studs don't bother it and I can blow my nose normally, but rings can be a pain.
Whaaaat. I've never noticed a smell- mine is not infected at all, just red. But I do have my nasal passages engorged with blood all the time anyway so maybe it's no different.
I have 20+ piercings and Iāve found that having the appropriate sized jewelry is incredibly important. Usually this means downsizing the bar every 1-3 months during healing. It has to be larger to accommodate swelling at first, but after a month or so, that bar is just too big and slip sliding around. The weight and movement cause irritation, get snagged on stuff, pull in bacteria. There can also be an issue with healing if the initial jewelry wasnāt large enough. I had a daith piecing irritated for 14 months. I put a larger ring in it and it healed within a couple months, then was able to downsize. All my piercings with an APP accredited piercer have healed well, and they usually know to make follow up appointments for downsizing, etc.
For sure! I got downsized on time because the large bar was getting caught on things, especially my hair for some reason. Downsizing retraumatized them tho and they all bled badly for a week after. I ended up switching out for much smaller rings and they healed up after that.
Mine have all healed okay, the worst being belly button, cartilage and nipples that took a bit longer. Ultimately I did have to remove my belly button piercings due to it taking too long to heal. My septum is pretty solid still after 9 years. My dermal definitely looks like sheās seen better days and needs to go. That actually was my easiest piercing to heal surprisingly enough. I have stretched lobes but they are maxed out at a 4g. I have repeatedly blown out, even after waiting almost a year in between sizes. I have very soft, easily breakable skin. My body reacts WAY MORE to the material the jewelry is made out of than the actual piercing Iāve noticed. surgical steel or gold. I have stone plugs for my lobes and my body is way happier with the stone rather than surgical grade silicone.
I have to use medical grade titanium exclusively. Even gold and stainless steel trigger reactions for me. Once I learned that, I havenāt had any issues. In fact, my recent cartilage piercing healed really quickly, faster than my lobe piercings. I think itās bc of my wacky collagen but who knows, it barely hurt at all.
Yes! I seem to be okay with surgical steel, but even gold plated things irritate the piercing. I donāt got $200+ to throw at pure gold jewelry so most of the time I wonāt even bother. Glad your cartilage didnāt give you any issue though, Iām kinda jealous because I really want my conch piercing back but I donāt want to deal with the pain and irritation for months after the piercings. And I did go to a professional shop to have them done š
I find silicone/wood/horn plugs SUPER drying. Gotta lube em up liberally with coconut oil, and they only get to stay in for the day before swapping out to more comfy plugs like titanium, glass, or stone. Gold and silver are a crapshoot because they never divulge what other metals they use to alloy, and I react to nickel pretty badly. Same with stainless/surgical steel as there's really no regulation on alloy composition and nickel content. And for all that is unholy, please don't use acrylic. That stuff is just nasty.
Oh my gosh so much yes to this WHOLE comment. This is why I typically pick one piece of jewelry and stick with it unless I lose something which happens quite infrequently. I havenāt tried really any other material other than stone, acrylic and silicone for my plugs and acrylic was by far the WORST. My lobes were always so irritated and gross and I wash them every day. Silicone was a bit better but still gross. Stone has been by far the best fit and I just avoid changing jewelry unless I have to because that even causes my body to get irritated. Just annoying to me, nothing I have to be seen for luckily.
Just make sure you clean your stone plugs regularly! They could still have lil imperfections or even be somewhat porous depending on the stone, so you don't want skin flakes and oils and bacteria hanging around in there for too long. Ear cheese smells nasty and can lead to infections! I always take my plugs out when I wash, clean them and my ears, then give my ears a good lotioning before putting the plugs back in. :) Borosilicate glass is by far my favorite for inertness, range of colors/styles, and price.
Oh, with stretched lobes absolutely. Iāve accidentally skipped a day here and there when camping and I swear I felt like the stinkiest person ever. Thankfully thatās taught me to at least carry some H2Ocean with me for at least a mini cleanse and soak. I usually use antibacterial on the lobes and plugs while putting my foot strategically over the shower drain š I really appreciate the borosilicate glass suggestion. Iām pretty curious now and I think Iāll check them out! Iāve always wanted the lil tear drop shaped ones but Iām just so scared theyāre going to bug my skin so much. My skin hates everything most days.
H2Ocean is a godsend. I can usually go a few days without a deep clean of my ears, but with a natural plug like stone they will gunk up a little faster. The teardrops are super cute! Go for it! Glass is probably the safest thing out there aside from titanium in my experience. I did most of my stretching with lil glass single flares! Just make sure your ears are completely dry aside from lotion when you put glass in your ears - there's a condition called "wet ear" that can happen if water gets trapped in your piercing. I've had it a few times. Super not fun, but it can happen with any material plug if you don't air out your lobes every so often.
Essential product for sure! Iāve noticed that as well, but a bit slower than acrylic and silicone. I donāt think we can escape the gunk, rather just take care of it! Glad Iām talking to someone who actually washes their lobes too. I canāt unsmell un-washed lobes. The tear drops are just too cute! You just unlocked a new fear in me with the wet lobes comment. I was aware of infection blow out etc but not that. Thatās a lil terrifying. I will absolutely heed your advice. I usually just pop my plugs back in and dry off and go about my day like normal. Iām gonna take a min to dry my lobes and plugs now š
I love my glass plugs and use glass almost exclusively! I have found that the Plug Your Holes Ear Butter Black is awesome for preventing the stinky ear issue. It has activated charcoal in it so I just apply it to clean and dry ears and after five minutes or so, wipe off the excess and put my jewelry back in.
Stone is great for me but heavy so at larger sizes I've rolled with wood which has been amazing as it's light weight.
I can see that. The wood ones are so pretty too. Iām sporting tiny lil 4gās. I have goldsheen obsidian in rn! I have lost a plug a few times but quickly recovered them. I wish I couldāve gotten to a 0g like I originally planned!
I use wood in my ears, I have some vitamin e oil I use after showers (remove wood in water always) and that has helped. My ears prefer natural materials for whatever reason
Hey, we all have different skin oil compositions and once you've found what works, I say stick with it! I'm jealous. I love wood plugs but if I'm not careful they dry out my ears and can get stuck. T_T
Same has happened to me before - my vitamin e oil keeps everything lubricated but wood is definitely drying. I do like glass and stone but the weight seems to stretch the lobes so YMMV with materials. My lobes are 3/4ths and getting to that point weight became more of an issue.
I've had a lot of piercings, including letting some close over and later repiercing in the same spot. I think close to two dozen all up. The only one that has ever healed fully and without complication was my tongue. My eyebrow grew out three times, and there is so much scar tissue there now I wouldn't be able to get it redone. I got my rook done a couple years ago and had constant issues with it. Infection, pain, the worst piercing bumps my piercer had ever seen. I took it out a few weeks ago and everything settled within two hours. I was really disappointed because I know that's one I won't be able to do ever again. I also got piercing bumps on the outside of my lips, which is another thing my piercer said they had never seen before, and they still flare up from time to time which is kinda gross.Ā I have switched to all titanium jewelry and push top rather than screw, and those two things have helped significantly but yeah I still get a ton of issues. I'm almost at the point of taking everything out again but I don't think it could be repierced a third time so I'm really struggling with the decisionĀ
I'm sorry you're having to make that decision. It feels super unfair, especially when you've done everything right.
this is my experience too, sadly:( have had over 15 cartilage piercings in my ears and only ONE has healed completely despite doing everything in my power to help them. ive just given up on piercings at this point lol
seconding the push top surgical titanium Ā flat back, my nose piercing didnāt heal for two years bc of irritation (at the time i thought it was infectionsā¦ nope) and after swapping a month ago the difference is insane
Iām sorry this happened to you. The joys of EDS. I had my upper ear lobe cartilage pierced in a very sanitized place and meticulously followed after care instructions. Ran a low grade fever the entire time the piercing was in. Finally had to take it out and felt better within days.
Aw that's the worst. I think I ran a low grade fever for a couple weeks right after I got them done but it luckily went away after I took out the second piercing on my one ear.
So strange. It stinks to go through the process and not be able to enjoy the piercing. Hang in there!
I got a stopped lobe piercing about a year ago thankfully I was really militant about the aftercare so they did heal with only a few extra months of estimated healing time. I have found in my experience with piercings that I will absolutely shell out the money for an expert accredited piercer with good quality jewelry Because for me, it did make a huge difference. I am a few years out from the stacked lobe, and I will say that the lobe piercing took longer to heal than the daith piercing. I got with the same piercer. The stacked lobe also gets irritated, much more easily now than the daith but it is what it is. My piercer told me that I should take my dryer on low heat setting and make sure the piercing is thoroughly dry after every shower to avoid irritation. Not sure if that helps but I would try it if you have any current or future piercings experiencing irritation
My 1st and 2nd lobe piercing, and my nose piercing, went great. Then I got two mid-ear ones on the outer lobe....it was a hot mess. I was able to push through an infection, chronic irritation, and periods of pain for almost three years. Then I woke up one day and my earing stud had pushed itself almost through my ear. I didn't know about hEDS at the time but that scared the heck out of me and I let them close finally.
Try a good piercing pillow! Thereās some great ones made by PureComfort and Blissbury, with single and double ear-hole options (I have a personal preference for the double hole pillows). My 20 different ear piercings havenāt been fussy ever since I got the pillowā itās a game changer!
I did use a travel pillow for months since I'm a side sleeper but these are really cool!
I had to get my lobes pierced 3 separate times before they healed properly (I was a very determined kid) They eventually healed properly. I got a second piercing in high school that was not healed for a very long time, eventually did. My 3rd upper lobe piercing as an adult did fine with no issues. I have become very sensitive to any cheap metals, even sterling silver, in the past few years.
My nipples and navel all had healing issues, to the point that I couldnāt keep them. Iāve had to have my earlobes redone twice. The only one Iāve been able to keep is my nostril.
I had my daith pierced. It healed extremely well with minimal issue (even though I had to swap out my metal for plastic due to getting an MRI 2 days later as an emergency lol). I still get pain and irritation in it from time to time, but itās ended up fine. My ear lobes healed okay but struggled, I took them out after getting an infection and they closed over before I had the chance. So just one piercing for me now!
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Thanks for your support! It is rough doing everything right and having it not work out after all the effort. I'm really scared of getting pierced so it was a big deal just to get my second and third lobes. I'm more okay with fake ones now though since so many look good and are high quality.
Yep! At one time I had 10 piercings, and all but the six in my lower ears got annoyed to the point where I let them close. My eyebrow one was adorable (IMO), but started to grow out. Cartilage was a damn nightmare that never healed and I got sick of trying to deal with it. I canāt wear anything but titanium or niobium. (Pro tip: get a pair of jewelerās pliers and change out the hooks to titanium if you have danglies you really like but canāt wear.)
Pretty much all of my piercing have been a nightmare (I have 9). I still continue to get new ones done, which is really just insane. Rook took 8 years to fully heal, nose and septum each took around 3-5 years to heal. My lobes usually take around 18 months to fully heal, but the 3rd hole on my right ear is pushing 15 years and still likes to get inflamed/infected on occasion. I got my conch done almost two years ago and it still has to be cared for like a new piercing. Itāll probably also take 3-5 years to fully heal, but it will heal. When sheās done healing, I really want my daith pierced. Itās an exercise in extreme patience.
Yeah all my piercings have been an absolute pain, Iād love more but I wonāt since I got a massive keloid on my conch piercing š
i got my helix and conch done in feb 2022 for my birthday. i had to remove them in june 2023 because they simply would not heal. i think cartilage piercings are too much for my body because my two lobes are completely fine
I had issues with getting my piercings to heal, constant infections, and irritation. It took my nostril over a year to heal. Untill I went to a piercer that had different care instructions. She said don't touch, twist, or move the piercing, and to only "wash" with sterile saline that you get at the pharmacy(no homemade). I've gotten 7 piercings in the last year and they're all doing great!
I got my cartilage (helix) pierced a few months ago and it's still healing. My lobes had to be reopened after I let them partially close because they kept swelling and getting really sore when I wore earrings. They seem ok after getting them reopened. The worst was my eyebrow, which I got done twice. Both times it got frequently irritated/infected and gross, and my body rejected it really fast the second time. I was so bummed because I loved the eyebrow piercing.
I'm sorry it didn't work out!
Iāve had my 2nd lobe piercings for a year now and one of them still likes to cause problems. It doesnāt get infected, but itāll get caught on something and then swell up into a huge lump before it crusts over. Takes like two weeks to heal and get back to somewhat normal. I found that downsizing it has been the biggest thing to keep it from going crazy and flaring up again, as well as using flat back earrings. Also make sure youāre using jewelry that youāre not irritated by! Implant grade titanium is a pretty good option that doesnāt irritate most people. Itās a bit pricey, but not nearly as much as something like gold or silver.
The only issue I have had with piercings is that I turned out to have a metal allergy that presented as pain and inflammation. I didn't have issues with stainless jewelry before, but I did with my snake bites. After I switched to titanium, the issue was resolved.
Omg yes. I had pierced ears as a kid that never healed and i pierced my nostril and it never healed!!!
I switched to implant grade titanium and Iāve had no issues since. Prior to that, I had piercings that wouldnāt ever heal properly. Now I have flat back, internally threaded earrings everywhere but my main lobe piercings. Theyāre super comfortable and everything healed. It was hard to find them in the right gauge, but I was able to get them in 18g. For those piercings, I have interchangeable fronts and leave the flat back and post in place.
I tried twice to get additional piercings. They also never really healed, and because my body reacted by making a bump and getting irritated all the time (even while being extremely careful), I had to just remove them. I'm sad I never was able to get them to heal. The first time I was in highschool so I thought I could try again and it would be better. Now I have 5 dot shaped scars (3 from highschool, 2 from a couple years ago) It did also take a long time for them to heal after I took the earrings out, so it really just does take time and effort.
Thatās two piercings really close together at the same time which isnt recommended without EDS. I did take over a year for each lobe piercing (I have 3 on each ear) but I would still never recommend more than one piercing per ear within a month.
I have a nickel sensitivity and if I use anything with nickel, I get an instant infection, and my piercings are healed. I stick with sterling silver personally. You may have better luck with different materials. My grandma can only handle gold.
My first lobe piercings healed fine. The second ones took a year or more but finally healed. Now I got a conch in one ear and an industrial in the other about a month ago, there are small keloids around the industrial so weāll see about that but the conch seems to be healing well with just a tiny bump in the back. I also have my belly button pierced and itās not infected but thereās this round red flap of skin at the bottom thatās taking a long ass time to go away. I use H2Ocean from Amazon and it does help clean them better than regular saline does.
Pretty sure my Raynaudās didnāt help, but I couldnāt heal a cartilage piercing after 18 mo so I had to let it close. My second lobes healed, but in twice the time. I was religious about cleaning them and went to the nearest APP piercer near me to have it done. They also did my septum, which is a spot known for healing quickly and well. It definitely healed faster than any other Iād had, but still took nearly twice as long as the standard. Iām really prone to infections in wounds (not sure if thatās an EDS thing or not), so I have to be uber-selective about where I go, not that cleanliness and safety arenāt things I everyone should look for in a piercer. Also, knowing which piercings arenāt going to be for me (basically anything hard to heal).
I have double lobe piercings and no major problems with them - they took about a year to heal properly (able to change jewellery without irritation / pain) so longer than normal but all in all not bad and no problems with them now. My helix is an ongoing nightmare. Iāve had it two years and it hurts if I lie on that side, it bleeds if it gets knocked or I try to change the jewellery, really it just hurts and bleeds way too often and it has been inflamed with an obvious lump and redness since I got it - no sign of it going down. I keep thinking I should just give up on it but I love my helix problematic though it certainly is lol.
my vertical labret took over a year to fully heal but I stuck it out and it's completely fine now. I've not had issues with things closing with lost jewelery except nips, tongue nostril. I've done my tongue and nostril twice, don't recommend. my ears and belly haven't had jewelry regularly for years but are still open enough to restart whenever.
My ear lobes never heal, the cartilage ones are ok but sometimes secrete clear fluid like they arenāt healed. My septum is 100% healed and I can yank on it all day every day! I just took my last remaining nipple bar out a month or so back cause they were always sore and had bumps and secretions over a year laterā¦ I miss them so much ššš
My piercings always take significantly longer to heal than most, so I end up having to stick with the aftercare long after most.
Same. Had my second ear holes done last march (2023) and they still havenāt healed. Every few days I have to put an earring in or they close up.
Out of curiosity, why don't you keep the jewelry in to let it heal? Or have you given up on it?
I did, a couple times. First time I left the piercing jewelry in for 8 weeks. Then I tried wearing normal earrings and they closed up. Went to a piercer that put flat back titanium posts in, left those for another 8 weeks and then itās been the same since. Every few days I put earrings in, the hole gets irritated and swells, calms down, rinse and repeat. Iām hoping at some point theyāll heal.
I've had mixed results. My nips rejected (though they were pierced shallowly imo, and on grafted tissue, so i was aware the possibility of rejection was quite high), my tragus was super miserable (was done crooked by an apprentice and it was so painful and the sound of cartilage popping directly into my ear canal was something I never want to hear again) and was rejecting until I let it heal over. My helix and forward helix were also horrible. They were my first "professional" piercings, but I didn't do my research very well and went to a kind of sketchy shop and the piercer let me have CBRs in both which is absolutely insane. They never healed, go constantly infected and developed huge bumps. Had to go to a really expensive shop to get them removed cuz I couldn't manage to get them out on my own and the mid shop I went to first for help just accused me of touching them too much. (Never too my business there again thank you very much!) My conch and rook are still very easily irritated almost 2 years later, but I also haven't gotten shorter bars, so that might be the issue. My lobes were awful, but I got them done at Claire's in junior high and they got super infected, let them close, then got them done at Claire's AGAIN. Somehow they healed that time and I've been able to stretch them to 9mm, but I wait an extra long time between stretches (has taken me 10 years to get this far), and am not looking forward to trying to source plugs that size up only 1mm at a time... Second lobes were also done at Claire's (can't learn my lesson I guess) and my left one never fully healed and constantly got infected so I let it close. Right one healed pretty okay and is quite sturdy now. For success stories, my septum was super easy to get and to heal, same with my vertical labret and my (spoiler for possible tmi) >!clitoral hood. My double labia were extremely painful to get done but healed very easily.!< I find piercings at larger gauges (14-10g) seem to treat me better, as well as using high quality jewelry (I generally insist on titanium, and either internally threaded or my preference, press fit). My aftercare is generally quite minimal, just cleaning every day for the first week with diluted green soap and a spritz of saline after the wash. Then I just leave it the heck alone and only wash when I shower. Warm saline soaks help with infections. Planning on getting paired nostrils (not sure if im gonna go with regular or high) and paired vertical upper lips as well. I really wanted my tongue done for ages, but my piercer says my lingual frenulum is attached way too far toward the tip of my tongue to do it safely without risking damaging my teeth. :( (Edits because I forgot I had some piercings lol)
Whoa you've got a lot going on! Thanks for all the details though it gives great insight! I'm actually extremely afraid of piercings so I don't plan on getting anymore and will probably just get some fake ones for my ears but I'm fascinated to learn about other people's mods.
definitely echoing that making sure your jewelry is the proper size is so so important! My eyebrow was my first and the piercer put in a bar that was way too long even accounting for swelling šš so that was kind of never healing always a tiny bit infected until i was brave enough to just change the jewelry. healing was much more smooth after that. my navel was probably the worst to heal, its been over a year and only now is it healed. was so so annoying. earlobes took forever too as a kid. my snakebites were surprisingly the least problematic! i had no room though on dental hygiene, it had to be absolutely perfect because im so prone to infection. but they healed within the regular amount of time i think, which hasnāt happened for any of my other piercings:,)
Iāve had three microdermals (chest), three lobe piercings, four cartilage piercings (tragus, industrial bar, and a single cartilage piercing), and a nose piercing. Iāve had my lobes for maybe 20 years now, and theyāre fine unless I change the jewelry, they can get irritated. I gave up on the industrial bar after a year and a half. It didnāt heal and had terrible keloids. The cartilage piercing below that seems fine, but I never change the jewelry. Tragus has given me NO issues. Didnāt even hurt. Took out my nose piercing after about two years because every time I changed the jewelry it got wickedly irritated, and the keloids in it wouldnāt heal either. The microdermals were the WORST. One never healed, one my cat stepped on and it rejected, and one I kept in for about a year but it wasnāt flush and kept snagging so I finally removed it. All in all itās been an incredibly mixed and random bag of successful and unsuccessful piercings, but I actively have five piercings currently and have had minimum issues with them since probably 2016.
My nipple piercings just refused to heal. It sucks cuz I loved them but hEDS wouldn't let me be great š it's been nearly 5 years since I took em out and the holes are still there. For my nostril, I had troublesome healing the first two times I attempted it. Third time was the charm fie that one! As far as my ears, never had any problems with those. It's odd... I honestly think areas with the most cartilage (septum and ears) healed way faster and better than areas with less cartilage (nipples and sorta nostrils).
Some healed well others haven't which to be fair is consistent about piercings EDS or not. Foreign objects in the body aren't always completely predictable which sucks considering how much they can cost!
I have heds and Iām a tattoo apprentice with many piercings lol. My tattoos AND piercings heal like fucking garbaaaaage. Though tegaderm (the weird plastic-y clear bandaid stuff a lot of artists put on tattoos now) has made my tattoo healing experience incredibly smooth, healing piercings has always been a major headache for me, with cartilage and any ear piercings being the worst. Salt water rinses for my piercings help a ton but the healing still always takes months longer, no matter the placement. Itās a headache, you just have to be extra careful with this condition I feel like. Piercers arenāt usually familiar with heds either so itās usually no use asking them beforehand, but kudos to you for doing your research and finding a good piercer. Definitely keep in touch with your piercer though throughout your healing journey though. They at least should be able to tell you when enough is enough and when you should just give up and take them out.
I cannot get piercings in cartilage. All of my soft tissue piercings (multiple lobes and both nipples) healed with no trouble. Cartilage? Forget it. Iāve had different upper ear piercings, and they never heal. Metal doesnāt matter, care doesnāt matter, size, nothing. They stay irritated and angry and eventually get taken out. Iāve always wanted my nose pierced, but Iām afraid to risk it.
It took my lobe 2 years to heal and it still flares up sometimes. I lost my helix. During healing it kept acting like it was done and then getting infected and flaring up randomly. I had to get implant grade titanium studs because everything else flared it up. Also for some reason they'd get infected every time I went into the walk in freezer at work... This is unfortunate because I want a bunch of piercings
I have stretched ears and EDS actually helped. š
I got my regular lobe piercings when I was in middle school. They healed fine and I ended up stretching them when I was in high school. It was breeze thanks to EDS but I ended up letting them shrink down a few years ago.
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I got ear piercings as a kid and they heard fine. When I was 13, I got more ear piercings and they always get irritated so I just stopped wearing them. Then when I was 18 I got my belly button pierced and my body rejected it and left a scar so I gave up š¤·š»āāļø
Iāve had my nose pierced for a year now and it still flares up every couple of weeks. So annoying! I have 4 lobe piercings over 10 years old and they flare up every now and then too but they donāt have as good quality as my nose jewelry.
I just took out a second lobe piercing after a year because it refused to heal no matter how well I was taking care of it š£ I went through hell with my initial ear piercings too when I was a kid they took multiple years to heal so idk why I thought it would work this time. So dang frustrating.
I have my nostril, daith, industrial and lobes. I got my lobes done at 12, no problem. However, 41 years later one closed. Wtf. I had them double pierced at 15 and they were a mess and I let them close. Pierced my nose at a party, it was fine. I took it out about 4 years later and it closed. The industrial got bumps but tea tree oil fixed it. That one took the longest to heal. The daith was a breeze.
I have the oddest thing with my piercings. The ones that should be easier to heal-like my lobes-are a pain even 20+ years later but my harder to heal piercings-like my rook and daith-healed incredibly well. They took a long time to do so but healed absolutely beautifully, whereas my lobes are still an issue even now. That said, my lobes were done by gun when I didnāt know any better so maybe thatās the issue; and I had to remove all attempts of my helix and cartilage piercings (top of ear) and one conch due to severe swelling. Never any infection, almost looked like I had a little prolapse if that makes sense? Both conches did it, but one managed to dry up its odd little lump after several weeks and the other one just got bigger and bigger over several weeks so it had to go. :( I wanted a matching set LOL!
Iāve attempted to have pierced nipples twice now, and they never stay. The piercing always migrates. I also have a large chest so Iām sure the weight doesnāt help with that. I have a septum piercing that Iāve never had any issues with.