Bump on my tragus piercing....

Deidre

O.G.
Feb 27, 2011
1,822
23
So I've had my tragus pierced for about a year now. I'm having a bit of an issue with it right now. There's a red bump forming on top of the hole on the outside of the piercing. I've had a few bumps form on the inside before. They were always white and I would just soak it in sea salt and it would go away pretty fast. This one, however, is outside, red and seems to be getting bigger. I know how this happened. I've slept on it a few times over the last few weeks. So when I noticed this starting to form I started soaking it in sea salt again, and also putting witches hazel on it(something a piercer told me to do a while back when I had a problem with it) and I've stopped sleeping on it.

So I was wondering if 1. is this a keloid or is it just irritated because I slept on it? 2. if it is a keloid, what would be the best thing to do?
I've attached a pic so you can see what I'm dealing with.

Thanks
 

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So I've had my tragus pierced for about a year now. I'm having a bit of an issue with it right now. There's a red bump forming on top of the hole on the outside of the piercing. I've had a few bumps form on the inside before. They were always white and I would just soak it in sea salt and it would go away pretty fast. This one, however, is outside, red and seems to be getting bigger. I know how this happened. I've slept on it a few times over the last few weeks. So when I noticed this starting to form I started soaking it in sea salt again, and also putting witches hazel on it(something a piercer told me to do a while back when I had a problem with it) and I've stopped sleeping on it.

So I was wondering if 1. is this a keloid or is it just irritated because I slept on it? 2. if it is a keloid, what would be the best thing to do?
I've attached a pic so you can see what I'm dealing with.

Thanks

I had my tragus pierced and it developed a keloid. It just never went away. I would keep soaking it but if it doesn't go away you may just have to remove the piercing.
 
I had my tragus pierced and it developed a keloid. It just never went away. I would keep soaking it but if it doesn't go away you may just have to remove the piercing.

I had my upper ear pierced and developed a keloid, I think from sleeping on it as well. I tried everything and nothing helped, so I took the earring out. The hole is now closed and I still have the keloid, it's just not as huge as before. You can probably get a steroid injection into it, as I have heard that it helps, but I haven't tried it
 
I can't say for sure what it is - because I don't know, but I do know that many piercings can cause keloids and those do not go away. but they can subside a bit.
 
I had my tragus pierced as well for quite some time (about a year or longer) and it developed a large bump like that as well and it just kept getting bigger. I went to the piercer and changed earrings- from a stud to a hoop earring. I soaked it in sea salt, did everything I was supposed to do and it never went away.

Finally it started looking so ugly for so long that I just took the earring out and it healed and there is a tiny little baby bump that you can't see, but you can feel. My best advice is if it doesn't start to heal to just remove the earring.
 
I'm not sure its a keliod. It looks more like a hypertrophic scar. Some of the remedies I've read include soaking a chamomile tea bag on it, and putting tea tree oil on it. I put the tea tree oil on it and now its pretty red. So I think I might try the chamomile tea bag.
 
From the picture, it looks like hypertrophic scarring rather than a keloid.

Deirdre is right about chamomile tea compresses and tea tree oil, both are commonly used for hypertrophic scarring with a good track record of success.

What type and size of jewelry do you have in it? What is your aftercare routine?
 
I can't tell if it's a keloid or what but if I was you I'd see a dermatologist to get the best advice. I had a tragus piercing but it was not meant to be - it never healed up and got irritated/infected all the time (sounds gross... it was!). I guess you never hear about the ones that aren't problematic. Sod's law. :P
 
From the picture, it looks like hypertrophic scarring rather than a keloid.

Deirdre is right about chamomile tea compresses and tea tree oil, both are commonly used for hypertrophic scarring with a good track record of success.

What type and size of jewelry do you have in it? What is your aftercare routine?

I was pierced with a stud last year. I went and changed it to a different stud back in march, but it got infected a few days later, so I went back to the tattoo shop I was pierced at and had the new stud taken out and replaced with a loop. The infection went away after a few weeks. But, I started sleeping on it about 2 weeks ago and this bumped formed. So I've been soaking it in sea salt, but that didnt' really seem to help. But, I have been doing the chamomile tea bag soak the last 2 days and the bump has gone down a lot!! I don't wanna get my hopes up yet, but it looks like its working:smile:
 
I had one around my piercing in my cartilage and I tried soaking it and everything they told me, and I just didn't notice it getting better at all. I know it sounds crazy, but EMU OIL is the key. Go to a health food store, and get pure Emu oil and put it on it morning and night. It works Wonders!! It's about $20 for 2oz.. BUT you just use a teeny tiny bit each time, and it will last you a really, really long time. I think you'll be amazed with how well it works. Give it a few days, and you'll notice a big difference. Keep cleaning it and just put the oil on it day and night, and you'll be good to go. :smile:
 
I can't say for sure about your case but I had a similar bump show up and went back to my piercer who told me it was "hypertrophic scarring." I was so scared it was going to be permanent but it went away after I took out the piercing. Bad news was that I had to take out the piercing :tdown:! I still want the piercing but I don't have luck with piercings. My body always seems to "reject" them. But who knows, maybe it would've been OK if I had kept it in there as well but I was just too scared and then distractions kept me from pursuing it again. Hope this helps in some way! I hope it goes away soon! Good luck!
 
I had these bumps on both my piercings. So I just continued using the antiseptic spray.

They really bothered me so I was constantly picking at them. To the point that they fell off.

The piercings have healed well and there is no further scarring or inflammation.

Not sure I would recommend that to anyone.

Just sharing my experience...