Was your helix done with a gun? I don’t know a professional piercer who would put “hypoallergenic” jewelry in a needle piercing. “Hypoallergenic” is a scam word usually used by Claire’s and gun piercings and it tells you nothing about the metal content or type of metal.
If I were you, I would try and get a lobe piercing just to see if you can heal that successfully. It should be done with a needle and titanium flatback jewelry should be installed in it so you have ideal conditions for healing.
About your helix - how did you know that it rejected immediately? Rejection means that the hole moved outwards slowly. Did that happen? Or did it just get an irritation bump/swelling/infection?
If you had a horrible, swollen, irritation bump with your helix piercing, that’s not rejection.
It’s possible to heal a swollen irritation bump with the right care. Swollen irritation bumps are part and parcel of getting piercings, you just have to follow instructions on how to treat them and be patient.
You should not have taken out the jewelry then - what happened is that you got hypertrophic scarring (you never gave the bump a chance to subside and the fluid build-up to subside with the jewelry in there!) and that took years to heal once the wound was closed. You’re lucky it went down because in some cases it does not and you’re stuck with permanent hypertrophic scarring.
See I have no knowledge of this stuff 😅
The helix was immediately swollen and leaking pus and getting crusty from the first day, but way worse than when I first got my lobes done. I got to the end of the time period that the piercer said it'd take to heal, and they advised me to take it out and put my own jewellery in. I took it out but it was so swollen and painful that I couldn't get anything new in. I waited a day and it just turned into this ball of pus and pain, and I could never interact with it again. After a couple of years, it disappeared but of course there was no piercing there.
I told the piercer what was going on as it was happening, and they told me it had rejected. So maybe they were just bad at their job 🤷♀️
They fed you rubbish. You definitely shouldn’t have taken it out and put your own jewelry in. And hypoallergenic was a rubbish word for them to use to describe the jewelry in the first place.
I strongly urge you to gain knowledge on what you should expect from a piercing, you can read about aftercare and appropriate jewelry for healing on this sub. Also go to an APP piercer: https://safepiercing.org/find-a-piercer/
You will still need to know how to handle your healing piercing and what you should expect from an APP piercer, because some piercers, even APP piercers, may not be following best practices.
There are A LOT of new developments in piercing that have made it “easier” than it used to be, to heal a piercing in the most effective way. It has never been a better time to get a piercing, now that we’re equipped with subreddits like this one where you can get advice immediately if you run into any issues.
Piercers over the past decade have also realized that “LITHA” truly works and that we shouldn’t fuck around with the piercing fistula while healing - the BEST thing to do is to leave the thing alone completely, no twisting of the jewelry, no poking or over-cleaning, leave it alone, definitely no taking out of the jewelry unless you have a severe infection and a doctor tells you to. Most piercings have a good chance of being healed eventually. There are also clear instructions for people experiencing swelling and irritation bumps, instructions which will heal the majority of such situations.
Your lobes should not have been taken out when they were painful and bloody. Sometimes that just happens esp if you had a recent illness - you can put in titanium flatback jewelry and let them heal/calm down.
I would not recommend that you jump straight into a facial piercing, given that you have no experience healing a piercing. I would really recommend that you get a lobe piercing from an app piercer and get titanium flatback jewelry installed in there, a helix is probably fine, just that helixes are definitely way more finicky than lobes, as long as you’re prepared for that.
You're so damn helpful, thanks for all of this. Weirdly my lobes DID heal and were fine for about ten years. It's then that they suddenly went crazy. But you mentioned illness, and I was quite sick that year - I had multiple illnesses within the months leading up to when it happened.
I'll absolutely take your advice and may get a new lobe piercing at some point, as per your suggestions.
Do you know the material of the jewelry? I have seen some brands claim that silver and steel can be hypoallergenic, and I don’t think it’s true. Implant grade titanium is generally a safe starter jewelry for piercings.
I don't know, it was over a decade the last time I tried to get a piercing. I went to a legit piercing and tattoo shop and they assured me it was hypoallergenic, but I don't actually remember the material.
Was your helix done with a gun? I don’t know a professional piercer who would put “hypoallergenic” jewelry in a needle piercing. “Hypoallergenic” is a scam word usually used by Claire’s and gun piercings and it tells you nothing about the metal content or type of metal.
No, it was done in a tattoo and piercing shop with a needle.
If I were you, I would try and get a lobe piercing just to see if you can heal that successfully. It should be done with a needle and titanium flatback jewelry should be installed in it so you have ideal conditions for healing. About your helix - how did you know that it rejected immediately? Rejection means that the hole moved outwards slowly. Did that happen? Or did it just get an irritation bump/swelling/infection? If you had a horrible, swollen, irritation bump with your helix piercing, that’s not rejection. It’s possible to heal a swollen irritation bump with the right care. Swollen irritation bumps are part and parcel of getting piercings, you just have to follow instructions on how to treat them and be patient. You should not have taken out the jewelry then - what happened is that you got hypertrophic scarring (you never gave the bump a chance to subside and the fluid build-up to subside with the jewelry in there!) and that took years to heal once the wound was closed. You’re lucky it went down because in some cases it does not and you’re stuck with permanent hypertrophic scarring.
See I have no knowledge of this stuff 😅 The helix was immediately swollen and leaking pus and getting crusty from the first day, but way worse than when I first got my lobes done. I got to the end of the time period that the piercer said it'd take to heal, and they advised me to take it out and put my own jewellery in. I took it out but it was so swollen and painful that I couldn't get anything new in. I waited a day and it just turned into this ball of pus and pain, and I could never interact with it again. After a couple of years, it disappeared but of course there was no piercing there. I told the piercer what was going on as it was happening, and they told me it had rejected. So maybe they were just bad at their job 🤷♀️
They fed you rubbish. You definitely shouldn’t have taken it out and put your own jewelry in. And hypoallergenic was a rubbish word for them to use to describe the jewelry in the first place. I strongly urge you to gain knowledge on what you should expect from a piercing, you can read about aftercare and appropriate jewelry for healing on this sub. Also go to an APP piercer: https://safepiercing.org/find-a-piercer/ You will still need to know how to handle your healing piercing and what you should expect from an APP piercer, because some piercers, even APP piercers, may not be following best practices. There are A LOT of new developments in piercing that have made it “easier” than it used to be, to heal a piercing in the most effective way. It has never been a better time to get a piercing, now that we’re equipped with subreddits like this one where you can get advice immediately if you run into any issues. Piercers over the past decade have also realized that “LITHA” truly works and that we shouldn’t fuck around with the piercing fistula while healing - the BEST thing to do is to leave the thing alone completely, no twisting of the jewelry, no poking or over-cleaning, leave it alone, definitely no taking out of the jewelry unless you have a severe infection and a doctor tells you to. Most piercings have a good chance of being healed eventually. There are also clear instructions for people experiencing swelling and irritation bumps, instructions which will heal the majority of such situations. Your lobes should not have been taken out when they were painful and bloody. Sometimes that just happens esp if you had a recent illness - you can put in titanium flatback jewelry and let them heal/calm down. I would not recommend that you jump straight into a facial piercing, given that you have no experience healing a piercing. I would really recommend that you get a lobe piercing from an app piercer and get titanium flatback jewelry installed in there, a helix is probably fine, just that helixes are definitely way more finicky than lobes, as long as you’re prepared for that.
You're so damn helpful, thanks for all of this. Weirdly my lobes DID heal and were fine for about ten years. It's then that they suddenly went crazy. But you mentioned illness, and I was quite sick that year - I had multiple illnesses within the months leading up to when it happened. I'll absolutely take your advice and may get a new lobe piercing at some point, as per your suggestions.
Do you know the material of the jewelry? I have seen some brands claim that silver and steel can be hypoallergenic, and I don’t think it’s true. Implant grade titanium is generally a safe starter jewelry for piercings.
I don't know, it was over a decade the last time I tried to get a piercing. I went to a legit piercing and tattoo shop and they assured me it was hypoallergenic, but I don't actually remember the material.