# Shattered cartilage??



## jcottonl02

I just got my helix pierced with a gun....it was from the same place that did my tattoo and they are really good. Tonnes of awards etc. and in my opinion the best place around. So I was surprised when they were gonna pierce it with a gun but cos i am pretty scared of needles the gun seemed the lesser of two evils. It didn't hurt...and it wasn't sore afterwards.

I just knocked it and it was a bit sore but it's fine now and I can't even feel I have it. He left the stud longer or something so the ear could swell without getting pinched and I am cleaning it twice a day with these swabs I got given.

I just read some stuff about shattered cartilage and collapsed ears and it's scared the s**t out of me!!! Seriously enough for me be like ommmggggg.

Can any of you with knowledge of piercings give me sum advice and stuff. How do I know if it shattered the cartilage and how do I stop my ear from collapsing??


Wa.


All I can say right now is....>Wa. When I want to be happy with my piercing lol..

Jen


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## Nancy McClelland

You need to consult with someone with more medical knowledge than I have.


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## Myia09

Holy Crap Jenny you should have messaged me. You NEVER get your cartlidged pierced with a gun! NEVER! and just because a tattoo shop is good at tattoos does not mean their piercer is good!

You can't stop it from shattering. The gun and the impact is what does it. I suggest finding another piercing shop and getting a consult.


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## degrassi

When I was a teenager I got my helix pierced with a gun and it didn't turn out well at all. First I got my left ear done and it never healed right. It was always sore, red and raised even after months. I ended up taking it out and even then it took months to heal up. Then I decided to get the right ear done, also with a gun (stupid teenager!). The right ear was worse, it looked like the inside of my ear was coming out the hole. I ended up seeing a doctor as it wasn't getting better and he said take it out ASAP! 

Now its been 10 years and I still have a dark mark on my ears where the holes used to be. So i would never recommend getting cartilage pierced by a gun. 

Lots of my friends have had their helixs done and all the ones done by guns didn't heal properly and had to be taken out. 

Sorry for the bad news but a piercer should know better then to do cartilage with a gun. Hopefully yours will be ok. Take really good care of it but if it starts to look bad take it out.


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## jcottonl02

Woo......


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## jcottonl02

Okay well I just had a lovely panic attack. That just seems to be what my life is about these days. I wish I could have talked to you myia but a) I'm not a piercing expert so u trust what an expert says and b) I didn't know he was gonna do it with a gun. He did my sisters with a needle cos she got a ring. 
My ear isn't even red today. It's sore but its not swollen or red Nd iv inspected the site and it just looks like a hole. 
I'm going to another parlour today to ask them.
This isn't my fault at all....I just trusted a good parlour and I don't deserve anything bad to happen to me :-( 
Jen


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## jcottonl02

Okay. Am out at lunch now so short hand. Guy said it should not have been done with a gun but it looks fine except a little swollen. He said give it a few weeks and if it swells more then come to get the bar changed for a longer one or I might have to just take it out. But if that happens I will just get the other ear pierced WITH A NEEDLE lol.
But yeah other than the swelling he said it looked fine but to just keep it reaaally clean and keep an eye on it.
PHEW! 
Jen


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## irishbunny

I know toooons of people who got it done with a gun. Actually I know no one who got it done with a needle. Nothing bad happened to any of their ears, but most of them just had to take it out because it was too painful or got infected. One of my friends got his done a few months ago and he could take the pain after so he kept his in. Still hurts him though if you hit off it.


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## irishbunny

I know toooons of people who got it done with a gun. Actually I know no one who got it done with a needle. Nothing bad happened to any of their ears, but most of them just had to take it out because it was too painful or got infected. One of my friends got his done a few months ago and he could take the pain after so he kept his in. Still hurts him though if you hit off it.


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## jcottonl02

Thanks Grace. Yeah I spoke to my sister's bf yesterday (he's like my brother tbh) and he said his older brother got it done with a gun and after a few weeks it was pussing and he had to take it out. And now he still has a bit of a lump at the back of his ear from the cartilage. So I am prepared for that. But I am glad for the advice and knowledge of what to expect, which is what I was after in the first place.
So I'll give it 2 weeks at most and if the pain and swelling hasn't gone I'll go to the piercing parlour I went to yesterday and get their opinion on changing the stud/taking it out, and possibly get the other ear done instead but I wanted it to be at least mostly healed for hols in 5 weeks!!

Thing is I always knew guns weren't the BEST method of piercing ears but I had no idea they were this bad! And tbh it's all well and good trying to talk to someone before I got it done but there's only been 3 people replying to this anyway so I'm sure I would have got little to no advice before I got it done anyway.

Shame. I feel like I am being judged because I trusted a piercer and that I should have known exactly what should happen and what shouldn't. Bloody hell I only have my lobes pierced and I got them done when I was 7!!!! And one more 2 years ago in my right lobe. Jesssuusss lol!

So many people on here must have a helix piercing and have more knowledge than me and I was hoping I would get more replies with a lot more advice too- not saying some of you haven't given me great advice on what to expect and what might happen etc.

Eugh I am in a bad mood.

Thankfully the swelling hasn't gotten any worse and if anything the pain is slightly less today. It isn't red or seeping anything but it has only been 2 days. I'm cleaning it 4 or 5 times a day, though so hopefully it won't get infected.

Jen


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## JadeIcing

Wish I knew about this stuff but honestly piercings are not to my liking. Hope it turns out ok.


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## jcottonl02

Thanks Ali I appreciate it.

I'm quite p***ed off that a piercer/tattooist would so noncholantly use a gun if it's that terrible. Unless the internet has just made it out worse than it is, because that often is the case. I mean...obviously guns are worse because they do increase the risk of infection and provide much more trauma to the area but someone actually wrote on a forum how this person was risking death by getting it done with a gun.

Okay....lol. The internet shouldn't be allowed. My sister has already banned me from watching the news/reading newspapers cos I end up crying my eyes out for days, and she says she is also gonna ban me googling stuff lol.

Jen


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## Watermelons

Most places use a gun, its easier, and honestly, they dont care. Tattoo parlors are typicaly the places that use the needles, so thats just wierd... 

I got my Cartilage done when I was.... I dont know grade 6 or something... It shattered the cartilage and I was left with a little bump (or big hidious ugly eye sore of a bump as I would call it) and every time I touched that piercing it would hurt and be irritated. I was told after a few months it would heal perfectly and I would be able to take the stud out for days or weeks and the hole would still be there, yeah right! If i took it out for an hour or so to get my hair cut the hole would have already started to heal up. It would randomly get irritated for no reason (infected if you want to say that) be super red and warm, never has a pus problem, I hated that stupid thing and wanted it out so badly! But the only reason I kept it was because I was using it to hide the ugly ugly bump on the back of my ear. Well lived with it all through middle school and high school, finally accidently lost it last year and got to the point where I didnt care how ugly of a bump I had, I was sick of it getting so irritated and it being so sensitive. Left the stud out, and the bump has actually gone down, you can barley tell, its like 1/4 a mm thicker in one spot along the rim of my ear and the bump in the back is like 1/2mm in 1 tiny spot as thick as the stud was. Best decision I ever made to not put something back in there! Guns are great for spots with no cartilage... like ear lobes, no where else. (just shattered cartilage wise) Plus its likely to end up as an odd angle because guns are bulky, but I wouldnt say its risk of infection is too much worse then a needle, the stud or ring from when you use a needle is handled before stuck into the ear, with a gun it comes out of its sterile package and goes right into the ear which has been cleaned with alcohol... 

If yours is fine, its fine, nothing to worry about, it if starts to cause you grief, take it out, let it heal up for a bit, and re-do it with a needle. It may hurt a bit more this way but it will take out the bad cartilage left from the gun, (which wont be much once its all healed up).

Now just never let anyone pierce a tongue with a Gun... if they try and pull that one, start running.


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## jcottonl02

Watermelons- that was the exact kind of reply I was looking for- thankyou! I'm glad I know what I can expect now. Interesting point about getting it 'redone' with a needle might remove the mashed up cartilige! I never even thought that was possible. 

Yeah this is a really good tattoo parlour whos head tattooist is really gifted when it comes to tattoos. I completley trusted him when it came to mine (my first one too!) and not only did he do what I asked, he completely exceeded my expectation and gave me something more than perfect that I didn't even realise a tattoo could look like- so SO stunning. Even my mum, who still says she wished I'd never got it because she hates tattoos so much, says she can't deny what a stunning piece of art it is. I guess I expecting their piercings to be up to the same standard without question. Before I got this done I watched my sister (twin) get her rook, tragus and forward pinna pierced (all with a needle and by the same guy who pierced me) so I just assumed when he got the gun out for me it was clearly a better solution than a needle for me at this particular time and position.

Yeah that's what I thought....but since I read so much stuff on the internet it just made me believe they were more likely to give infection. He did comment to someone else as he was doing it, though, how good it was because you don't have to touch the jewlerry at all or anything on the gun except the trigger because of how you can slot the sterilised pack in.

I've looked at the back (slightly obsessively for the past few days...and insisted my sister examines it too lol) and I don't think I can see any bump (at the moment...) except swelling. So I'm crossing my fingers I don't have a bump. But I am prepared I may do and might have to get it redone. I'm glad you said that though!!! Because I love having it in my right ear, because I have less of a fringe on that side lol so it shows more. I would have got it redone in the left ear if needed but if I can just get it redone in the same place if I need to that is, then that would be even better!

Thanks watermelon 
Jen


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## Watermelons

I had a friend who got her cartilage done at the same time as mine, had similar problems, lost her stud the next year, let it heal, then re-did it with a needle and you would never know she used to have a bump on the back. But it does hurt more as she said, (and so ive heard from various others) because youre going through scarred tissue.

But I would recomend letting it heal for a while longer before getting it re-done (if thats what you choose to do) It was awhile before I would call mine fully healed and "reduced".

I wish I had taken a picture of the ugly lump on the back of my ear so I could show you a good comparison to what it looks like now.

Visual wise, you can tell that 1 spot is thicker, and theres a little scar where the stud went in (just kind of makes it look like its still pierced)on the front, but theres no obvious lump, its a very gradual bump, much better then when the stud was still in.

You can try using a cold compress on the area, gently, to help reduce swelling (use a thin wash cloth, get it a bit damp and stick it in the freezer for a bit) dont want to irritate the area. But if the area is not already shattered, you should be good to go, youll know in 2 or so weeks. But its hard to tell if it will be irritated for life until its fully healed to the point where you can remove the piercing, which does take a few months.

Just take good care of it for the time being, try not to touch unless youre doing the regular twisty thing so surrounding tissue doesnt attatch to the metal, or just touching the area with the corner of a cool cloth.


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## Violet23

I did the same thing as lots of you guys here, only probably (definately) worse...it was my first peircing since my ear lobes when i was 4, so thats my excuse! lol, 

i got mine done at an Ardenes with a gun, didnt expect them to actually do it, but i was 14, so i was just happy they would! 

it healed horribly, was sore for years, i had the ugliest lump on the back of my ear too (i had some of my friends ask me what was wrong with my ear, that ugly), but after a few years it got to the point where there isnt a lump anymore, it is a bit thicker in the area but i also have 2 more helix piercings close to it. 

even if the cartilage is shattered just want you to know that it isnt the end of the world, it just takes much longer to heal properly and will probably be very sensitive for years, mine was. now i can whack my ears like a normal person (still hurts, but not insanely so)


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## plasticbunny

My cartilage didn't "shatter", but one ear did crack. It has been 14 years since I peirced it and I can still bend it in half. It doesn't hurt and has long since been removed.

The worst thing about guns for peircing is that they can't be fully sterilized. :shock:


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## Snufflez

I got one of my cartilage piercings done with a gun.. the other 2 with a needle. I still have days where the one done with the gun hurts and its been like 8 yrs if not longer.. but the other 2 are fine.


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## jcottonl02

Thanks guys. It's been just over a week and I'm still cleaning it religiously and even though I can sort of sleep on that side now it is still tender. Feels like a big bruise all the time.

I still can't really see any lump at the back- although I can see my ear is still kinda swollen. Hoping it will turn out okay although I will expect it to be tender for the next year or so!

Thanks everyone

Jen


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## kylancoats

I just got my second helix piercing a couple of days ago, my sister had got two new piercings so I thought why not get a new one. The man had pierced it with a gun. I was a little unease about the gun, I had read that it wasn’t good to get it done that way. 

the past two days have not been good what so ever. My ear is constantly throbbing, hot to the touch, swollen, and extremely sore. I don’t know wether to take it out or not. Please help.


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