BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Body Art Any answers?

About 4 months ago I got an industrial in one of my ears. For the first month or so it was healing fine, but now it appears to have keloids. They bleed and hurt too much to sleep on. Cocoa butter with vitamin e reduces the ugly bulges but if I stop using it they come right back. I have never had any problems with piercings like this before and I have other ear cartilage piercings that healed just fine.

Does it sound like I may have keloids?
How would I get rid of something like this?

Industrials have way more tension on them then a conventional cartilage piercing, since you've got one piece of jewelry going through two holes. Sort of like push-n-pull effect. Remember, ears are normally really flexible and foldable and you just put a very stiff bar in there. When you roll around in your sleep, those parts of your ear aren't flexing, they're being yanked and tugged against a bar that won't move.

I'd take out the barbell running through both of them and wear separate pieces of jewelry. That might let each hole heal without all the tension and friction of each piercing being connected.

Cocoa butter is just a moisturizer, and keloids are a form of scar tissue that often forms from skin trauma and friction, so I don't really see why that would heal them away. You won't stop the friction until you change or remove the jewelry.

Could I advise lavender essential oil? it's extremely healing and helps to prevent scarring although unfortunately, it won't rid you of any present scarring...The trick is to start applying it the moment the 'wound' (be it intentional or accidental) happens...It's one of the few essential oils which poses no danger if you apply it directly to the skin, a drop at a time, though....
But Rae is right. try two separate pieces of jewellery.
And try to sleep a bit more upright.

I also vote for removing the bar and letting the piercing heal with separate pieces of jewelry.

Like Alexandra said, lavender is a miracle oil. (I use it on everything from zits, to piercings, to bug bites�if you apply it within a few minutes after the bite the itch goes away!). However, if you have very sensitive skin the lavender might irritate you as it is a very powerful substance. I would suggest doing a small spot check before using it on your piercing. If you do invest in some make sure it's 100% pure essential oil and not just a scented oil. To apply it I usually dab it on with a q-tip to prevent using too much (remember: strong stuff).

Another thing you could try doing is a sea salt soak. I've had to do it for my ears before. It's a little awkward, but it helps a lot. Try doing two soaks a day using 8ozs warm water and between 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon (more is not better) sea salt (not iodized). If you can only manage one a day I would suggest that it be at night to clean off any grime from the day (unless you're a night-shower person in which case morning soaks would be better). When my piercings get very angry I like to add a drop of tea tree essential oil to my sea salt soaks. Unlike lavender, tea tree cannot be applied directly to the skin. If you choose to use it only put a maximum of one soak a day. Every other day, or every few days would still be beneficial.

One more thing you could do (In conjunction with the above suggestions, it's not enough on its own) is to get some saline solution and clean your piercing off with that. After I shower/do my hair I swipe my ear cartilage piercings off with the saline to get rid off some of the hair product residue that can irritate it.