Ideas - conch won't heal

Will

Howdy,

Got my conch punched at 8mm in or around the end of January. Complications arose due to me swelling a hell of a lot and the barbell being too short to accommodate it.

Scar tissue was on the back in huge amounts, that's now gone, a tiny bit still remains at the front.

My after care regime lately has been the following;

Vitamin E capsules - 400iu once a day
Zinc tablets - once a day

I was soaking it in salt water solution but it wasn't really doing much for the scar tissue.

Lately I've been steaming my ear by doing the same thing as a standard salt water solution except using boiling water and placing a towel over my head to catch the steam. It's been working well but I'm just at that final stage I think.

Does anyone have any other ideas on how else to help heal this most troublesome piercing? I'm sure there's other stuff out there I've not thought of.

Cheers

Raze_them_all

Have you tried tea tree oil? I found it worked well on my piercings

Will

I wouldn't risk it to be honest. I've quite sensitive skin, I use the odd bit of aloe vera on it. To be honest I think it's just a matter of time now, feel like I'm on the home stretch *touch wood*

Dragonz_Rawr

That's so frustrating - you poor thing!

If it were me, I would be using a cool chamomile tea bag twice a day for 10 mins on it to take down the bump...it's useful in hypotrophic scarring and it sounds like yours might have the start of that??? Tell me if I'm wrong - hard to know without seeing it! Anyway regardless - chamomile tea is lovely and soothing on it regardless.

Vitamin C is also v good for your immune system...try a couple of capsules of those a day. Also - it sounds stupid - but I am a huge fan of Manuka Honey - you can get it at most health-food stores. I always take a couple of teaspoons of it a day when I am healing a piercing...I know that sounds daft but it works for me.

With the tea-tree oil, I have sensitive skin as well and can't use it neat - but I dilute it with an equal part of almond oil - do a patch test tho first because I don't want to be responsible if your skin still doesn't like it!! :eek:

End wall of text. Sorry!

Will

It's coming to the end of the hypotrophic scarring believe it or not, it's come down so much. Molby and a few others will testify to this. Its still red and lymphing so I know it isn't permanent. Will try the chamomile tea bag tomorrow.

My diet is woeful, I'm doing my best to get more vitamin C into me. bought a whole load of fruit there.

anymore tips are welcome, thanks people

Will

Got some chamomile tea today, put it in some hot water then let it cool and put it on my conch. Very calming effect alright. Left it for about 10 mins or so also.

Too early to tell how well it will work but least I smell nice

Dragonz_Rawr

Will wrote: »

Got some chamomile tea today, put it in some hot water then let it cool and put it on my conch. Very calming effect alright. Left it for about 10 mins or so also.

Too early to tell how well it will work but least I smell nice

It does smell nice!

It will take a while to work - I'm talking a couple of weeks usually - twice a day - but I use it for any problems that I have...I use it regularly on my skin divers when they start to play up and it calms them right down - used it on all my ear & facial piercings too. Hope it works for you!

Oh - you can soak in cool chamomile tea too - same as SSS if you prefer.

Will

Awesome, may try that. May try a steaming method too cos I hate having my head in a mug.

It's getting scabby, has been for ages. Gotta resist the urge to pick >.<

Dragonz_Rawr

Oh I know - you know how parents put mittens on their kids when they have chicken pox to stop them scratching and picking??? Maybe you should try that!

(Trust me - I've thought about it myself sometimes)

Gauge

I wear socks on my hands if my eczema gets bad. Do that!

(Ugh. I think I just gave away two embarrassing things about myself).

Will

im keeping my hands occupied (non dirty ways) playing with tooth picks and online games.

Took some vitamin c tablets too and ate some fruit, so making a decent effort at it. final straight *touch wood* now

eczema isn't embarassing tbh

Will

Woke up today, loadsa crust, gently cleaned it off. There was a big lump of scar tissue under the piercing and it's gone now. This chamomile tea soak is amazing. Was expecting a few weeks to see any improvement but even today it's looking 100 times better.

Yesterday it (scar tissue) was fairly solid and as i said was not expecting anything to happen for a few weeks.

cheers Dragonz_rawr for the great tip. I suggest evreyone use chamomile soaks for problematic piercings

Dragonz_Rawr

Ah am so delighted it works for you!!!!! That was a really quick improvement too - was expecting it to take a few days at least! Yay!!!!!

Will

Yeah it's nuts how well it has worked Thanks again

Will

Here's a pic I just took now. It's a crappy webcam pic so you can't see great detail but it's really the best it's ever been. The scar tissue was at the bottom of the piercing, that's all gone and it was a big lump.

Gonna keep this up soaking twice daily for the next few weeks and hopefully it should sort itself out. Then hopefully can go back to wearing normal length jewellery in it.

The jump is huge, i've not seen it so well since I got it done.
edit - it's bit gooey still haven't cleaned it up yet, my bad.



my jewellery wasn't sitting right in my lobe there, it's why it looks a bit uneven.

Edgedinblue

Thats not looking too bad now, could only imagine how sore it mustve looked! glad its getting better, i hate having sore piercings

Will

This thread here I was documenting the healing, it looked and felt so nasty back then;

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055551548

Edgedinblue

Wow, that looked sooooo sore!! really am glad its getting better for you now

Dragonz_Rawr

Oh that's such an improvement! And it looks fab too - I love punched conch's!

Hope it continues to behave itself for you now...:)

Will

with the help of your great suggestion yeah it should

was at 8mm but had to downsize, all going well in a few months should be able to up it again ever so gently. but again jumping the gun as usual :pac:

Dragonz_Rawr

Have you ever tried to stretch cartilage before? Interested in your experience if you have...

I have an outer conch piercing which was pierced at 1.6mm, however the ball came unscrewed off it one night and I could only get a 1.2mm through it...but I would be tempted to stretch it up again to 1.6mm (or bigger ), but I don't know how easy it would be? Or am I better off just to get it redone?

Fiii

*sits with a camomile tea bag over her ear*

Hope this works for my problematic tragus too

Toots

My conch was pierced at 1.6, and I have so far stretched it up to 3.2 with tapers. If you're going to do it, go slow, leave the same amount of time between stretches as you would with lobes. And the same aftercare. Only downside is it hurts like hell!!

skywards

This stuff has saved me thousands in vet bills on the effing horses, plus I use it on myself as well. Basically, a horse slammed me into the fence a week or two ago and ripped a hole in my knee about an inch wide. Its nearly completely healed by now, and it was pretty gross looking before I put that on. I had a yearling run through a fence and rip a 6 inch hole in hi shoulder. Vet came out and stitched it and it was nasty infected. That stuff healed it completely in like 3ish weeks? Yeah, I'm never buying any other cut crap again :pac:. <finishes converting/>

Will

i've a rook that i stretched from 1.6mm to 2.4mm but i had it done a few years before trying to put in the bigger bar. Even then there was pressure.

My idea of stretching any cartilage piercing would most likely wrap it in ptfe tape, 1 wrap per week i.e super slow and keep re-aplying fresh ptfe each day so it doesn't get all nasty. This is just my idea at the moment though and don't know how well it will work once I get to doing it.

Time will tell and once I figure out a way I will share with all.

Dragonz_Rawr

skywards wrote: »

This stuff has saved me thousands in vet bills on the effing horses, plus I use it on myself as well. Basically, a horse slammed me into the fence a week or two ago and ripped a hole in my knee about an inch wide. Its nearly completely healed by now, and it was pretty gross looking before I put that on. I had a yearling run through a fence and rip a 6 inch hole in hi shoulder. Vet came out and stitched it and it was nasty infected. That stuff healed it completely in like 3ish weeks? Yeah, I'm never buying any other cut crap again :pac:. <finishes converting/>

That's amazing - what's in it???

Will & Toots* - thank you both so much - think I will try to do it very slowly - will wait a few more weeks until I'm sure it's completely settled and then give it a go

Will

The only danger with tapers is they may crack your cartilage if you stretch up too soon, and that's something you don't want happening. PTFE tape could be a good choice but tbh I won't know until I eventually try it myself. I imagine though that it would be better than tapering since you're going up in tiny increments compared to 1mm increments with tapers.

My conch is freakin amazing today, it's unreal how good and healthy it is looking. The scarring is completely gone!! and the skin around the fistula is shaping up nicely. It's not red or irritated looking. So on the home stretch now. Gonna get a proper fitting bar during the week as the one im currently wearing is way too long (was used to accommodate swelling) and may hinder proper healing.

dragonz_rawr I owe you a pint if you ever come to a beers

skywards

Dragonz_Rawr wrote: »

That's amazing - what's in it???

Will & Toots* - thank you both so much - think I will try to do it very slowly - will wait a few more weeks until I'm sure it's completely settled and then give it a go

I don't remember offhand, I'll look at the bottle in teh morning.

Toots

I should also add to mine, that I'd taped mine for a couple of months between tapers. The taper is kinda handy cos it's a bit gentler when you're putting in the new bar when you've gotten to the size you want. The first time without PTFE can kinda hurt. I'll say again though, go slowly, like seriously slowly. I actually found stretching my conch hurt more than getting it pierced initially.

stochen_gesicht

Will wrote: »

Here's a pic I just took now. It's a crappy webcam pic so you can't see great detail but it's really the best it's ever been. The scar tissue was at the bottom of the piercing, that's all gone and it was a big lump.

Gonna keep this up soaking twice daily for the next few weeks and hopefully it should sort itself out. Then hopefully can go back to wearing normal length jewellery in it.

The jump is huge, i've not seen it so well since I got it done.
edit - it's bit gooey still haven't cleaned it up yet, my bad.



my jewellery wasn't sitting right in my lobe there, it's why it looks a bit uneven.

:eek: That tunnel is f*ckin savage! It's soo hard to get cool tunnels in this city!