Dear Alley is our weekly advice column for pierced, inked, and amazing individuals (and everyone else too!) who might need a nudge in the right direction. Relationships, mods, or whatever, Alley's got you covered :).

Do you have a question for Alley, submit it to DearAlley@bodycandy.com for your chance to get featured!

Disclaimer: Body Candy is only here to give you fun and helpful advice and information when it comes to getting pierced. Always consult a professional piercer to make sure a new piercing is right for you!

Hey Alley,

I’ve had my left side helix ear piercing for almost two years and it’s still not healed completely. Every now and then it feels fine then sometimes it hurts and [seems] kinda infected. What should I do?

I love my piercing and want the other side done and to get my nose done, but I want this to heal first.

Thank you,

- MaCkenzie

Alley: Hi MaCkenzie!

Cartilage piercings can be a real pain to heal up. You're right that after two (2) years of heal time, your helix should be fully healed (cartilage piercings take about a year total to heal)... So let me ask a few clarifying questions to make sure we're on the right track:

Have you been changing your jewelry all along? Changing your jewelry before your ear is totally healed up can significantly prolong your healing process. The cells inside your cartilage piercing are super fragile when they are healing - taking jewelry in and out of your ear can injure these cells, meaning your body has to continuously keep healing itself over and over again.

Changing your jewelry isn't the only thing that can stress your piercing out. Are you sleeping on your helix? Do you like to wear hoods, hats, headbands, headphones, or anything else that might nudge or put pressure or stress on your helix? Have you ever had any snags? Do you fuss with, poke, or prod at your helix piercing a lot? Any of these "bad habits" can keep your helix from truly healing up.

Now in terms of infection - is your helix: red; painful; oozing yellow/green discharge; chafing or chapped; getting larger around the piercing site; developing a smell? A little irritation or clearish/yellowish discharge is normal, but any of these more symptoms could be a sign of something more serious. If so, it's time to go visit your professional piercer/medical professional to figure out the next steps to treating it.

Whether or not you get your other helix pierced is totally up to you, but you shouldn't be sleeping on a healed piercing, and if your other helix isn't totally healed, you'll need a side to sleep on that isn't still healing. Alternatively, you can also get a "donut travel pillow" to keep your ear elevated off of the bed. The good news is, you should be able to get your nose pierced and it won't affect your helix at all. Maybe that should be your next move while you give your healing helix the time and attention it deserves!

Love,

- Alley

Dear Alley,

I have my nose pierced individually on each side. The right side got done first, [then] the left side two (2) months later. It’s been almost 2 years now with them.

I don’t think the left side got pierced correctly, as the stud sticks out a bit and get sensitive at times. I’ve been afraid to change them but the L shape post keeps sticking out of my nostrils. What gauge and style would you recommend using?

Thanks

- Carla

Alley: Hey Carla,

Nose rings come in a variety of sizes and gauges. The most common gauge sizes are 18g and 20g, but without seeing your nose or your jewelry, there's no way for me to know which size you're pieced with for sure.

One option: try a 20g nose ring, as this will easily fit into an 18g piercing - usually, the piercing site will shrink to accommodate the smaller-sized jewelry. Another option: purchase a "fishtail nose ring" - these special nose rings can be custom-fit to your personal anatomy with the help of a piercing professional.

This is a common problem for people with nose rings - even with l-shaped nose jewelry (or twisters or nose bones), sometimes it's an issue trying to keep them flush to your nostril.

It is certainly possible that the left side of your nose was pierced incorrectly. If you think that's the case, I think it's time that you visited a professional piercer and got an in-person consult. This might be a good time to bring a fishtail nose ring with you, as they'll be able to custom-shape the ring to fit your nose while you're there.

Love,

- Alley

Hi Alley,

I have a question, I have an industrial (pierced 5 months ago), and I still have the two separate jewelry, and I created a bump in the upper piercing, what can I do to make it disappear?

And I have another question, when can I change the piercing jewelry to a barbell?

I love you,

- Beatrix.

Alley: Hey Beatrix!

Aww!! I love you too Beatrix! Now onto your question :)

Industrial piercings are ear cartilage piercings - like MaCkenzie's question above, cartilage piercings take up to a year to heal up completely. To answer your second question, I would not recommend changing out your jewelry before that year mark rolls around, especially without the help of a professional. Changing your jewelry is a surefire way to irritate your piercing and it sounds like you're already having an issue with that.

Piercing bumps are more formally known as "hypertrophic scars." They can form for lots of reasons, but the most common reason is that your piercing is stressed out. I'll ask you the same questions: are you sleeping on your industrial? Do you wear hats, hoods, helmets, or any other headwear that might put any added pressure on your industrial. Are you poking at or fussing with your piercing? Any of these actions can really stress out your piercing, resulting in that fleshy, fluid-filled pink bump you see.

Piercing bumps are tricky, but manageable. My best advice - stop fussing with your piercing. LITHA (leave it the heck alone). Keep up with sterile saline sprays once a day and good general hygiene (letting the warm water run over it in the shower). Don't sleep on it or touch it at all otherwise... Eventually, the bump should go away and you'll have a happy, healthy industrial piercing in another six (6) months or so!

One final thought - if your bump is hard, itchy, or painful (instead of soft, pink, and fluid-filled), you may have a keloid and not a piercing bump. Keloids are a much more serious side-effect and can only be treated by a medical professional. If you think you have a keloid, head back to your pro piercer to have them take a look - they are best qualified to give you advice on how to proceed from there.