We’ve all been there. You get a new piercing, and you absolutely love it. You show it off to everyone, you start shopping for the jewelry that you’re going to wear when it heals, you take pictures for your social media, and then one day it strikes…. you have the dreaded piercing bump! What now?
First of all, piercing bumps are not keloids and cannot be treated the same. (More on keloids - click here) Piercing bumps are caused by a number of different issues, including getting accidentally hit against something, being slept on, poor piercing angle, and incorrect piercing jewelry. Sometimes the hardest part of having an irritation bump is simply figuring out the cause – but once you know, then they’re fairly easy to deal with.
Irritation
The first type of irritation bump happens simply because you irritated the piercing. This is especially common with cartilage piercings of the ear – especially if you happen to sleep on that specific side. (The best way to avoid that particular situation is to sleep with a travel neck pillow. You put your ear in the center of the hole and there’s nothing to irritate your piercing.) But sometimes accidents happen and cause bumps through no fault of your own. Baby your piercing with gentle cleanings and NO irritating “bump treatments” (Looking at you, tea tree oil!) and it should be on the road to health within a few days to a couple of weeks.
Incorrect Jewelry
Another possible cause of your bump woes is if your piercing was performed with an incorrect style of jewelry. Some piercings heal more easily with a specific style of jewelry, and some outright require a particular style. So, if you were recently pierced and are struck out of nowhere with the dreaded bump, double check to make sure your jewelry is the best possible style. Many cartilage piercings that look great with circular jewelry are best initially performed with straight jewelry, such as a labret. On the other hand, daith piercings require circular jewelry and a rook piercing requires a curved barbell. So, if you’ve got a bump and you were pierced with a curved barbell in your daith or a captive ring in your rook, the jewelry is almost certainly the culprit.
Pressure & Incorrectly Pierced
Sadly, another cause of irritation bumps is having the piercing performed at an incorrect angle. When this happens, the jewelry puts pressure on the skin in an uneven manner. You can try changing the end of the jewelry (if the style allows for it) to something smaller. However, in many cases, these piercings are not salvageable and may have to be removed. Once they are fully healed, they can be re-pierced. (Preferably by a different piercer.) One thing you can do to help to prevent bumps before you get them, is if your piercer uses something called a compression technique. Very simply, they put pressure on the piercing site afterwards as if they were trying to stop bleeding – even if it’s not bleeding. The benefit of this is that it helps reattach the surface tissue to the underlying cartilage. This can actually prevent bumps from happening in the first place!
Nobody said the road to a perfect piercing was smooth – there can be a few bumps along the way! But with proper planning, care, and a well-trained professional piercer, that bumpy road can be a whole lot smoother. Happy piercing!
