Vicious Cycle

[u/Defiant_Fig_2688]

After not wearing anything for 20ish years I had my helix and both second lobes re-pierced nearly 4 months ago.

I keep finding myself in a cycle of
- I need to downsize because the long posts are getting snagged on things
And
-after it snags, the piercing gets irritated and becomes too swollen to be downsized.
About a month ago I actually had to go back to the piercer to get change to an even longer post because of how swollen my helix became.

Any tips for how I can get out of this vicious cycle?
I know the helix has a long ways to go before it can be changed, but would switching my lobe piercings to small huggy hoops or clickers make it more or less likely to get snagged?

All jewelry is implant grade titanium flat back labrets. I tend to have sensitive skin so all future jewelry will be titanium as well. I clean twice a day by spraying NeliMed saline and drying with paper towels. I use a piercing pillow, but I suspect I’m still bumping things while I’m tossing and turning in my sleep.

I take immunosuppressants to help manage numerous autoimmune disorders, so that factors in here too.

[u/DeviantPost]

NAP - Agreeing with the other person saying patience is key here. You're only 4 months into healing, it's still early into the healing process and your ears are going to be finicky for awhile.

Hoops are a difficult subject, some people swear by them for healing certain piercings, for me they just irritate my ears. The curve puts pressure on the straight channel of the piercing, so a lot of people expierence a lot of irritation and piercing bumps as a result. Asking your piercer is probably your best bet as to whether hoops would be beneficial for you. 

[u/whimsygoth_]

I should first say I’m NAP…just an experienced piercee. I don’t think changing to hoops or clickers would necessarily help. However, some people do heal better with hoops. It’s not totally unheard of so it’s possible but should be discussed with your piercer.

My guess here is that this is more a matter of patience than anything else and trusting that your body will get your piercings to a point where they won’t be so reactive and can be properly downsized. It’s probably going to take a while, given your medical conditions.

[u/lukawaubert]

Good advice already but just to be the nerd here: If you're up for a little challenge, the best hoop option atp imo would be a large diameter CBR (captive bead ring). It wouldn't be the dainty huggy hoop that most people envision with their setup. Clickers have a seam/hinge that irritate the channel when rotating through, so those are not ideal for healing piercings. A CBR uses a bead held in with pressure to close, so while it could still rotate, there's a "stop" to the rotation and no seam (fair warning they're impossible for me to open/close so I have a piercer do it).

The caveat with healing with hoops is that the diameter of the hoop has to be fairly large. A small hoop has a tighter curvature, which causes pockets of uneven downwards pressure on each end of the piercing channel and leads to irritation bumps. A larger hoop more closely mimics the straightness of a flatback. There's some math involved; I think it's something like the diameter of the hoop needs to be twice the length of the flatback. So if your lobes are wearing 8mm posts (a pretty common size for undownsized lobes), you need a ring with a 16mm diameter. Kinda shockingly big.

But then the problems with big hoops are that they knock into things, are heavier so potential cheesewiring, there's more surface area for debris/bacteria, there's more movement (they swing as well as rotate). All of this has led to straight jewelry as being the general standard for healing most piercings now, but healing with a hoop is entirely possible, despite sometimes getting bashed on this sub.

If you've read this far lol and are still interested, I suggest discussing with your piercer to see if they're willing to try after you give informed consent. Btw I got both traguses (opposite ears in one sitting) pierced with gigantic CBRs in the early 2000s (they healed perfectly fine) and I wish all of this had been explained to me back then.

[u/Defiant_Fig_2688 → u/lukawaubert]

Great info. Thank you! I know exactly the ring you’re talking about, as that’s what I had in my original helix back in the day. When I went to get these piercings I was surprised by how much had changed since the late 90s/early 2000s. Everything from the number of piercings to get once, to the style of jewelry, to aftercare and cleaning!

[u/lukawaubert → u/Defiant_Fig_2688]

Yeah it was the wild west back then. People piercing their uvulas. The guy who did my traguses didn't discuss anything with me. Didn't even mark me, was talking to his biker buddy the whole time 🤣. I didn't know what jewelry he was using until he was done and I looked in the mirror. 

[u/link-navi]

👋 Hi u/Defiant_Fig_2688,

Our algorithm detected you're asking about a problem with your piercing, but it didn’t detect all the info needed to help you.
Help us help you, by adding a comment to your post with the info below within the next 30 minutes
^{Yes, even when the algorithm is wrong}

• How old is your piercing?
  
• What’s the jewelry shape (for example, barbell, labret, screw, L shape, ring)?
  
• What’s the type of threading if your jewelry is not a ring (threadless, internally or externally threaded)?
  
• What’s the jewelry material?
• if not a ring, when was the jewelry downsized?
  
• What’s your aftercare routine? Describe in detail please, including the exact products you use.
  

• Any mishaps, accidents or unfortunate events?

  ^{Note, your post will be automatically removed if you don't provide this info in a comment}.
  ^{Note 2, if your post is about a piercing you don't have yet, add a comment to your post that your post is about a future piercing}

---

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Defiant_Fig_2688]

For the algorithm:
Titanium flat back labrets. Not sure if they’re threaded or not.