Pain, swelling, bad odour, discharge of blood and puss from the piercing, sore throat, fever, chills. This means you are in serious shape and medical attention is required without delay. Infected tongue piercing can go septic and require medical attention and antibiotics to treat.
Go back to the facility that did the piercing and tell them to fix the problem, they did the piercing so they need to help you out. They provided the service and they are accountable for there actions so see them before doing anything else (get photos). Root cause: you pierced cartilage with a gun. Studs for piercing guns are only one length. If your ear swells up, which any piercing can do infected or not, it's going to get caught between the back and the ball on a piercing stud...and you're in trouble. If you pierce cartilage with a needle, there's plenty of room for swelling on that jewelry. Body piercing studios can't help you with your issue. Legally that would be resolving a medical issue and practicing medicine without a license. You need to either go back to the studio that did the piercing and see what they will do for you (refund or cover your expenses etc.) but ultimately you will need to seek the assistance of your Doctor or medical treatment center.
If your navel piercing has been infected for quite a while you should have seen a doctor by now. The real question is this, is you nave piercing really infected or is it a hypertrophic reaction? Both infections and reactions can be fixed without removing the jewellery, the methods for fixing both problems are different. Message me directly on this board for further help.
If the piercing has swelled to a point where you think it's excessive you need to go back to the studio that did it and have them put a longer stud into the piercing so it can drain and so the swelling can be relieved. A professional body piercer will account for some swelling and the jewellery needs to be long enough for this to occur without causing any further trauma. So go back and get them to fix it, if they are smart they will do it at no charge to you because they didn't account for the swelling nor did they instruct you on how to control the swelling.
It typically takes 8-12 weeks for a cartilage piercing to heal. But you should never go more than a few hours without any type of jewelry, those piercings typically close pretty fast.
Yes you can, but it's very unhealthy and painful. The jewelry that they use is unsafe, and guns can never be cleaned properly. Most people that operate guns are taught by a training video or piercing a teddy bear. Use a hollow needle, go to a real piercing shop.
Contact your local health unit they will advise you about age requirements and locations that provide professional body piercing services in your area.
you don't. go see a professional. and it will still swell some.
90% of professionally pierced ear cartilage piercings work out without any issues, these are piercings done by a professional body piercer using aseptic techniques. 70% of ear cartilage piercings done with a piercing gun in a mall or hair salon result in bumps, lumps and healing issues, these are piercings performed by untrained and unlicensed individuals using piercing guns on areas they are not permitted to pierce but they do it any way.
A Tragus piercing is a technically challenging piercing that can't be done without knowledge of the structures of the ear and cartilage. Permanent ear and hearing damage can be done when attempted by novices. Listen use common sense and leave piercing to the hands of professional body piercers who will use aseptic methods and materials to provide the piercing in a safe manner. This is not a piercing gun piercing.
A Tragus piercing, being a deep cartilage piercing should be left in for a period of 3~9 months to allow the piercing to properly season and toughen. As with any piercing they are never considered fully healed until they are a full year old. So the longer you can leave it alone without changing the jewellery the better it is for the piercing.
If you had it done by a professional (a professional piercer, not a mall gun mutilator) then you should have nothing to worry about and the swelling should subside in a matter of a few days. If however it was performed with a gun instead of a needle then you are looking at a likely infection and a very sore ear for up to three months. Do not remove the piercing if you suspect it is infected because that only traps the infection within your body. Go to your doctor and have them perscribe antibiotics until your infection is gone and then, if you still wish to do so, you can take the piercing out without any ill effects.