trixtah: (Default)
Trixtah ([personal profile] trixtah) wrote2008-12-24 10:50 pm
Entry tags:

Piercing update

Well, after my grizzles a couple of weeks back, I've managed to effect a miracle cure of my "keloid" by doing salt water soaks daily, and anointing with hypercal cream initially, and then manuka oil and honey gel (eh, I prefer the glass jar it's in now to this new "100% recyclable" packaging) in the morning, and jojoba oil at night. I could make lots of money patenting my "cure" for those of African descent  or other ethnicities that suffer from keloids. Not.

The cartilage is still somewhat puffy, but that's ok. Cartilage does take a while to heal, especially since I keep sleeping on that side. I'm just glad that the mis-labelled lump has gone, the piercing itself is no longer being compressed by the annoying jewellery, and I can keep it properly clean.

[identity profile] grimreaperess.livejournal.com 2009-01-20 09:59 am (UTC)(link)
I've decided to attack the lump on my industrial piercing.
I've previously tried taking the bar out and rubbing Vitamin E oil in to it at night, it has moderate effect, but not 100% cure.

What do you mean by sat water soaks? (i.e. should I soak the jewellery, rub the piercing down with saline?) And where can I get the rescue gel you linked to in Canberra?
ext_8716: (Default)

[identity profile] trixtah.livejournal.com 2009-01-20 12:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I was using the salt water soaks to get the inflammation down, since it was still quite swollen then. I just filled a cup with warm salty water and stuck my ear into it. An alternative way is to use cotton pads, soak them in the warm salty water and pack them around the piercing.

But if it's not inflamed and not crusty, I wouldn't bother with that part. So too with the manuka oil and honey gel - that was more to stop potential infections and get rid of the lump, which was quite an inflamed one (I vaguely remember seeing Living Nature products from that health food shop in the Canberra Centre, but I pick up my supplies from NZ).

However, you have a long-established scar, and I presume there's no inflammation at all. The best thing is to try and reduce the amount of movement around the bar, and reduce the pressure on the fistula while you're trying to reduce the scar tissue. So I wouldn't keep taking the jewellery in and out. What gauge is it? If it's a 16, I'd upsize it to at least a 14 - the cheesecutter effect is not good. In fact, it might be worth getting two separate pieces of jewellery while you're trying to get rid of the scarring, to reduce the pressure.

The trouble with reducing scars like this is it does take a while. Some people swear by tea tree oil. I really like my jojoba oil. Perhaps you could try making up a combination of the two (or three if you want to try Vit. E as well). I basically massage the oil into the scarred area, and coat a bit on the jewellery as well and move it back and forth through the fistula to lube it up a bit (and get some of the goodness inside).

Also, salicylic acid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicylic_acid) is definitely something you should try to help break down the scar tissue - it acts as a kind of exfoliator. You might be able to find the real thing at the chemist, otherwise, you can mash up some aspirin tablets, and mix them with water to make a paste (probably cheaper). I'd apply the paste to the piercing scar, leave it for a bit, massage it to try and exfoliate, then rinse and apply the Vit E/whatever oil mixture after.