Scary Bump Behind Ear O_o

[Guest Elysia]

urgent! need help...

I got my ears pierced about 3 months ago and I changed them a few weeks ago, and then they were kind of uncomfortable so I changed them back into my gold earrings that I pierced them with..

I took one of them out and I discovered all the skin around the piercing was reddish and kinda swollen/raised... and something BEHIND my ear had been bothering me for a while and I noticed there were 3 kinda reddish bleeding spots and a HUGE purpleish lump behind my ear that hurts to the touch @__@;;

is this a cause from my piercing?? I thought it was a pimple or something, but it's really hard and its sort of purple-ish colored...

and what should I do? >_< I took the piercing out but I can't seem to put it back IN now because clear fluid appears if I try to stick the earring in again... I'm afraid of it closing up :(

[Guest hyeminnie]

was the earring u put in after you got ur piercing real gold or silver?

cuz if it's not, ur ear might be infected.... you should go to the doctor and get some medicine.

and you're not supposed to change your earrings for at least 3 months.

[Guest silver]

it might be a cyst. i get them a lot in the same place..you should get it checked out though

But it doesn't exactly sound like my cysts...

[Guest niubi]

Keloid? :mellow:

[Guest minwoo012]

^eww.. but that sounds about right

Keloid is the scar tissue that builts up around a piercing. /a raised, firm, thick scar that forms as a result of a defect in the natural healing process

[Guest CryingIvy]

I have sort of the same thing.

Except, I got my ears pierced a long time ago.

Anyhoo, I had this bump that was behind my ear (not on the actual ear itself, but in the area behind it near my hairline). It's swelled down considerably now, but it when i was still big, it hurt everytime i touched it.

Was it a cyst? And what is a cyst, actually?

[Guest crystal_eyez]

i think it's probably a keloid. I had to get two keloids removed surgically. Well....i guess you can call it surgically since the doctor had to remove it, and i had stitches.

The worse part about it was.... another keloid grew. The first time, one grew in the front part of my ear lobe; and the second time, it grew on the backside of my ear lobe.

So yeah, I also got the second one removed.

I think there's like a 75% (or someting around that) chance that another keloid will grow after the surgery.

I'm so happy a third one didn't grow.

You should get it checked with your doctor. And if you do have it surgically removed (which is very wise since it can keep growing), you shouldn't wear earrings anymore.

When I got the surgery done, my piercing was covered. (If your keloid is near your pierce, then it'll probably be covered up after surgery.)

There's a high chance that you may get it again if you pierce your ear again.

My mom keeps telling me that maybe I should re-pierce my ear. I haven't though. I've already gone through two keloids....I don't want another one to grow.

So the whole downside to getting it removed is that you may never get to wear earrings again. I got magnetic earrings for prom. x_x

But it's not bad. You can always try re-piercing your ear.

You might go through a lot of pain after the surgery, especially when the numbness goes away. It hurt to chew, talk, etc. But you'll be so grateful just to not have that keloid there!

[Guest jamahyu]

Oh my goodness, I have the same problem O_O Kinda.

At first, I had no problems when I got my cartilage pierced, but when I switched the earring to a hoop after the time to change it had passed, I got the bump. I switched it back to the original earring but the bump is still there. A few days ago it had gotten considerably smaller but I peeled a piece of it off (It was peeling! It was so hard to ignore) and it's getting big again. ><

It was never red/purplish/or bleeding though. I'm just concerned because it's not going away.

Are you going to the doctors or something soon? I would go, but the co-pay hurts my soul everytime I go visit the doctor.

EDIT: This is a picture of my problem, btw:

I'm not sure if we have the same problem, but I'm still really scared about it being a keloid. ;_; It doesn't hurt, sometimes itches, but isn't going away!!

[Guest YELL;OH]

i was going to say... it`s probably a cyst.

try taking a damp towel and heating it~ and applying it to the bump. if it IS a cyst, after a day or two of applying heat to it should make it go away. if not, run to your doctor.

[Guest kai_^^]

yeh ive have hard lumps on the back of my cartilage piercings.. theyre getting me worried.

does anyone know nething about these?? just to put losties like myself at ease

[Guest madxkilla]

most likely it is an enlarged lymph node or a cyst. It could also be cartiledge deposit that just..well ended up in the wrong place. either way most likely it will be benign do not worry, but if it is really bothering you go to a doctor and have them check it out.