I got two helixes done in the beginning of September by professional at a tattoo shop. The helix on my right ear is fine and healed. It doesn’t hurt. The helix on my left ear, however is still really hurting. There is a weird kind of skin tag on it, not like a typical keloid or granuloma. It’s soft and flappy looking, larger than a regular skin tag. When the piercer pierced my right helix, it was fine. Didn’t hurt. Then she did the left ear and I distinctly remember that hurting significantly. It also bled like crazy. To make it worse, I picked my daith to go on the left side so after the bleeding stopped she pierced the daith and bumped it, causing it to bleed more.

I could tell as the week went on that it just wasn’t healing well. I did sea salt soaks multiple times a day. The left one continued to bleed off and on for a couple of weeks. Both ears were sore obviously, as they healed but now it’s been months and my left one still hurts. I can’t sleep on the left side. It’s not the daith, it’s the helix specifically. I’ve tried tea tree oil daily for two months. I even texted the piercer and told her about it and she just ignored me and never responded. I’m so frustrated. I want to take it out, I don’t want to deal with this annoying pain anymore. I have a great pain tolerance but this is getting in the way of my daily life. I can’t sleep on my left, (which is the side I’m usually accustomed to sleeping on) if my hair gets caught in it while I’m sleeping, the pain wakes me up. I feel like I’m constantly pulling my hair out of it. I have many piercings, some of them years old. This has never happened to me before. Has this happened to anyone? What did you do?

I want to take it out so I don’t have to deal with it. The piercer told me not to take out infected piercings because it traps the infection inside. I don’t think it’s infected because there is no pus. But I’m worried the growth will stay there or get trapped inside somehow.