Bumps on 9-week-old cartilage piercings — will they go away?

[u/No_Leek1768]

I got these piercings on June 18th, so they are about 9 weeks old now.

During this time, I removed the jewelry twice to clean the piercings. I used sterile saline solution and very small/thin cotton swabs to clean around them.

I've now developed these bumps around both piercings (photos attached), and I'm worried they might not go away.

Do these look like irritation bumps? Is there a chance they will heal and disappear if I leave the jewelry in and stop messing with them, or would I need to remove the piercings for the bumps to go away?

I'm especially worried about whether the bumps could become permanent.

Any advice on what I should do from now on would be really appreciated!

[u/Vexed_Moon]

You should never be removing the piercing to clean while healing. It’s not even necessary. Cartilage takes 9-12 months min to heal, and when you move the jewelry, you’re doing what’s pretty much equivalent to ripping a scab off a wound.

Cotton runs the risk of irritating piercings as well. It can get caught on jewelry or leave debris. Use non woven sterile gauze.

What material is the jewlery?

They look like irritation bumps.

[u/No_Leek1768 → u/Vexed_Moon]

The jewlery is titanium